CFO Magazine's quarterly Business Outlook Survey results for the 2nd Quarter are less optimistic than the survey I quoted on Friday. The CFO Magazine survey reflects are larger pool of respondents (over three times as many). Key findings are summarized here (quotations are in italics):
Reasons for concern:
- According to the latest Duke University/CFO Business Outlook
Survey, just 24 percent of CFOs are more optimistic about the direction
of the U.S. economy. That figure is well down from last quarter, when
42 percent of finance chiefs had a good feeling about where things were
heading.
- Among the top concerns listed by CFOs is the possibility of rising salaries and wages due to inflation.
- CFOs are also worried about rising interest rates and fuel costs.
Good news, too:
- Almost half of the respondents say they are optimistic about the future
of their own companies. And while average forecasts have declined
slightly, CFOs are still looking for earnings growth north of 10
percent.
- Capital-spending expectations have increased in each of the last four
quarters. "CFOs are telling us that their companies can ride it out for
now, but that we are a couple of steps closer to the danger zone for
the U.S. economy," says John Graham, a finance professor at Duke's
Fuqua School of Business.
Details (and lots of graphs) at CFO.com
Business Outlook Survey (2nd Quarter 2006)
Joseph McCafferty
CFO Magazine
July 01, 2006
During her time at Glenbrook, Erin focused on client engagements in business payments, cross-border transactions, bill payment, and the intersection of corporate finance, banking, and ERP/accounting. She has nearly twenty years of experience leading increasingly complex payment initiatives for corporate clients and advising financial institutions and payment technologists on the development of their payment capabilities.
Erin is also the founder of Forte Financial, a consulting firm focused on corporate finance efficiency, technology, and process improvement. She is a past president of the Financial Women’s Association of San Francisco and also a two-term past president of the San Francisco Treasury Management Association. Erin is no longer with Glenbrook, but contributed greatly during her time at the firm.