This is part of our occasional series on CFOs’ first day on their current job.

Coffey Modica, an insurance defense litigation firm, is in expansion mode. Founded in 2021, the law firm has nearly 100 staffers and six offices in three states.

Its new CFO, Peter Gould, is helping the firm continue on its growth trajectory.

In announcing the hire, Coffey Modica made clear it brought on Gould in large part because of his experience helping companies achieve growth.

“[Gould] is adept at identifying, managing and achieving a company’s KPIs and I have no doubt that together with Peter’s guidance, Coffey Modica will achieve greater market presence and an even larger platform to deliver its unique style of strategic legal counsel for insurers and the companies and business leaders they insure,” Michael Coffey, founding partner, said in a statement.

Gould recently spoke with CFO Brew about what the first weeks of his tenure were like and the first tasks he intends to tackle as CFO.

Click here to keep reading how this CFO manages for growth.—AZ

Republicans in the House Financial Services Committee voted to advance a proposal that would eliminate the PCAOB and fold its functions into the SEC, as part of negotiations around the US budget package. The vote was 30–22 along party lines, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Erica Williams, chair of the PCAOB, denounced the draft legislation. “History tells us that when the economy is tight, the risk of fraud goes up. And the stakes are high,” she told the WSJ. “With millions of Americans invested in the stock market, including through 401(k)s and pensions, auditors need to perform their audits with more care than ever. Now is not the time for a major disruption in audit oversight.”

The PCAOB was created by the Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) Act in 2002 to increase investors’ confidence in the stock market in the wake of the Enron and WorldCom scandals. Williams reminded listeners of that history in an April 29 speech at the PCAOB Investor Advisory Group Meeting, in which she said she was “deeply troubled” by the threat to the PCAOB. Following those scandals, “investors lost billions of dollars in savings, workers lost their jobs and their retirement, and trust in our markets eroded,” she said.

SEC ≠ PCAOB: There’s been a longstanding debate over whether the SEC could or could not take over the PCAOB’s functions. Paul Atkins, the current SEC chair, has long been critical of the PCAOB.

For more on the potential impacts of PCAOB’s dissolution, click here.—CV

It’s tech earnings season! And amid the tariff chaos and predictions of a recession, you know who still comes out on top? Yeah, it’s the tech billionaires. At least for now.

Microsoft, Meta, Google, Amazon, and Apple all outperformed analyst expectations. Although the results only reflect the companies’ status through March 31, before Trump’s tariff torpedo in April.

Microsoft reported its best-ever quarterly revenue, topping Wall Street’s predictions of $68.4 billion with $70.1 billion. Google reported earnings of $90.2 billion over a forecast $89.1 billion.

Meta reported $42.3 billion in revenue—a cool billion over the forecast $41.3 billion. Perhaps advertisers were taking advantage of consumers rushing to score the last wave of tariff-free merchandise; advertising revenue for Meta came in at $41.4 billion over an expected $40.5 billion.

Amazon also beat Wall Street predictions, coming in with quarterly earnings of $155.7 billion over an expected $155.1 billion. The online retail giant hedged its bets for the current quarter, anticipating up to $17.5 billion in income, while analysts were expecting to hear a number closer to $17.8 billion.

Click here to keep reading about tech’s doubleplusgood quarter.—JK

Over the past 25 years, finance and accounting have evolved from back-office roles to strategic powerhouses. CFO Brew’s Quarter Century Project explores the events and innovations that redefined the profession—and what’s next.