Finance leaders: Say hello to the fragmented and increasingly complex world of electronic invoicing, where if something is amiss, expect a call from regulators.

Experts gave CFO Brew a glimpse into the patchwork landscape of invoicing regulations that, like a tear in space-time between real-world Hawkins, Indiana, and the Upside Down, can spill over to the world of the CFO.

CFOs may be tempted to pass invoicing compliance responsibilities entirely onto another leader, such as the chief procurement officer, without giving the topic much thought if any at all, according to Markus Hornburg, SVP of global compliance at Basware, an e-invoicing software developer.

Yet, countries are creating what Hornburg described as “a CCTV environment for business transactions” where regulators review invoices even before goods trade hands. If an organization’s invoices aren’t up to snuff, “then governments will rip you apart every single time they create an audit,” he told CFO Brew.

Keep reading.—AZ

Don’t worry—there’s no need for ladder drills, shuttle runs, or excessive sweating. You can increase your agility with AI, automation, and low-code development instead.

All the details and tactical steps will be laid out for you at the upcoming AWS webinar. Guest speakers from Forrester and other industry leaders will share what you need to know + what you need to do to optimize your operations.

Specifically, you can expect to learn how to:

• Reduce costs and improve ROI with automation.
• Accelerate application development with low-code/no-code solutions.
• Optimize performance and security with integrated automation.

Block out Aug. 28 on your calendar, grab a colleague or two, and get ready to discover solutions for simplicity.

Secure your spot today.

An insurance check may not give the angry, grounded flyers affected by the global CrowdStrike/Microsoft outage their lost weekend back, but it should help businesses recoup a fraction of the losses they experienced.

The CrowdStrike outage cost insurers between $300 million and $3 billion in payouts each, reinsurance broker Guy Carpenter estimated in a new report.

The outage came after the cybersecurity company flubbed an update according to a CrowdStrike incident summary. While the outage on July 19 disrupted businesses globally, only “a small percentage of Microsoft devices” were disrupted and fewer than 1% of companies with cyber insurance were impacted, according to the Guy Carpenter report.

CrowdStrike quickly introduced a fix, the reinsurance broker noted, which means many organizations were up and running “before the waiting period expired for business interruption claims,” which is typically “between four to 12 hours in cyber insurance policies.”

An accidental system failure like this one doesn’t rack up expenses like a malicious attack, which is associated with fun things like “forensic expenses, breach counsel, data restoration and extortion costs,” the report noted.

For more, click here.—AZ

The hunt for talent is still going strong, a Personiv survey of finance and accounting leaders shows.

More than 8 in 10 (83%) of the 278 finance and accounting leaders who took part in the talent-outsourcing firm’s 2024 CFO Pulse survey said there’s a shortage of accounting talent, compared with 70% who said the same in 2022 and 63% in 2020. However, only 10% of those who said there’s a talent shortage said the problem is worsening.

Respondents had an average of two open accounting roles in their organizations, with some reporting up to five openings. A quarter of respondents said they anticipate needing to hire a staff accountant in the next 12 months, and 20% said the same about senior accountants. Senior leadership said the role of staff accountant was the easiest to fill and controller was the hardest. Nine in 10 CFOs said they outsource at least some accounting functions.

Keep reading.—AZ

Keep an on your industry. Take a peek at how your peers are spending with Ramp’s business spending benchmark report. See spend trends for thousands of Ramp customers + get a clear look at emerging vendors. Dig into the deets of how much companies are spending on AI + more.