Accounting once ran on a whole lot of dead trees.

Jim Bourke, a partner at accounting firm Withum who’s been with the firm since 1987, remembers those days. Before the cloud, if you asked your accountant for a copy of an old tax return, for instance, “it could be a couple of weeks by the time you get it,” he told CFO Brew.

Staff would need to get it out of the physical file room at the office, photocopy it, and either mail it to you or have you pick it up, he said. (And cross your fingers that no one shelved your paperwork in the wrong file.)

The advent of cloud-based accounting software changed all that. The cloud “was a revolution,” according to Bourke, who, as managing director of his firm’s advisory services branch, has helped many firms build out their tech stacks.

SaaS made it possible for accountants to work remotely, to hire and find clients from pretty much anywhere with internet access, and to provide clients with faster and more convenient service. But getting firms on the cloud hasn’t all been smooth sailing.

See our Quarter Century Project timeline for more on the introduction of cloud accounting software.—CV

Even though the SEC has effectively dropped the climate disclosure rule for public corporations, it doesn’t mean that sustainability reporting requirements are gone entirely. Many organizations must still comply with climate disclosure laws in California and the EU.

Under those laws, companies continue to be tasked with reporting emissions and environmental impacts, and many organizations are shifting ESG reporting to the finance team, which is already well-versed in tracking, compliance, and audits.

Centering ESG in the finance department moves sustainability issues from reputational and mission concerns into a core business function, according to experts who spoke with CFO Brew.

“Finance controls the heartbeat processes of companies,” Brigham McNaughton, partner in PwC’s sustainability practice, told CFO Brew. “Being able to just have sustainability at the table, the considerations embedded on all those is going to be incredibly powerful. And that’s the work we’re starting to see happen more.”

Favored status. According to Kate Gordon, CEO of California Forward, a sustainability advocacy group, and a former senior advisor to the US energy secretary, integrating sustainability into finance means it will now be discussed in more concrete terms businesspeople care about—money and risk.

How is finance changing the strategic importance of sustainability?—JK

The latest US economic vibe check showed that people still aren’t feeling it.

US retail sales slumped 0.9% in May compared to April (but were up 3.3% YoY), according to the Commerce Department. This marks the “second straight monthly drop” in retail sales, Reuters noted. The outlet added that these numbers, combined with marginal job growth in April and declines in manufacturing activity, hinted that “domestic demand was softening.”

Vehicle and auto parts sales declined 3.5% from April. Sales decreased by 2.7% at building materials and garden equipment stores, and by 0.7% at food and beverage stores. Meanwhile, sales increased on a monthly basis at furniture stores (1.2%) and clothing stores (0.8%).

Consumers went on a spending spree in March ahead of expected new tariffs, but their buying “has downshifted markedly since then,” CNN reported.

“Any time you get a pullback in consumer spending, it tends to lead to a slowdown in overall GDP and broader economic activity, which feeds in to slower sales, hiring and in turn slower income growth,” Gregory Daco, chief economist at EY, told CNN.

Keep reading here.—AZ