The plea deal between former Trump Organization CFO Allen Weisselberg and the Department of Justice was shocking, not just because of the people involved, but because such cases against chief financial officers at that level are still relatively rare. Weisselberg pleaded guilty to raking in ~$1.7 million worth of untaxed extras in his role at former president Donald Trump’s conglomerate.

But prosecutions of white-collar crime may start to become more common: US Attorney General Merrick Garland said earlier this year that “the prosecution of corporate crime is a Justice Department priority.” And while CFOs can be challenging to prosecute since they’re typically well-insulated and often less involved in small, day-to-day transactions, the DOJ has increased staff to investigate and prosecute the growth in corporate fraud.

“We want to hold individuals accountable,” Jason Linder, a former senior federal prosecutor, and co-chair of Mayer Brown’s Anti-Corruption and Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) practice, told CFO Brew. “It is the most effective deterrent to criminal misconduct. Companies getting shaken down for money—eh, that’s a lot of money, that sucks. Those ending up in handcuffs and in prison will deter the next generation of CFOs from thinking about committing the same kind of conduct.”

The staffing needed to investigate, gather evidence, and prosecute cases is significantly greater than in many criminal cases, US Attorney of the Western District of Arkansas David Clay Fowlkes told CFO Brew. “[The] rule of thumb is for every day in court, it requires seven days of preparation,” he said. Continue reading here.—KT

The war for finance and accounting talent is brutal for everyone, but public companies are having a significantly tougher time than private companies, according to a recent survey of 1,200+ hiring managers by Deloitte’s Center for Controllership.

The numbers are rough for public companies, with 82.4% of the public firms surveyed saying that “talent-retention issues among corporate finance pros is a big deal” and 83.2% responding that they are “challenged in attracting” talent according to the survey.

“You’ve got the vast majority of both public and private companies saying they expect to have to work hard to attract and retain talent, and that is going to be a challenge as they look at the year ahead,” said Matt Hurley, a partner with Deloitte Risk and Financial Advisory at Deloitte and Touche.

For private companies, the situation isn’t quite as tough (but it ain’t easy either), with 68.9% saying that retention is an issue and 73.7% reporting that attracting talent is challenging.

While all of this might be a bummer for hiring managers, there is some good news for the finance professionals themselves. The survey found that among finance talent leaving a public organization, 57.9% did so for higher pay and for the private companies, 46.2% left for more money.

And it looks like qualified finance professionals will continue to be in high demand over the next year, as the survey found that increasing workloads, a demand for more technological skills, and overall attrition are the key drivers for hiring in the next 12 months.

But you can’t be any mope off the street. Companies, both private and public, are looking for well-rounded talent with a wide range of skills to address their talent needs.

“There is a need now for accounting and finance professionals to know more than just technical accounting, technical finance skills—it’s more than debits and credits,” Hurley said. “It’s finding those people that have that deep knowledge of accounting and finance but also strong technology acumen to meet the changing needs of the organization.”—DA

Coworking is a weekly segment where we talk to CFOs and others in the finance space about their experiences, their companies, and the larger economy. Let us know if you are—or you know—a CFO we should interview.

David Quinn is CFO of Bluevine, a fintech company that offers online banking and financing solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses. He has more than 20 years of experience in the finance space, and is a founding member of The F Suite, an invitation-only peer community of CFOs who share best practices.

How did you come to work at Bluevine, and why did you think that the CFO role there was a fit for you?

Really what was attractive about Bluevine is: one, that the mission is very focused on small businesses. And [two], 99% of the jobs in the US are coming out of small businesses; it’s just such a hugely impactful area.

What are you hearing from Bluevine clients or from small businesses that you’re working with—what are their top concerns at the moment?

It looks like the core fundamentals of the economy are still performing really well. You’ve got this specter of recession, which depends on which measures you take. Some say we’re already in a recession, but with this level of low unemployment and low rates, we’re not exactly there yet. Continue reading here.—KL

Stat: $1.2 billion. That’s how much Peloton, the connected fitness-equipment company, lost in the most recent quarter, as it continues its post-pandemic restructuring efforts. (the Wall Street Journal)

Quote: “But to expect logic and decency from a large corporation in America is an act of folly.”—Lillian Allen, a barista at a Starbucks in Austin, Texas, which is trying to unionize. (Vox)

Read: An office bromance is cut short after one squash partner wears a wire and blows the whistle on the other. (Bloomberg)