The Trump administration’s tariffs program landed with a bang, crashing markets worldwide, and now CFOs are called to the front lines to help their businesses navigate the fallout.

Over the last several years, CFOs have been learning how to both plan and react to change—whether through shifts in strategy brought on by the pandemic to learning about advanced technologies (like GenAI). Now with tariffs and overall economic and geopolitical uncertainty, CFOs are forced to, once again, manage through rough terrain.

“This is what we’ve been training for,” Tom Hood, EVP of business growth and engagement at the AICPA, told CFO Brew.

Here’s how past experiences are about to pay off.—AZ

At the end of a week when the economic news ranged from bad to dismal, you could be forgiven for not reading too much into one blip of good-ish news.

But hey, let’s take a look at it anyway. Employers added 228,000 jobs in March, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, marking a solid climb from last month and easily besting the Dow Jones estimate of 140,000. The unemployment rate, however, climbed to 4.2%, up from 4.1% in February.

In the last few years, the solid labor market has driven consumer spending, which keeps the economy chugging along. Basically: We need these healthy job numbers. While the strong jobs report might not ease anyone’s economic fears right now, if we ever get a jobs report showing lackluster hiring, that will really spell trouble.

Is it the calm before the storm? Keep reading here.—NP

It’s turnover time.

CFO turnover among companies on leading global indexes hit 15.1% in 2024, approaching the record global turnover of 16.2% in 2023, according to leadership advisory firm Russell Reynolds’ CFO Turnover Index. Last year 275 new CFOs stepped into the seat, bringing the average CFO tenure to 5.8 years, down from 6.2 in 2023.

Turnover for S&P 500 CFOs was 17.8%. It’s hovered between 17% and 17.8% for the last four years.

One of the main driving factors of the high turnover? Retirement. 54% of outgoing CFOs either retired or transitioned into board roles. Now, 56.6 is the average age when they do so, marking the lowest average in six years, per the report.

The high CFO turnover rate paralleled with the similarly steep CEO turnover figures that the leadership firm has also tracked since 2019. Last year, 202 CEOs departed around the world, a 9% increase from 2023.

Okay, but why? Keep reading here.—NP