Return of Office Happy Hours, MLB Swings Away and Kautz Family Fintech: Trial Balance

by James · March 27, 2023

The Silicon Valley Bank ( SVB ) saga may be winding down (short of the inevitable lawsuits), as First Citizens BancShares has agreed to buy the collapsed bank’s loans and deposits. But in order for the lessons not to disappear, be sure to reflect CFOs coverage, including senior reporter Vincent Ryan’s “5 Tips for Managing Bank Risk,” his coverage of Fed Chair Powell’s comments, and the CFO’s new handy downloadable checklist for mitigating the risk of individual bank failure.

Thursday is also National Doctors’ Day. We hope you get a chance to recognize your fellow doctors.

(The Trial Balance is the CFO’s weekly preview of stories, statistics and events to help you prepare.)

Table of Contents

Part 1: It’s five o’clock somewhere

Have you had a cold with a colleague lately?

This week, reporter Adam Zaki delves into the use of alcohol in one company’s recreational activities, and how executives, managers and entry-level employees deal with the “work hard, play hard” aspects of corporate life.

The different ways people now approach work, Gen-Z’s growth in the workforce, and even the cannabis industry’s efforts to offset itself with alcohol will play a big role in how tomorrow’s happy hours and corporate events will be approached, executed, and measured for cultural value. (March 31)

Part 2: Financial calendar

Monday — Fed Governor Philip Jefferson, an economist, speaks at Washington & Lee University.

Tuesday — Data on wholesale and retail inventories, the S&P Case-Shiller home price index and the US merchandise trade balance.

The American consumer confidence index (The Conference Board’s) has been released. It fell 3 points in February, and economists predict another small drop for March.

The Senate Banking Committee is holding a hearing on federal regulators’ response to the failures of Silicon Valley and Signature Banks. Witnesses include Michael Barr, the Fed’s deputy chairman for oversight, and Nellie Liang, Treasury’s undersecretary for domestic finance.

Wednesday — The House Financial Services Committee is holding its own hearing on federal regulators’ handling of the recent banking crisis.

Are CFOs as pessimistic about the US economy as they were last December? Duke’s Fuqua School of Business and the Richmond Federal Reserve Bank will release their joint CFO survey in the first quarter. The CFO’s expectations for unit costs, prices, revenue growth and wages will be closely followed.

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz is scheduled to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee about labor practices at the coffee chain.

Thursday — Opening Day for Major League Baseball. For the first time since 1968, all 30 teams will play.

Will the labor market begin to weaken? Economists forecast a small increase in weekly jobless claims to 196,000 from last week’s 191,000.

Federal Reserve Maturities is the weekly report on US bank borrowing from the Fed’s discount window and other facilities, including the new Bank Term Funding Program. As the banks strengthen their liquidity, borrowing has increased.

Friday — Figures for US personal spending, personal income and the personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index will headline the day. Economists expect core PCE to have risen 4.7% year-on-year, flat with January’s reading. Personal income is estimated to have increased, but modestly. A smaller increase in expenditure (0.3%) is forecast than January’s robust 1.8%.

A canary in the coal mine for banking problems? The weekly H.8 release from the Fed (assets and liabilities of US commercial banks) is usually monitored for data on growth in consumer and corporate loans (assets). But the debt side has been central recently, as deposit outflows continue in some domestic banks.

Earnings announcements this week — A busy week of earnings reports from life sciences and pharmaceutical companies. Earnings releases are also scheduled for McCormick & Co., Walgreens Boots Alliance, Lululemon Athletica, Dave & Buster’s Entertainment, Paychex, Sprinklr, Micron Technology, Cal-Maine Foods and HB Fuller.

Part 3: Seeing the big picture

A father and son’s journey to disrupt the accounting landscape

This week CFO concludes our three-part series exploring a father and son’s journey to create a fintech company. When accountant Derek Kautz saw an opportunity to create a better lease accounting system, his finance veteran father, Greg Kautz, didn’t hesitate to join him in the new venture.

Greg said his previous CFO experience gives them a high-level perspective when making decisions.

“Because we can see the whole business, we can balance the financial side with corporate planning, development and operations,” he said. (March 30)