The Trial Balance is CFO.com’s weekly preview of stories, stats and events to help you prepare.
Part 1 — PCAOB gets a lifeline, will remain in place
Last week, a Senate parliamentarian blocked a Republican-led effort to eliminate the PCAOB through the budget reconciliation process, ruling that a provision in the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” to defund the audit regulator and shift its responsibilities to the SEC is a policy change and not a budget matter. That means it would need 60 votes in the Senate to pass, a near impossibility in the current political landscape.
Though the decision may look like a matter of semantics, the stakes are real for CFOs. Budget reconciliation allows legislation to pass the Senate with a simple majority only if it directly impacts spending or revenue. The PCAOB provision, although framed as a budget cut, was viewed as a structural overhaul of audit oversight. Under the Byrd rule, this constitutes a policy change, which is subject to a 60-vote threshold.
The ruling keeps the PCAOB alive for now, but highlights concern for the ongoing political interests that play into reshaping audit oversight. Though the organization released a statement in late April, AICPA CEO Mark Koziel has stayed formally neutral about the topic. However, it was reported that Koziel said he was indifferent to eliminating the PCAOB while on stage at a recent conference. In the statement, it says AICPA leadership supports “healthy oversight” of firms that audit public companies.
Some lawmakers have argued the PCAOB’s enforcement approach has become too aggressive under current leadership, while others have questioned whether the board is still necessary as a standalone body. The provision in the bill would have folded its responsibilities into the SEC, which currently is responsible for appointing PCAOB board members.
Part 2 — This week
Here’s a list of important market events slated for the week ahead.
Monday, June 23
Tuesday, June 24
- Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testifies to the House Financial Services Committee
- Consumer confidence, June
Wednesday, June 25
Thursday, June 26
- Durable-goods orders, May
- Initial jobless claims, week ending June 21
- GDP, Q1 second revision
Friday, June 27
- Consumer sentiment, June final
- PCE index, May
- Core PCE index, May
Part 3 — The CFO-CTO relationship at LegitScript
This week, CFO.com will publish a story about the relationship between compliance and risk monitoring provider LegitScript’s CFO, Jaylene Kunze, and Tom Cook, its chief product and technology officer. As both are fairly new to their roles, they break down how they are dividing up responsibilities, working under the guidance of a private equity firm that Cook has a professional relationship with, how they’re evaluating success in each of their roles and more.
