PASBA
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
According to a 2018 survey conducted by Palo Alto Software, the owners of start-ups expressed interest in having an accountant assist them with a variety of tasks. Tax planning and revenue forecasting tied at 71 percent while bookkeeping, key performance indicators, monthly management reporting, and business strategy and planning tied at 61 percent.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
When Zohr Co-Founder and CEO Komal Choong and Co-founder and COO Anoop Choong were in college, they would flip cars and car parts on the side. While they were buying and selling a lot of those vehicles, Komal told PYMNTS in an interview that “we realized how painful the experience was for the consumer going into a traditional tire shop or repair facility.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Katz,Sapper&Miller
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019
INDIANAPOLIS, IN – Katz, Sapper & Miller (KSM) has been named one of the “Best of the Best” accounting firms in the country by INSIDE Public Accounting (IPA) for an 18th time.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
With an expansion of its Grocery Delivery membership option for customers, Walmart plans to grow the reach of Delivery Unlimited to 1,400 stores later this autumn. The offering allows shoppers to pay a monthly or yearly fee to get unlimited Walmart Grocery Delivery orders. Shoppers, however, can still pay a per-delivery fee without a membership, the company said in an announcement.
Speaker: Dave Sackett
Traditional budgeting and forecasting methods can no longer keep pace with today’s rapidly evolving business environment. Static budgets, rigid annual forecasts, and outdated financial models limit an organization’s ability to adapt to market shifts and economic uncertainty. To stay ahead, finance leaders must leverage a future-forward approach—one that leverages real-time data, predictive analytics, and continuous planning to drive smarter financial decisions.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 13, 2019
Voice recognition could soon play a bigger role in retail — especially in the world of quick service restaurants. That’s the signal sent recently by McDonald’s. The fast food operator recently announced an agreement to acquire Apprente. The company said in an announcement that the arrangement is another bold step in advancing employee- as well as customer-facing innovations while bolstering the technological capabilities of the chain.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 11, 2019
To find out if Amazon is utilizing its market power to hurt competition, a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) team of investigators has started to interview small businesses that sell items on Amazon. Multiple attorneys, as well as one economist at a minimum, have been conducting interviews that tend to last roughly an hour and a half that cover many topics, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday (Sept. 11), citing unnamed merchants.
Accountant Advocate brings together the best content for small business accounting professionals from the widest variety of industry thought leaders.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019
Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) are starting to play a bigger role in retail, foreshadowing what’s to come in the new decade of the 2020s. Walmart , for instance, hopes to reduce checkout theft by turning to cameras powered by AI, with deployments underway in some 1,000 stores. “The retailer began investing in the surveillance program, dubbed Missed Scan Detection, several years ago in an effort to combat shrinkage – loss due to several causes including theft, scanning err
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
PepsiCo announced it has launched its first-ever cash-back loyalty program, PepCoin by PepsiCo. Through the program, customers will earn cash rewards when they purchase a single-serve PepsiCo beverage and Frito-Lay snack together (each must be specially marked). They only need to scan the codes on the bag and under the bottle cap with their smartphone.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
Walmart has revealed it is testing out a fee-based service called “Fulfilled by Walmart.”. The company’s U.S. eCommerce chief, Marc Lore, announced the news at an industry conference this week, explaining the service aims to help Walmart’s online unit generate more revenue, as well as enable it to move more items from third-party merchants. Lore did not provide any further details, according to Bloomberg.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 13, 2019
Amazon will host an event on Sept. 25 in Seattle to introduce new products and services. According to CNBC , the eCommerce giant is expected to debut new hardware for its Echo family, as well as launch new products. At last year’s event, Amazon announced 15 Alexa-enabled products, including a microwave, new Amazon Echo products, a wall clock with Alexa built-in and more.
Speaker: Erroll Amacker
As businesses increasingly adopt automation, finance leaders must navigate the delicate balance between technology and human expertise. This webinar explores the critical role of human oversight in accounts payable (AP) automation and how a people-centric approach can drive better financial performance. Join us for an insightful discussion on how integrating human expertise into automated workflows enhances decision-making, reduces fraud risks, strengthens vendor relationships, and accelerates R
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 9, 2019
Starting on Oct. 6, Target reportedly plans to bring its revamped loyalty offering nationwide. The Target Circle program offers birthday rewards as well as other personalized coupons, CNBC reported. The company noted that over two million people enrolled in the program over an 18-month period and have made over 14 million transactions. (The offering does not require a person to have a Target credit card or pay a membership fee.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 13, 2019
Brick-and-mortar retailers are doubling down on digital as they look to staff their stores for the busy holiday shopping season. Target , for instance, plans to bring on over 130,000 seasonal team members, with “a twofold increase in the number of roles focused on fulfilling digital orders from its stores.”. The company notes that roughly 125,000 team members will fill different types of roles at over 1,800 brick-and-mortar locations.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019
Sometimes innovation in the commerce and payments space is a matter of a new technology or a new process. As recent news from the fulfillment world demonstrates, sometimes the Big New Thing is merely an extra floor or two in a warehouse. That’s the story involving Amazon (and, it seems, The Home Depot as well). The eCommerce operator reportedly is leasing some 500,000 square feet of space in a three-story warehouse in Amazon’s hometown of Seattle, according to The Wall Street Journal.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019
Global payments technology provider EVO Payments announced it has purchased SAP firm Delego Software, EVO said in a press release on Tuesday (Sept. 10). Delego has deep roots in technology and was originally launched in 1997 as an SAP consulting business. It is now among the most powerful SAP companies for B2B users. . EVO’s B2B customers have already used Delego’s SAP integrations and payment solutions under an earlier partnership agreement, according to the press release.
Advertisement
Based off SkyStem's popular e-Book, the book of secrets to the month-end close will be revealed in this one-hour webinar. Learn leading practices when it comes to building a strong and sustainable month-end close that has room to grow and evolve. Learn about the power of precise estimates, why reconciliations are critical to closing the books, how and when to automate, and how the chart of accounts play into your close process.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 13, 2019
With aspirations to make projects like Facebook ’s Libra redundant, euro zone central banks and governments are at work on a plan to roll out a public cryptocurrency. The bloc is also going after a stricter approach from a regulatory perspective in the event that Libra should ask for authorizations to operate on the continent, Reuters reported. Work on the European Central Bank (ECB) project began prior to Libra’s rollout and could last months or years.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019
Customers of the WePay platform can now get faster deposits to their JPMorgan Chase bank accounts, CNBC reported on Tuesday (Sept. 10). “With other payment processors, when a small business is looking to get paid, it can take 24, 48, sometimes 72 hours over the weekend for that payment to hit,” Bill Clerico, CEO of WePay , told CNBC. “Because we are a bank [as well as a payments processor], we can deposit their credit-card proceeds the same day, including weekends, at no additional cost.”.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 11, 2019
The regulatory landscape has become stricter – and more expensive – as enterprises and FIs grapple with fraudsters and seek to protect data and dollars. In the latest AML/KYC Tracker , the costs of lapses and breaches become apparent, even anecdotally, as measured in fines and exposed records. AML and KYC investments are growing in importance when it comes time to do battle against external (and internal) threats.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 11, 2019
Virtual reality could have more retailers reach more consumers in the coming few years — in large part by upping the consumer experience. Already, trends are emerging that promise to play out with greater steam in the 2020s. Location-based virtual reality (VR) startup The Void is partnering with mall operator Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW) to open 25 new entertainment outposts in the U.S. and Europe by 2022.
Speaker: Anna Tiomina, MBA
AI is reshaping industries, yet finance remains one of the slowest adopters. Concerns over compliance, legacy systems, and data silos have made finance teams hesitant to embrace AI-driven transformation. But delaying adoption isn’t just about efficiency—it’s about staying competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape. How can finance leaders overcome these challenges and start leveraging AI effectively?
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
Mastercard is launching a new business-to-business (B2B) payment ecosystem to streamline and simplify transactions between suppliers and sellers. The Mastercard Track Business Payment Service is the first global open-loop commercial service built to automate payments between the world’s suppliers and buyers. “The business world has accelerated, but the payments that enable it are stuck in neutral – paper checks and manual invoicing need to be scrapped, man-hours need to be applied to more
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 9, 2019
China’s second-quarter economic data shows a 6.2 percent growth; however, economists and investors believe the numbers are worse than what is being officially released, The Wall Street Journal reported. . China’s reported data came in close to Beijing’s target, a figure that has been published quarterly for the past 4.5 years. But a multinational index of Chinese production indicates a much smaller growth coupled with fewer workers returning to their jobs.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 11, 2019
According to the new Simplifying Cross-Border Payments Playbook , there are five key criteria that an ideal cross-border payment solution should meet: speed, security, compliance, transparency and ubiquity. Currently, there are 57 real-time payments rails operating in more than 72 countries, with even more under construction. So, what’s the problem?
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 12, 2019
Financial services providers that slack on regulatory compliance and fail to safeguard their operations against money laundering, terrorist financing and other criminal activities may face damaged reputations and significant fines. Compliance failures are prevalent worldwide: Approximately $26 billion worth of fines were levied against banks for AML, KYC and sanctions noncompliance between 2008 and 2018.
Speaker: Joe Wroblewski, Senior Sales Engineer
Is your tech stack working for you—or are you working for it ? 🤖 In today’s world of automation and AI, technology should simplify workflows—not add complexity. Seamless integration and interconnectivity are key to maximizing productivity, optimizing workflows, and improving collaboration. Join expert Joe Wroblewski for a practical and insightful session on how you can build a smarter, more connected tech stack that drives efficiency and long-term success!
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 9, 2019
For Big Tech , expect fireworks for fall, or a September to remember. This Thursday (Sept. 12), the House Judiciary Antitrust Subcommittee will hold a hearing on issues top of mind in the digital realm — touching on how data and privacy affect competition online, and specifically, for online marketplaces. The witness list is varied and international in scope.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019
Where there are exchanges — where assets change hands between buyers and sellers — there are myriad ways to make money. Maybe on the trading itself. In the land of cryptos, there’s been a long running debate, unlikely to be settled soon, over what a given coin or offering is “worth.” It can be a knotty argument, given the fact that, in many cases, even the most marquee of cryptocurrencies , such as bitcoin, are not inherently backed by a hard asset, or by a peg to a currency or basket of currenc
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 9, 2019
Microsoft President Brad Smith is concerned about how thieves are weaponizing tech, and he is berating Facebook for allowing it to fester on its network, The Washington Post reported on Sunday (Sept. 8). Smith said social media companies should not make money from “hatemongers posting vile content” and then duck liability. “Digital technology has become both a tool and a weapon, and we need to address that head-on,” Smith said in an interview with the WP.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019
Businesses that fail to comply with anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) regulations risk major regulator fines and irreparable damage to customer relationships when something goes wrong. Companies therefore must either invest in teams of AML specialists or in fraud-fighting technologies. . Not all solutions are easy to adopt, however.
Speaker: Melissa Hurrington
Finance isn’t just about the numbers. It’s about the people behind them. In a world of constant disruption, resilient finance teams aren’t just operationally efficient. They are adaptable, engaged, and deeply connected to a strong organizational culture. Success lies at the intersection of people, culture, adaptability, and resilience. Finance leaders who master this balance will build teams that thrive through uncertainty and drive long-term business impact.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 8, 2019
Monster.com was the victim of a data breach caused by an exposed web server, but failed to inform users about the incident. The server held the resumes of job applicants spanning 2014 and 2017, and included private information such as phone numbers, home addresses, email addresses and prior work experience. TechCrunch reviewed many of the documents and reported that most of those impacted were located in the United States.
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 10, 2019
The world’s first blockchain-enabled smartphone will debut in Bangladesh , India. As reported by Cointelegraph , the phone, dubbed Finney , will be available to buy in Bangladesh and has been approved by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission. The phone has been approved to be imported and will be available starting next month. The phone, according to reports, was developed by Sirin Labs and offers a “built-in cold storage wallet … and a decentralized application ecosystem,” said
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 11, 2019
The Libra Association is petitioning the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority ( FINMA ) for a Swiss payment system license for its planned Libra cryptocurrency, Reuters reported on Wednesday (Sept. 11). . “Due to the issuance of Libra payment tokens, the services planned by the Libra project would clearly go beyond those of a pure payment system,” FINMA said in a statement to Reuters. .
PYMNTS
SEPTEMBER 11, 2019
Rumors of the death of the password , to paraphrase Mark Twain, are not all that greatly exaggerated. But, boy, is the password hanging on — and certainly not going gently into that good night. Chalk it up to a matter of time, Philipp Pointner , chief product officer of Jumio , told Karen Webster in a PYMNTS interview, detailing what needs to happen before the password finally gives up its last gasp — and perhaps sooner rather than later.
Advertisement
Is your finance team bogged down by endless data requests and disorganized spreadsheets during the month-end close? It’s time to consider a better option – automate with ART! SkyStem’s solution works alongside your ERP to transform the close and account reconciliation process and speed up month-end work. Explore SkyStem’s ART - the award-winning account reconciliation automation platform - and receive a $100 Amazon gift card as a thank you for your time.
Expert insights. Personalized for you.
188 
Let's personalize your content