INTHEBLACK March 2025 - Magazine - Page 13
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Research, reports and video for accountants and finance professionals
CPA Australia
VIDEO
Accelerating sustainable finance
World Economic Forum: Accelerating Sustainable Finance
This short four-episode series
showcases global thought leaders’
ideas about how financial systems
can support net-zero goals. It delves
into technology opportunities, the
net-zero transition in emerging
markets and the role of key market
infrastructures. As featured speaker
Mark Carney, UN special envoy
for climate action and finance, says:
“We need to transition the energy
system on the scale of the industrial
revolution — at the speed of the
digital transformation. In order to
do that, we’re going to need
a fundamental transformation, really
a revolution, in the financial system.”
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Watch the series
ARTICLE
PODCAST
REPORT
CFO power and audit quality
What will it take for working
women to rise?
2025 state of payroll
compliance report
This episode of The McKinsey Podcast
reflects upon 10 years of McKinsey
research on women in the workplace,
conducted in partnership with
Lean In. Team members discuss what
has improved and what has
deteriorated for women during this
time. While gains have been made
in C-suite representation, for example,
women remain under-represented
at every stage of the corporate
pipeline. Hoping to encourage
companies to reinforce their
commitment to gender equity,
the presenters consider different
approaches to drive progress at
a faster pace.
With intentional underpayment
of wages or entitlements now
a criminal offence in Australia,
organisations face mounting pressure
to manage payroll compliance risks.
Yet the latest survey by payroll tech
firm Yellow Canary has found that less
than a quarter of Australian businesses
have adopted proactive payroll
compliance technology. In addition,
17 per cent still rely on manual
processes, leaving them vulnerable
to payroll inaccuracies and
reputational and financial damage.
This report offers insights into how
businesses are adapting to the new
criminal underpayment laws and
how technology solutions can help.
Listen to the podcast
Read the report
Published in the December 2024 issue
of the Australian Accounting Review,
this article investigates the impact
CFOs have on audit quality. The
authors analysed non-financial firms
listed on the Australian Securities
Exchange (ASX) from 2001 to 2015,
using audit fees and accruals quality
as the two proxies for audit quality.
They found a link between “powerful”
CFOs and low levels of audit quality,
suggesting that some may “pursue an
agenda of self-interest”. These results
could inform the creation of new
legislation that strengthens governance
structures within firms to keep CFOs
in check.
Read the article
intheblack.cpaaustralia.com.au 13
