As part of an occasional series on dealing with a possible recession, we’re asking CFOs and other finance pros who have been through a recession before how they’re gearing up in case the economy does contract in the coming months.

The drumbeat of economic doom can be a little hard to bear for finance departments that have dealt with so much tumult since 2020: a global pandemic, a steep but short recession, and the Great Resignation.

But now is not the time for complacency, says veteran CFO Jenny Bloom. She’s seen a lot of economic upheaval in her 35-year finance career, including facing the Great Recession as CFO of Mailchimp in 2008 and navigating the pandemic as CFO of Zapier. She’s now working with several organizations as a fractional CFO.

CFO Brew spoke to Bloom about what she learned from the 2008 recession, what she thinks finance departments should be doing to prepare for another recession, and the skills finance professionals will need to weather an upcoming economic storm.

How did the 2008 recession unfold for you, and how did it impact your business?

I was at MailChimp, and [in] 2008, it was still kind of the beginning for them. They started out in 2001 as a web-design agency, and then they switched fully to MailChimp in 2007. So in 2008, they were really still just ramping up. We were just a scrappy startup.

One of the things we did that I think was super helpful was we saw companies having problems with spending and paying bills, and email was a great way to market to customers. So between 2008 and 2010, 2011, we increased our freemium plan three times, in effect, lowering prices three times because we really wanted to help our customers. That paid off in the long run. Read more here.—DA

Environmental, social, and governance themes, dubbed ESG, have become ubiquitous in the business world over the past decade as employees, investors, and wider stakeholders take an interest in the corporate community’s impact on society.

Talk is cheap, action is expensive: Since 2020, some businesses have begun to answer the ESG calls from stakeholders. More than 400 US businesses have joined the Science Based Targets initiative, which requires them to set net-zero targets to transition to a carbon-neutral business mode. In addition, many businesses have committed to establishing more diverse boards. But, vague commitments only go so far.

DWS, Deutsche Bank’s asset management arm and Goldman Sachs’s asset management division are being investigated by the SEC for allegedly claiming to have greener funds than they actually do. This behavior, known as “greenwashing,” can mislead investors and other stakeholders.

ESG misbehavior: While many are familiar with financial fraud, ESG guidelines are still being set. “Typically, when we think about fraud, it’s something that’s been prosecuted in a court of law and someone’s intent has been proven,” Linda Miller, a principal in Grant Thornton’s fraud and financial crimes department, told CFO Brew. “There’s a wide spectrum of behavior that falls under the umbrella of what we’re calling ‘ESG fraud,’ but really it’s misbehavior.”

Miller gave an example of potential fraud: What happens if a company learns that a supplier is using forced labor, but just doesn’t ask questions because of previous sustainability commitments? “Is it fraud that you know that and you’re not telling anybody? It could be here soon,” Miller said. Read more here.—KT

Finance professionals will need to adapt quickly to crises while juggling multiple responsibilities as the global risk environment becomes more volatile, complex, and unpredictable, according to a new survey.

And much of that agility will need to come from the technological transformations often being led by the finance function.

Risk-management strategies should be an integrated part of every business process and function to support effective strategic decision-making according to PwC’s 2022 Global Risk Survey. This is becoming especially true as organizations continue to develop sophisticated data analytics and scenario modeling. Speed and flexibility will be key to responding to risk and disruption and can provide effective organizations with a competitive advantage.

The PwC survey, which included 3,584 business, risk, audit, and compliance executives, found that organizations are also ponying up to boost their risk management tech capabilities: “Three-quarters of executives are planning on increasing spending across data analytics, process automation and technology to support the detection and monitoring of risks.”

Businesses are also finding opportunity even as supply-chain disruption, economic strain, geopolitical upheaval, and perilous cyberthreats exacerbate the risk landscape. Almost a quarter of the organizations in the survey saw measurable benefits “from defining or resetting risk appetite and risk thresholds.”

The survey found that businesses that “embrace risk management capabilities as a strategic organisational capability” as a matter of policy were more confident and optimistic about their ability to deliver on business objectives.—DA

Stat: $13. That’s how much a nightclub in Ibiza, Spain, is charging for a Coca-Cola, as businesses there try to make up for revenue lost during the pandemic. (CNBC)

Quote: “My biggest concern is not being able to get to work to make any money. You have to pretty much rob Peter to pay Paul.”—Amazon warehouse worker Albert Elliott of North Carolina, who took on a second job to cover the rising costs of gas and food. (the Washington Post)

Read: Amazon CEO Andy Jassy takes a different, more direct approach with lawmakers in Washington compared to his predecessor Jeff Bezos. (the New York Times)

Last week in the Most Online Drama of 2022, Twitter sued Elon Musk after the Tesla CEO said he wanted to terminate his $44 billion bid to buy the social media platform.

We asked you whether you thought Twitter’s CFO would stay with the company. Here are the results, courtesy of 1,280 CFO Brew readers:

• 24% said yes.
• A whopping 60% said no (sorry, my dude).
• And 15% said maybe. It might depend on what the two sides get up to this week and beyond, so stay tuned.