As you may have heard, a little thing called Artificial Intelligence, or “AI,” is all the rage in accounting right now. AI will make accounting careers more enjoyable, the storyline goes, by automating manual drudgery and freeing up staff to perform (all together now) higher-value work.

But accountants aren’t ready to abandon their spreadsheets just yet. In fact, a recent survey from FP&A platform Datarails found that they have strong feelings about that 40-year-old workhorse of the finance function: Microsoft Excel.

A firm majority—82%—of the 212 US and UK finance professionals, including CFOs and accountants, who participated in the survey said they have a “high or moderate emotional attachment” to the software. Nearly half (45%) said they “love” Excel, while a similar proportion (43%) describe their relationship with it as “love-hate.” And more than half said they’d decline a job at a company where they couldn’t use Excel.

Trust is a big factor, according to Morgan Wilson, founder of creditte chartered accountants & advisors. Excel “shows what’s really happening without hiding behind dashboards,” Wilson told CFO Brew. “When a deadline is tight or someone wants an answer now, Excel is where the numbers get pulled apart, gut-checked, and tested against reality.”

Even Gen Zers and millennials are Excel fans. Nearly four in five (78%) Datarails respondents aged 22 to 35 said they’ve got a “high or moderate attachment” to the ’sheets.

But perhaps that shouldn’t be surprising…

Keep reading.—CV

Money can’t buy you love, as former New Edition member Ralph Tresvant (somewhat) famously sang. But as the CFO of Match Group, Steve Bailey spends his days figuring out where love could use a little investment.

The company owns Match.com, Tinder, Hinge, OkCupid and many other dating apps. Last year, it brought on a new CEO, Spencer Rascoff, cofounder of Zillow. The company is working on revitalizing Tinder for Gen Z and prioritizing outcomes (i.e., meaningful offline connections) for a world that’s burned out on dating apps.

Bailey gave CFO Brew a look at his thought process as the CFO during this time of transition.

This interview has been edited for clarity and length.

You stepped into this role after the appointment of a new CEO. How did you approach that as a new CFO?

It certainly made it more interesting and exciting to have a new CEO come in. What it did was require more of my time toward building a relationship with a new CEO. Because every CEO operates differently. They have different expectations for what they want out of a CFO and the CFO role.

You were at Match Group for 13 years before taking the CFO role. Were there any specific blind spots you’ve had to keep an eye on, having worked at this company for so long?

I was an FP&A person through and through. That’s what I did…I knew that inside and out. I could do it [with] one arm tied behind my back. You have to broaden out your skill set very quickly in the CFO job. So of course, I had some experience with accounting and tax and IR and treasury, but you gotta level up very fast. So that was one realization pretty quickly.

Keep reading.—JK

A new year means new wages for millions of workers across the country.

As of Jan. 1, 2026, the minimum wage rate increased in 19 states, as well as 47 different cities and counties. The state-level minimum wage increases are expected to affect earnings for more than 8.3 million workers, according to an estimate from the left-leaning Economic Policy Institute.

Hawaiians saw the biggest hourly minimum wage boost at the start of this year, as the rate increased by $2, from $14 to $16. Workers in Missouri and Nebraska also saw substantial increases—the hourly minimum wage rose by $1.25 and $1.50 in these states, respectively.

These wage increases come at a time when compensation and benefits are barely outpacing inflation, according to recent federal data. The amount that employers spent on wages and benefits rose 3.5% in September, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, but this uptick was the lowest level since 2021, and just slightly higher than the inflation rate.

Keep reading on HR Brew.—CV

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