In the News - August 26, 2021

Today's news includes information about existing and future accounting rules around impacts of climate change, the great resignation, and the rapid growth of corporate credit card start-up Ramp.

This past spring, the SEC warned companies to be aware of rules that require accounting judgments and assumptions around environmental considerations. Currently, though, there are currently no rules that specify how to account for climate change or environmental impact, the SEC is considering rules for mandatory disclosures around climate risk management and how climate change factors into management strategies. The SEC is currently asking for public input on the required disclosures. So, will you need to learn a new type of accounting? 

What is The Great Resignation? The Great Resignation was predicted by Texas A&M associate professor Anthony Klotz in 2019 and describes a mass voluntary departure from the workforce. Over the past few months, headlines have screamed that The Great Resignation is looming, that it is real, and that it is here. Is there a trend of mass resignation? Department of Labor statistics are showing an increase in voluntary departures, but there may not yet be enough information to call this a trend or to judge full impact if it does become a trend. What does this mean for you and your clients? If you are as risk-averse as I am, you might opt to develop and deploy comprehensive employee recruitment and retention strategies (including non-cash benefits and programs).

Financial technology (fintech) companies have been in the news throughout 2021. Ramp made news in April for raising $115 million in a funding round and has done it again. The corporate credit card company raised an additional $300 million and more than doubled its valuation since April to $3.9 billion. 

Ramp, a competitor to Divvy (which was acquired by Bill.com in June), launched in 2020 just weeks before the start of COVID. Despite those challenges, Ramp has seen incredible growth and even made Forbes Fintech 50 this year. Ramp CEO Eric Glyman doesn't avoid discussions of corporate credit card giant AmEx and says, "American Express is well over 100 times larger than us, so we just think there's so much more room to run to actually help customers save more money and time."

Ramp plans to use the Series C funds to increase automation and savings for customers. The company boasts that it is "the only corporate card and spend management platform designed to help you spend less" with an AI-based expense management platform that analyzes transactions and identifies savings opportunities.