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Zuora’s Todd McElhatton sees the argument that a potential return to six-month reporting periods would hamper investor access to information as an unfounded one: “Frankly, I don’t buy that,” McElhatton, the software company’s chief operating and financial officer, told CFO Dive in an interview.
In September, President Donald Trump returned to a push he had made in his first term to shift to six-month reporting periods — ditching the quarterly reports which have been mandated by the Securities and Exchange Commission since 1970, CFO Dive previously reported.
A return to the bi-or semi-annual reporting periods first mandated by the SEC in 1955 would help companies to save money and better focus on management of the business, Trump argued in a social media post. Others, however, have pointed to quarterly reports as a key “pressure point” for businesses, giving both management and investors early visibility into trends, experts have told CFO Dive.
When thinking of the impact moving to semiannual reporting may have on both investors and business leaders, it’s important to remember that public companies, are “actively involved with conferences and regular dialogue” with their shareholders outside of quarterly reporting calls, McElhatton said.
“I think it’s an unfounded concern that investors aren’t going to have the information that they need. There’s more information that’s available,” he said. “There’s tons of opportunities to communicate with these companies.”
Crafting a longer runway
A long-time software industry executive, McElhatton’s resume includes stints at companies including SAP, VMware and Oracle, according to his LinkedIn profile.
He has served as COFO for Redwood City, California-based Zuora, a software-as-a-service billing subscription provider, since June 2020, helping to shepherd the business through its recent transition to a private entity in February following its acquisition by Silver Lake and GIC LTD in a $1.7 billion transaction, according to company press releases. He also sits on the board of directors and serves as a member of the audit committee for cloud analytics and data platform Teradata.
From his perspective as a finance leader at both public and private companies, as well as serving on a board, there’s “a tremendous amount of overhead and time and cost that is spent on doing the quarterly earnings,” he said.
