We've been hard at work on our new podcast and wanted to give you a taste! Just like the slides before a big meeting, The Pre-Read gets CFOs and execs ready for what’s next. Each week, hosts Alyssa Zucker and Steve Soter connect the dots between finance, sustainability, audit, and risk — with sharp insights and unfiltered conversations from leaders navigating change at scale. If you’re driving transformation or need to understand the ones who are, this is your prep. Search for "The Pre-Read" wherever you get your podcasts and subscribe now!

Join Steve Soter, Catherine Tsai, and Mike Gravagno for the final episode of Off the Books! Reflect on five incredible years of exploring accounting, finance, and risk (and so much more). Dive into the history of the show, laugh (or not!) along with the accounting memes, and celebrate nearly 200 episodes.

In our final episode, Matt Kelly of Radical Compliance helps us make sense of the recent executive order that paused enforcement of the  Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Funny enough, it does not in fact mean you can bribe anyone, Matt warns. While you couldn’t bribe us to make more episodes of Off the Books, you can definitely check out seven seasons’ worth of past episodes at workiva.com/off-the-books-podcast. Follow the Workiva channel to catch the next podcast that Off the Books producer Mike Gravagno is cooking up next.

With the Securities and Exchange Commission asking the courts not to schedule arguments on its climate disclosure rule, Steve and Catherine ask Alan Wilson of WilmerHale how things could unfold. As Alan explains, the pause doesn’t necessarily mean climate-related disclosures are over. The SEC’s 2010 guidance is still out there. And we’re seeing several companies moving ahead with at least some disclosures that stakeholders in Europe, California, Asia, and Latin America are seeking. If you liked this episode, there’s more. Check out our back catalog at workiva.com/off-the-books-podcast.

Take a look back at the rise, fall, and resurrection of MoviePass as we discuss “MoviePass, MovieCrash.” After we recorded this episode, former MoviePass CEO Ted Farnsworth pleaded guilty to defrauding investors. Find past conversations at workiva.com/off-the-books-podcast, including our episodes about the best accounting movies.

Executive orders are starting to show up in 10-K filings, says Nick Mazing of AlphaSense. Hear how, as Steve and Catherine also ask Nick about what companies are saying on generative artificial intelligence, tariffs, inflation, and more: Find past episodes at workiva.com/off-the-books-podcast. We want to hear from you! Email us at offthebooks@workiva.com with your thoughts and feedback. For more from our sponsor, Workiva, visit workiva.com.

Fresh off of annual performance review season, we’re talking about how to ace your next one. We also ask Emily Forrester, Chief People Officer at Workiva, how one-on-one meetings can have a positive influence on the year-end review process. Speaking of 1:1 meetings, we have a template you can use whether you’re a manager or an individual contributor to guide your regular check-ins. Check out the one-on-one meeting template here:

We debated, we watched. Now we’re ready to name the best accounting movie of all time. Did we get it right? See if Steve and Catherine were able to persuade Mike to give up his distaste for “The Shawshank Redemption” to crown it the victor or if “The Accountant” used its title alone to trounce the competition. Or did a documentary sneak in to take the title? Sound off in the comments if you think we got it wrong.

The 2025 Executive Benchmark on Integrated Reporting sheds light on why many companies are still moving forward with climate-related disclosures.

How is the shifting political landscape affecting environmental, social, and governance issues? Is ESG dead? Steve and Catherine ask Brandon Buhler, Chief Accounting Officer for Playa Hotels and Resorts, and Esther Toth, Senior Industry Principal at Workiva, about the future of sustainability. Read some original research on this topic at workiva.com/benchmark-2025

More employees are being asked to return to the office full time—but not everyone loves the idea. Emily Forrester, Chief People Officer at Workiva, shares what factors leaders may weigh as they consider whether they also should adopt a return-to-office mandate.

To wrap up season 6 of Off the Books, we react to four topics we haven’t discussed yet: recent SEC penalties over cybersecurity disclosures, a penalty for DraftKings over a tweet, questions the PCAOB says audit committees can consider, and EDGAR® Next.

Xavier Justo spent 547 days in jail after providing investigators information about billions of dollars missing from 1MDB, the state investment fund set up by Malaysia’s former prime minister. Hear what he would tell potential whistleblowers!

The U.S. election was last week, and things will definitely be changing. We’re digesting the results, and a couple Workiva industry principals join to discuss the possible impacts for accounting, finance, audit, risk, and sustainability professionals. Tune in!

Internal auditors can be a not-so-secret weapon for strengthening an organization’s ability to create value. We caught up with Ahmed Shawky Mohammed and Matej Drašček at the IIA International Conference, where they talked about purpose-driven function internal audit teams.

Recently, the courts struck down the SEC’s private fund adviser rule. We turned to former SEC enforcement attorney Ron Geffner for an overview of the rules, the court’s decision, and the potential ripple effects—plus, other challenges facing the SEC and possible changes with a new SEC chair.

Coming into a new workplace with fresh perspectives has its advantages. Alyssa Zucker and Chelsea Hall talk about the roles they’ve recently taken on at Workiva.

Charley Nelson is an environmental policy major who joined a technical accounting team at Etsy. Hear why that makes perfect sense and what Charley’s learned in his time working with accountants. This episode was recorded at the Workiva Amplify conference for accounting, finance, risk, and sustainability professionals.

If data is like gold to chief financial officers, then it’s no wonder strong data management is a priority. Mike and Catherine ask Alex Davis, who recently became the deputy CFO for a young insurance company, what good data management looks like, how to optimize what you have versus starting from scratch, and more!

In the wake of headlines involving SolarWinds and CrowdStrike, Matt Kelly of Radical Compliance stops by to talk about the risks posed by cyber threats and third-party vendors and why a judge took issue with the SEC over its case against SolarWinds.