Applied Materials Inc. is working to automate its finance processes to boost efficiency and free up employees for more analytical tasks. Here’s how.

Marriott International Inc. is working to slash its debt and is considering its options for $1.5 billion in maturities that will come due between now and the end of 2024, the hotel chain’s finance chief said.

Many finance chiefs have done their homework. They refinanced some of their companies’ debt maturities early and locked in cheap rates, making them less exposed to rising interest rates and higher funding costs. Executives at large U.S. companies, including General Motors Co., XPO Logistics Inc. and Levi Strauss & Co., said they aren’t overly concerned about tighter monetary policy, given that interest rates are set to rise from low levels.

Cory Hrncirik, who leads Microsoft’s Modern Finance initiative, told WSJ’s CFO Journal about the tools the company is using to streamline and simplify finance work, and why the organization still uses Excel for some tasks.

A year after the meme-stock frenzy took off, many companies continue to struggle to connect with the small investors who collectively showed how they can take share prices for a wild ride.

Some companies are switching to virtual shareholder meetings again as the Omicron variant continues to spread through the U.S. and businesses take precautions to limit infections.

Paulo Basilio, the two-time finance chief of consumer-goods giant Kraft Heinz Co. who pruned the company’s portfolio and brought down debt, also trained up his own successor.

Schott AG’s finance chief plans to increase spending this year as the specialty glass and materials manufacturer sees growing demand for its products, including syringes and vials for Covid-19 vaccines.

Retail-trading platform Robinhood Markets Inc. doesn’t plan on spending significant amounts of corporate cash on crypto assets anytime soon, Chief Financial Officer Jason Warnick said.

What would a 15% minimum tax mean for business? How about the proposed duty on share buybacks? And what is happening on the international tax front? I discussed these and other questions with EY’s Kate Barton and Xcel Energy CFO Brian Van Abel at WSJ‘s CFO Network Summit.