Welding & Gas CFO Club Recap June 2025

Thanks to those that were able to make it for our 17^th CFO Club discussion. We had a very interactive discussion.

Note Summary

Customer Contracts/Risk

• Most are limiting their liability or considering it
• Depends on
  • Supplier agreements (are your suppliers/mfgs passing along the risk to you) – i.e. Laser Welders, Major Gas Suppliers
  • Go to market philosophy (managing risk vs being an easy to work with local company)
  • Business mix and industry selling into
• Discussed laser welders and their slow down in sales
  • Many have specialists in their company that sell and then evaluate customers for laser, automation sales including setup and training
• Many are managing their risk be declining to make connections for customers
  • One distributor just recently implemented the declination, a few customers left as a result, but not as bad as they expected
• Horton can help design contracts, Andy Kaplan (attorney) can as well if you’d like something more intense

State Vacation Policy Changes

• Discussed a handful of states that have made changes that have challenged HR policies and departments
• Complexities if a location/business is located near a border, which state law applies
• Free resources
  • Mineral – typically offered for free by your Benefits Broker
  • EPL Policy – HR/Labor Hotline free within your policy

Credit Card Vendors for Employee Cards

• IWDC program by 5^th 3^rd Bank has worked for some (get money back), Southwest Airlines for others to get free flights for employee travel (conventions, meetings, etc.)
• Employees’ cards could get flagged by the IRS, i.e. points/miles earned not being reported

Credit Card Charges to Customers

• Discussed various strategies to avoid eating the credit charges
• Encouraging ACH or charging 3% surcharge
• Offering better terms

Potential topics of interest:

• Union negotiations
• Voice over IP

Upcoming Dates

• CFO Club 8/20 – 11 EST/8 PT
  • AI usage in finance (AP, etc.)
  • Healthcare offering and strategies (what’s worked)
• GAWDA SMC Tampa 10/8-11
  • If enough people are in attendance we may try and host a happy hour/small group, let us know if you’ll be there and are interested
• CFO Club 10/15 – 11 EST/8 PT

Keep sending additional topics our way.

Have a great day!