Good morning, CFOs. Crowe considers private-equity ownership; companies' pension funding stay level; Q&A with Steven Bailey, CFO of dating-app operator Match Group.

Accounting firms have seen a wave of private-equity investment, as my colleague Mark Maurer has been reporting.

Since 2021, more than two dozen of the 100 largest U.S. accounting firms have either sold an ownership stake to private-equity investors or been acquired by a firm that has done so. Private-equity players including Blackstone, New Mountain Capital and Hellman & Friedman have snatched up stakes, writes Maurer, corporate finance and accounting reporter with the WSJ Leadership Institute’s CFO Journal.

We recently caught up with him about his latest reporting on accounting firm Crowe, which is considering selling a stake to private-equity investors following years of ignoring calls from prospective buyers.

The Chicago-based firm in recent weeks hired investment bank Harris Williams and an outside auditor to prepare for a potential private-equity investment, Chief Executive Steven Strammello said.

WSJLI: Mark, why is Crowe considering private-equity ownership now after so many years of shunning potential investors?

Maurer: CEO Strammello told me that the firm is now open to such a deal and that the flurry of stake sales in the industry isn’t the reason. Outside investment could help speed up Crowe’s efforts to adopt artificial intelligence across its business lines and market the expansion of its services, he said.

WSJLI: Do you think some of these firms' private equity clients may be concerned about having a competitor owning their auditors?

Maurer: I haven’t heard that private-equity firms are concerned about competitors striking these deals.

Private-equity ownership is becoming more common than not among the largest non-Big Four U.S. accounting shops. Crowe has a substantial private-equity business, with more than 500 such clients totaling over $250 billion in assets under management.

Accounting-firm advisers have raised questions about the ethics of a firm entwined in private-equity work being owned by such an investor. Strammello said he is cognizant of the independence requirements and expects an interested investor would likely be much larger than the middle-market firms that largely make up its audit-client base.

WSJLI: What's next? This seems to be a growing trend in the accounting world. Why is that, and do you expect more interest from PE firms to come?

Maurer: The deals are expected to continue, though the pool of accounting firms that haven’t done a structural overhaul the past few years is fast shrinking. Accounting firms turn to PE to boost investment in tech and talent, along with business expertise.

Monday

Earnings: Fastenal

Fixed-income markets are closed in observance of Columbus Day.

Tuesday

Earnings: BlackRock, Citigroup, Domino’s Pizza, Goldman Sachs Group, Johnson & Johnson, JPMorgan Chase and Wells Fargo

The National Federation of Independent Business releases its Small Business Optimism Index for September.

Wednesday

Earnings: Abbott Laboratories, ASML Holding, Bank of America, Citizens Financial Group, J.B. Hunt Transport Services, Morgan Stanley, PNC Financial Services Group, Prologis and United Airlines Holdings

The Federal Reserve releases the beige book for the seventh of eight times this year.

Thursday

Earnings: Bank of New York Mellon, Charles Schwab, CSX, Interactive Brokers Group, KeyCorp, Marsh & McClennan, M&T Bank, Snap-On, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing, Travelers and U.S. Bancorp

The Census Bureau is slated to release retail sales data for September.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics is scheduled to release the producer price index for September.

The National Association of Home Builders releases its Housing Market Index for October.

Friday

Earnings: American Express, Fifth Third Bancorp, Huntington Bancshares, Regions Financial, SLB, State Street and Truist Financial

The Census Bureau is scheduled to release new residential construction statistics for September.

The estimated funding level of pension plans sponsored by S&P 1500 companies remained level in September at 109% as a result of an increase in equities offset by a decrease in discount rates, according to consulting firm Mercer LLC. As of the end of September, the plans' estimated aggregate surplus increased by $2 billion, to $138 billion, compared with a $136 billion surplus at the end of August, Mercer said.

"[W]e saw another strong month for equity markets, but those gains were offset by a decrease in discount rates following the Federal Reserve's rate cut," said Mercer partner Matt McDaniel.

—Jennifer Williams

Steven Bailey, CFO of dating-app operator Match Group, talked recently with my colleague Mark Maurer about its efforts to move beyond a recent restructuring and boost revenue for Tinder. Edited excerpts follow.

WSJLI: Where is Match Group in its turnaround effort?

Bailey: The first part is reset, the second part is revitalization, third part is resurgence. We did reduce the workforce by about 13% [in May]. We particularly looked at taking out layers of management. Tinder in particular, which is our biggest brand. We reduced managers by one in five and we also reorganized a few different areas of the organization and centralized a number of functions within Match Group. We've shifted into phase two of this turnaround and that's more around product innovation, particularly at Tinder to improve user trends and revenue growth. That we expect in the 2026/2027 time frame.

WSJLI: What are some areas of increased investment?

Bailey: Because we accelerated a lot of these cost-savings initiatives, instead of just dropping that to the bottom line, what we've done is actually reinvested that into growth initiatives across the company. We achieved about $50 million of in-year savings. That was above what we had planned for. We've decided to invest those strategically to help with this turnaround strategy. About a third of that $50 million went towards Tinder and user experience tests. This might sound a little counterintuitive, but really, they're all focused around user outcomes. We're giving the product teams more leeway to test features that we know users want, or that we think will improve outcomes, meaning in-real-life connections, even if it means a little bit of a short-term revenue hit, because we think it's long-term beneficial for users and revenue growth. A third of it's going into marketing, supporting Tinder and Hinge and a third of it's going towards really geographic expansion efforts, and some new bets.

WSJLI: Why did the company cut around 20% of its managers?

Bailey: The organizational structure is important. You're free to do your job without as much day-to-day oversight and direction as maybe you had before. But we're going to hold you accountable to results. AI is another great lever. You can do more with this with AI.

The government shutdown is starting to get real.

The Smithsonian museums down the hill from the U.S. Capitol are now closed. Federal workers are already starting to miss pay and will have to rely on savings until the government reopens. Some businesses that count on a fully functioning federal government say layoffs and costly delays will accelerate.

President Trump over the weekend removed one of the most potent consequences of the shutdown when he announced that he found a way—for now—to pay the 1.3 million active-duty servicemen and women, in addition to hundreds of thousands of members of the military reserves and National Guard, whose payday is Oct. 15.

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• The Government Shutdown Is Finally Starting to Bite

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The Wall Street Journal's CFO Journal offers corporate leaders and professionals CFO analysis, advice and commentary to make informed decisions. We cover topics including corporate tax, accounting, regulation, capital markets, management and strategy.

Follow us on X @WSJCFO. The WSJ CFO Journal Team comprises reporters Kristin Broughton, Mark Maurer and Jennifer Williams, and Bureau Chief Walden Siew.

You can reach us by replying to any newsletter, or email Walden at walden.siew@wsj.com.