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Autodesk<\/a> Inc. shares soared by the most in more than a year after the company reassigned its chief financial officer, a move aimed at resolving an internal accounting investigation that delayed filings for weeks.<\/p>\n Deborah Clifford, who has been CFO since March 2021, will become chief strategy officer, effective immediately, the company said late Friday in a statement. Elizabeth Rafael, an Autodesk board member, was appointed interim CFO and remains on the board. The stock gained by as much as 10.2% to $222.21 in New York on Monday, the biggest intraday gain since Nov. 10, 2022.\u00a0<\/p>\n Clifford\u2019s reassignment puts to rest uncertainty that has weighed on Autodesk\u2019s stock for months. In early April, the engineering software maker delayed its annual financial disclosure and said it was opening a review of its accounting processes around free cash flow and operating margins. Autodesk reaffirmed on Friday that the probe wouldn\u2019t result in any adjustments to its financial statements.\u00a0<\/p>\n The company had said previously that it didn\u2019t expect any previously issued financial data to be affected by the probe. Still, the unusual delays in filing earnings reports stirred investor anxiety, and the stock had dropped 22% to $201.60 through Friday\u2019s close since the investigation was announced.<\/p>\n The disruption of the filings stemmed from the way the company accounted for billings from multiyear software contracts, the company said in a statement.\u00a0<\/p>\n The decision to replace Clifford as CFO was made by the board of directors\u2019 audit committee, which led the investigation, executives told employees during a call Friday afternoon, according to a person familiar with the discussion who asked not to be identified. Autodesk management appointed Clifford to her new post following the decision.<\/p>\n Company representatives couldn\u2019t be reached for further comment.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wall Street sentiment had \u201cspiraled negative\u201d due to uncertainty, Ken Wong, an analyst at Oppenheimer & Co., wrote in late April. He and other analysts pointed to a recent change in Autodesk\u2019s transaction model, in which the company is sending prices directly to customers rather than using third parties, as a potential source of the accounting issues.<\/p>\n Autodesk also released preliminary earnings for the fiscal first quarter. The company reported revenue of about $1.42 billion and adjusted profit of $1.87 per share in the period ended April 30. Both topped analysts\u2019 average estimates, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.<\/p>\n The earnings report would have typically come last week, but was delayed by the investigation, according to a person familiar with the issue.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cAutodesk is working diligently to file its annual report on Form 10-K as soon as possible and to hold an earnings call to discuss first quarter fiscal 2025 results,\u201d the company said.<\/p>\n BMO Capital Markets noted that \u201csome important questions remain.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe investigation found that in FY23, after Autodesk shifted to an annual billings model, the company continued to pursue multi-year upfront contracts with some enterprise customers at a pace significantly higher than historical trend in order to improve FCF results that year,\u201d BMO said in a research note.\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\nSubscribe to the Eye on AI newsletter to stay abreast of how AI is shaping the future of business. Sign up<\/a> for free.<\/div>\n