Chief financial officers are an optimistic group these days.

While a slew of recent economic indicators seem to point to a slower growing economy, 90 percent of the finance executives are confident about their companies third quarter growth, according to the latest quarterly survey by Robert Half. What's more, 43 percent say they are very confident.

A survey suggests that hiring should pick up as 2011 progresses.

Dice Holdings says slightly more than half (51 percent) of employers and recruiters anticipate hiring more professionals in the second half of 2011 than in the previous six months.  Companies expecting a step-up in hiring in the next six months represented a broad spectrum of industries, including energy, technology, telecom, media, internet, distribution, financial services, consulting and retail.

Here is yet another reminder that job growth will continue to be slow for a period of time.

A survey by Robert Half found that an equal percentage of chief financial officers expect to boost hiring full-time accounting and finance professionals as those who plan to reduce their job ranks.

Tech companies are souring on outsourcing.

According to a survey of 100 chief financial officers at technology companies by BDO USA, LLP, just 35 percent said they are currently outsourcing services or manufacturing to companies outside of the US. This represents a 43 percent decrease from the 2009 high when 62 percent of companies were outsourcing and a slight decline from 2010 (37 percent).

The doom and gloomers are growing in numbers.

On a day when the ADP employment report for May showed slower job growth than expected and the ISM Manufacturing Index plummeted in May, at least two new reports were released indicating the business community and investors are becoming increasingly nervous about the future.

Employers beware. Your rank and file is becoming increasingly restless as the jobs picture brightens.

Don't be surprised if you see an exodus of employee as more and more of your rivals post "hiring" signs on their websites.

If you are looking for a finance-related job, move to San Francisco.

Accounting Principals, an accounting and finance staffing provider, says the Bay Area state tops its list of best cities to find a job in finance today. The ranking is based on internal data from its branches around the country, taking into account the volume of job openings in the past quarter.

If a top executive of your company suddenly wasn't able to work, who would take over? Chances are the answer is not clear.

It seems a large number of companies do not have a clear cut succession plan currently in place.

Publicly held companies paid on average $3.3 million in total audit fees for fiscal year 2010, an increase of two percent from the prior fiscal year, according to a new report from Financial Executives Research Foundation (FERF), the research affiliate of Financial Executives International.

The nearly 250 executives surveyed cited internal audit staff work, and changes in company operations as some of their primary reasons for the difference in fees.

American Tower has one again become a target of regulators.

The telecom company said in a regulatory filing it has received a subpoena from the Securities and Exchange Commission requesting certain documents from 2007 through the present, including in particular documents related to the Company's tax accounting and reporting.