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Starbucks CFO Cathy Smith is transferring her principal accounting officer role to Val Bauduin, who will continue serving as SVP of corporate finance and development while reporting to Smith amid the chain's ongoing turnaround.
Starbucks CFO Cathy Smith is transferring her principal accounting officer role to Val Bauduin, according to a securities filing made last Friday. Bauduin will take on the additional title while continuing in his current position as Senior Vice President of Corporate Finance and Development, and will continue reporting directly to Smith. The move represents an internal restructuring of financial responsibilities rather than a leadership change at the top- Smith retains her roles as CFO and principal financial officer, while Bauduin absorbs the accounting oversight function that sat alongside those responsibilities. There were no changes to Bauduin's compensation as a result of the expanded title, according to the filing.
The reassignment places Bauduin in familiar territory. He was briefly appointed interim CFO in March 2025 during the transition between outgoing CFO Rachel Ruggeri- whose departure took effect on March 7- and Smith's anticipated start date of March 24. During that interim window, Bauduin also temporarily held both the principal financial officer and principal accounting officer roles, giving him direct experience of the responsibilities he is now permanently assuming on the accounting side. His steady handling of that transitional period clearly established the trust that has led to this more formalised expansion of his remit.
Bauduin, 50, brings a depth of financial and accounting expertise that spans decades across multiple industries. He spent approximately 17 years at Big Four firm Deloitte, joining as a staff accountant in the late 1990s and rising to become a partner and US hospitality leader- a trajectory that gave him both technical rigour and sector-specific insight into the hospitality and restaurant space. He subsequently spent nearly a decade at Marriott International, holding senior roles including controller, chief accounting officer, and CFO of consumer operations, technology, and emerging business before joining Starbucks. That combination of audit, advisory, and operational finance experience makes him a well-rounded choice for the principal accounting officer designation.
Cathy Smith joined Starbucks last year from Nordstrom, where she had also served as CFO, bringing with her a strong track record in retail finance leadership. Upon her arrival at Starbucks, she was designated principal financial officer and principal accounting officer in addition to her CFO responsibilities- a consolidated set of accountabilities that reflected the company's preference for unified financial oversight during the early stages of its turnaround. With the turnaround now gaining momentum, the decision to delegate the principal accounting role to Bauduin suggests the organisation is moving toward a more distributed financial leadership structure, one that allows Smith to focus more squarely on the strategic and investor-facing dimensions of the CFO role while Bauduin manages the accounting function.
The internal finance restructuring comes as Starbucks continues to execute its "Back to Starbucks" turnaround plan under CEO Brian Niccol. The plan has encompassed a range of operational and experiential changes- from store remodels and customisable caffeine levels to a revamped loyalty programme- and the early commercial signals are encouraging. North America same-store sales rose 7.1% in the second quarter, a strong result achieved against a backdrop of consumer uncertainty driven by rising costs. Morningstar equity analyst Ari Felhandler noted that Starbucks drove spending growth across all income and age cohorts during the period, pointing to consumers' appetite for innovation even in a difficult macroeconomic environment. The caveat is that North America's operating margin slipped 170 basis points to 9.9%, as inflation and labour investments continued to weigh on profitability.
The separation of the principal accounting officer role from the CFO title is not without precedent at Starbucks. In February 2022, then-CFO Rachel Ruggeri took on the principal accounting officer role after Jill Walker transitioned out of her position as chief accounting officer ahead of an unpaid sabbatical leave- a parallel situation in which accounting responsibilities were temporarily consolidated under the CFO before being redistributed. The current move follows a similar logic, restoring a degree of separation between the top finance and top accounting functions that reflects both best practice in corporate governance and the practical reality of managing an increasingly complex financial operation during a major brand transformation. A company spokesperson declined to comment beyond the contents of the official filings.
