Political influence on growth, mission critical objectives, risk-based decision making.

Embrace your evolving role

The days of crunching numbers are long gone. Finance leaders need diverse skills — financial expertise, strategic decision-making and risk and stakeholder management — to navigate complex challenges, financial regulations and political uncertainty. Capital requirements, risk and interest rates implications continue to move higher on the list of CFO challenges.

Now, with ongoing innovation and finance transformation, leaders have a full plate. To address these CFO trends, lean on technology. Savvy finance leaders harness the power of data, predictive analytics and financial intelligence. Modern tech can identify risks, simulate scenarios and help devise mitigation strategies to safeguard financial health and enhance financial resilience. Collaboration with other C-suite members is equally critical. Aligning teams and enabling data-driven decisions can steer your company to success.

Reinvent, redesign, re-engineer, lead the pack, circular economy.

Innovate or stagnate: the ROI of reinvention

To overcome uncertainty, reinvention is essential. The most innovative products and services are often born amid economic instability. In the game of relentless business reinvention, top-performing CFOs act as quarterbacks, boldly exploring new revenue streams, untapped markets and emerging technologies.

Commit fully to teamwork and don’t be afraid to adapt quickly. Work with your CEO, CIO and transformation leader to advance, swiftly reacting to changing circumstances. This means fearlessly driving strategic investments and embracing innovation and new technology. This can boost performance and productivity, attract top talent and improve cost-efficiency. To fund investments, allow tech to free up time and optimize expenses.

Optimize technology and AI – unlock the ROI on the investment, gain efficiency.

Transform the future of finance

Data is the CFO’s compass, but with global information expanding, navigating it can be daunting. Amid this surge, finance leaders and their teams can act as data stewards, using advanced analytics, AI and cloud technology to improve forecasting, cash management, organizational transformation and to inform acquisition or IPO decisions. You can also enhance cloud capabilities and implement robust cybersecurity measures to drive efficiency and safeguard your brand.

A particular area of focus is inventorying and managing the growing amount of data for ESG disclosures. Forward-looking CFOs can harness technology to streamline reporting for internal use, stakeholders and regulators.

The talent pipeline, however, remains a concern. The future of finance calls for tech-savvy professionals who can transform data into strategic recommendations. To boost analytical capabilities, upskill your workforce, rethink roles and bridge skill gaps with managed services.

Resilience, sustainability, business continuity, radical innovation.

Foster trust, enhance resilience

CFOs play a crucial role in building resilience as they’re the main point of contact for investors, analysts and other stakeholders. Effectively communicating financial performance and strategic direction — internally and externally — and consistently demonstrating accountability is key while also focusing on controls and enabling ongoing trust in the reporting process. This is especially true in an evolving landscape rife with geopolitical tensions, digital advancements, cyber breaches and changing consumer and employee expectations.

Prioritize agility — and your people. A resilient culture thrives on informed risk-taking and learning from failure. CFOs should foster an environment that champions open communication, continuous learning and innovations. Promote transparency, accountability and trust by setting clear expectations, leading by example and acknowledge and reward efforts that contribute to cross-departmental collaboration and collective success.

It is not about scope 1 and 2, scope 3 without a strategy = the end of the road.

Take action on sustainability

New reporting requirements mean companies are under pressure to be more transparent about the business impacts from sustainability issues. CFOs are focused on meeting these new requirements — and managing this data from a central, secure source.

Many are looking at how they can drive sustainability initiatives and who in the organization is suited to do the job. In turn, sustainability’s center of gravity is shifting to the finance function because it has the technical acumen to produce this reporting and — just like thwarting cyber attacks — it can align climate risk mitigation with broader strategic and capital allocation decisions to help the business build resiliency.

Your ESG controller’s strengths in compliance are crucial to meeting the requirements of regulations like the EU’s Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD). Streamlining sustainability reporting through tech and AI can also reduce costs, improve data quality and reveal growth opportunities.