CFO Insights Report: A New Role in Managing Uncertainty

The CFO role continues to grow and evolve as their analytical skills and insights become even more valuable in a climate of economic turmoil. SAP Concur Research found that 90% of senior finance leaders agree their key task today is to prepare businesses for the unexpected.   

Businesses need certainty to plan and grow. But they rarely get it these days. In this report, we investigate how CFOs’ increased responsibility for managing risk and uncertainty impacts their role – including the challenges, opportunities, and how they should respond and position themselves and their teams. Some key findings include: 

• Investment in forecasting rises, which leads to CFOs’ biggest investments in data analytics and reporting as they address their top internal challenge – increasing complexity in financial forecasting. 
• AI will be the threat and critical partner, 98% of CFOs believe AI threatens them or their team and 61% say it will be essential in managing the unexpected. 
• Investors push for sustainability reporting, 42% of CFOs said the greatest pressure on sustainability comes from investors. 
• Mid-sized firms need help with innovation and forecasting analytics, 42% of CFOs in mid-sized firms say forecasting is hindered by lack of analytics capabilities and only 16% are investing in cutting-edge technologies such as AI, compared with 40% of large ones.  
• CFOs need a new relationship with HR as 80% of them believe they must work more effectively with HR heads.