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Navigating a dynamic business and economic landscape

It's a challenging time for U.S. businesses. Economists continue to debate the potential and magnitude of an economic downturn; inflation remains elevated in parts of the economy; low unemployment makes it difficult to recruit. And it still feels like the next financial news headline about supply chain issues, the economy or a geopolitical conflict is just around the corner.

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Finance leaders need to help their business navigate uncertainty. But are they?

Our third annual survey of more than 1,400 senior U.S. finance professionals shows that they are — and rather than making gradual changes, they are taking a transformative approach.

49%

of finance leaders say rising interest rates and the end of cheap money challenge the sustainability of their finance model.

35%

are exploring and reviewing new technologies to drive business growth and transformation.

31%

work on environmental, social and governance (ESG) reporting, down from 41% two years ago.

68%

plan to use instant payments in two years, compared with 42% today.

Finance leaders are changing their priorities in a big way.

Finance leaders aren’t making changes little by little. The research shows that they’re taking a rounded, transformative approach.

Cutting costs and driving efficiencies within the finance function

Today, finance leaders say that cost control and driving efficiencies in the finance function is their number one priority. Two years ago, it was only eighth. There will be much less time devoted to growth initiatives such as M&A, evaluating new business models and topics such as sustainable finance and ESG.

Percentage of leaders prioritizing cost-cutting
2023
0%
2022
0%
2021
0%

Deploying technology within the finance function

Unlike two years ago, finance leaders’ top way of cutting costs is to invest in new technology. And most say that artificial intelligence (AI) could redefine how the finance function operates.

Percentage of leaders prioritizing technology investment
2023
0%
2022
0%
2021
0%

Improving risk identification and mitigation

Talent shortages, the pace of technology change and inflation have risen on finance leaders’ agendas. Supply chain disruption and changing customer demands and expectations have dropped down the list.

Percentage of leaders reordering material risk priorities
2023
0%
2022
0%
2021
0%

Giving customers new ways to pay

Finance teams are increasing their use of digital payment methods such as instant payments. By 2025, 68% of them intend to use real-time payment rails including the RTP® network and the FedNow® Service.

Percentage of business using instant payments
2023
0%
2022
0%
0%

Explore what finance teams are doing where you are.

We have surveyed 1,420 finance professionals in businesses across the U.S. on a range of topics including strategic priorities, new risks, digital transformation, instant payments and ESG.

Click on a region on the map or select a region from the drop-down list to see more region-specific details.

Select a region from the drop-down list to see more region-specific details.

Choose region

New England Mid-Atlantic South Midwest Southwest West
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New England

Finance leaders in New England are the most satisfied with their finance function’s digital transformation progress. But they are also the most likely to struggle with balancing the short- and long-term needs of the business.

New England
Top three

12-Month priorities

  1. 1
    Cutting costs and driving efficiencies within the finance function
  2. 2
    Improving risk identification and mitigation
  3. 3
    Cutting costs and driving efficiencies across the business
Top three

Business risks

  1. 1
    Talent shortages
  2. 2
    Pace of technology change and digital disruption
  3. 3
    High interest rates

Comparing New England with the U.S. average

The finance function has a negative outlook on the U.S. economy in the next 12 months.

New England
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function is struggling to balance the needs to mitigate risk and drive growth.

New England
0%
U.S. average
0%

Finance professionals are satisfied with their function's progress on digital transformation.

New England
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function needs to improve interest rate hedging strategies.

New England
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function considers decreasing risk in payment operations to be important/very important.

New England
0%
U.S. average
0%

The business plans to use FinTech platforms in two years.

New England
0%
U.S. average
0%

Mid-Atlantic

Finance leaders in the Mid-Atlantic place the most importance on decreasing risk in payment operations than their counterparts in other regions. They are also the least likely to struggle with the need to mitigate risk and drive growth.

Mid Atlantic
Top three

12-Month priorities

  1. 1
    Cutting costs and driving efficiencies within the finance function
  2. 2
    Cutting costs and driving efficiencies across the business
  3. 3
    Improving risk identification and mitigation
Top three

Business risks

  1. 1
    Talent shortages
  2. 2
    Pace of technology change and digital disruption
  3. 3
    Cyber security attacks and data breaches

Comparing the Mid-Atlantic with the U.S. average

The finance function has a negative outlook on the U.S. economy in the next 12 months.

Mid-Atlantic
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function is struggling to balance the needs to mitigate risk and drive growth.

Mid-Atlantic
0%
U.S. average
0%

Finance professionals are satisfied with their function's progress on digital transformation.

Mid-Atlantic
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function needs to improve interest rate hedging strategies.

Mid-Atlantic
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function considers decreasing risk in payment operations to be important/very important.

Mid-Atlantic
0%
U.S. average
0%

The business plans to use FinTech platforms in two years.

Mid-Atlantic
0%
U.S. average
0%

South

Finance leaders in the South seem to be taking a more defensive approach than their counterparts in other regions. Cyber security attacks are top of mind, and improving risk identification and interest rate hedging strategies are crucial.

South
Top three

12-Month priorities

  1. 1
    Cutting costs and driving efficiencies within the finance function
  2. 2
    Cutting costs and driving efficiencies across the business
  3. 3
    Improving risk identification and mitigation
Top three

Business risks

  1. 1
    Talent shortages
  2. 2
    Pace of technology change and digital disruption
  3. 3
    Cyber security attacks and data breaches

Comparing the South with the U.S. average

The finance function has a negative outlook on the U.S. economy in the next 12 months.

South
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function is struggling to balance the needs to mitigate risk and drive growth.

South
0%
U.S. average
0%

Finance professionals are satisfied with their function's progress on digital transformation.

South
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function needs to improve interest rate hedging strategies.

South
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function considers decreasing risk in payment operations to be important/very important.

South
0%
U.S. average
0%

The business plans to use FinTech platforms in two years.

South
0%
U.S. average
0%

Midwest

Finance leaders in the Midwest are still concerned about high inflation and are prioritizing improving risk identification and mitigation.

Midwest
Top Three

12-Month Priorities

  1. 1
    Cutting costs and driving efficiencies within the finance function
  2. 2
    Improving risk identification and mitigation
  3. 3
    Cutting costs and driving efficiencies across the business
Top Three

Business risks

  1. 1
    Talent shortages
  2. 2
    Pace of technology change and digital disruption
  3. 3
    High inflation

Comparing the Midwest with the U.S. average

The finance function has a negative outlook on the U.S. economy in the next 12 months.

Midwest
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function is struggling to balance the needs to mitigate risk and drive growth.

Midwest
0%
U.S. average
0%

Finance professionals are satisfied with their function's progress on digital transformation.

Midwest
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function needs to improve interest rate hedging strategies.

Midwest
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function considers decreasing risk in payment operations to be important/very important.

Midwest
0%
U.S. average
0%

The business plans to use FinTech platforms in two years.

Midwest
0%
U.S. average
0%

Southwest

Finance leaders in the Southwest are more likely to prioritize deploying technology within the finance function than finance leaders in other regions. This could be because they have the lowest satisfaction ratings regarding digital transformation progress.

South West
Top three

12-Month priorities

  1. 1
    Cutting costs and driving efficiencies within the finance function
  2. 2
    Cutting costs and driving efficiencies across the business
  3. 3
    Deploying technology within the finance function
Top three

Business risks

  1. 1
    Talent shortages
  2. 2
    Pace of technology change and digital disruption
  3. 3
    Geopolitical tension and war

Comparing the Southwest with the U.S. average

The finance function has a negative outlook on the U.S. economy in the next 12 months.

Southwest
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function is struggling to balance the needs to mitigate risk and drive growth.

Southwest
0%
U.S. average
0%

Finance professionals are satisfied with their function's progress on digital transformation.

Southwest
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function needs to improve interest rate hedging strategies.

Southwest
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function considers decreasing risk in payment operations to be important/very important.

Southwest
0%
U.S. average
0%

The business plans to use FinTech platforms in two years.

Southwest
0%
U.S. average
0%

West

Finance leaders in the West are concerned about the pace of technology change and digital disruption. But the region is expected to have the highest percentage of finance professionals using fintech platforms in 2026.

West
Top three

12-Month priorities

  1. 1
    Cutting costs and driving efficiencies within the finance function
  2. 2
    Cutting costs and driving efficiencies across the business
  3. 3
    Deploying technology within the finance function
Top three

Business risks

  1. 1
    Pace of technology change and digital disruption
  2. 2
    Talent shortages
  3. 3
    Cyber security attacks and data breaches

Comparing the West with the U.S. average

The finance function has a negative outlook on the U.S. economy in the next 12 months.

West
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function is struggling to balance the needs to mitigate risk and drive growth.

West
0%
U.S. average
0%

Finance professionals are satisfied with their function's progress on digital transformation.

West
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function needs to improve interest rate hedging strategies.

West
0%
U.S. average
0%

The finance function considers decreasing risk in payment operations to be important/very important.

West
0%
U.S. average
0%

The business plans to use FinTech platforms in two years.

West
0%
U.S. average
0%
IMage featuring the cover of this year’s CFO report, which shows a man and woman sitting together at in an office and looking at a laptop.

Read the full 2023 CFO Insights Report.

Discover how the finance function is repositioning itself as a driver of change by focusing on cost control, digital transformation, talent acquisition and retention, instant payments and more.

Access report

But are finance teams ready to transform?

As they transform, finance teams will need to refresh and reinforce their capabilities.

If they pull back from activities such as evaluating new business models or measuring their supply chain's exposure to climate change, they could become more vulnerable to long-term risks or miss opportunities. Finance leaders know about this, and it’s getting harder: 56% say they struggle to balance cost-cutting with investment in future growth, compared with 46% two years ago.

Overcoming these challenges needs vision and leadership from the CFO. They must devise a digital transformation strategy, make smart risk mitigation decisions, forge close relations with people across the business, and show they’re willing to experiment with new technology.

They must lead the transformation.

 

Only 8% percent of finance leaders surveyed are highly confident about managing talent risks.

This is large bar1
0%
This is large bar2
0%
this is large bar3
0%
Two people looking and pointing at a chart on a laptop.

Businesses are gearing up to adopt instant payments.

With both the RTP® network and the FedNow® Service up and running, more companies are getting ready to use instant payments. In fact, 68% of finance leaders we surveyed said they plan to use these services within the next two years. Check out our research findings to learn why and to get tips to ease your own adoption of instant payments.

Read instant payments research

More insights from finance leaders

Man wearing glasses sitting at a desk in front of a laptop and looking at his tablet device at the same time.

Is the economy finding its footing?

See what finance leaders think
Man and woman dressed professionally walking together down a hallway in a large office building.

California’s finance leaders are looking ahead.

See the view from California
Image of a doctor and a healthcare administrator sitting next to each other. The doctor has a stethoscope and the administrator is holding a tablet device.

Healthcare finance leaders turn to technology.

Priorities in healthcare finance
Woman wearing a suit with her arms crossed and smiling at the camera.

Finance leaders invest in transformative tech.

Jumpstart your transformation

About the research

The results of this research come from a survey of 1,420 senior finance leaders working in U.S. businesses. This year’s research follows “Leading through uncertainty,” our 2022 survey of 750 finance leaders. The first edition of the research, "Leading the recovery", was released in 2021.

Job Roles

Group CFO

0%

Senior Manager

0%

Regional/Divisional CFO

0%

SVP/VP/Head of finance department

0%

Other

0%

Company sizes

Every survey respondent works for an organization that generates at least $100 million in annual revenue. This is the percentage of respondents by annual revenue:

  • >$5 billion: 10%
  • $2 – 5 billion: 20%
  • $1 – 1.9 billion: 9%
  • $500 – 999.9 million: 21%
  • $250 – 499.9 million: 14%
  • $100 – 249.9 million: 26%

By obtaining responses from finance leaders across a wide range of sectors, company sizes and job roles, we are able to provide a report that incorporates a wide range of viewpoints.

Access the full CFO Insights Report.

 

This year’s CFO Insights Report offers unique and valuable perspective from senior finance leaders across industries and across the nation. Please complete the form below to receive your PDF copy of the report.

 

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Disclosures

This discussion is intended to be informational only and is not exhaustive or conclusive. It is not intended to serve as a recommendation or solicitation for the purchase or sale of any particular product or service. It does not constitute advice and is issued without regard to any particular objective or the financial situation of any particular individual. Some of the information provided has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but is not guaranteed as to accuracy or completeness. Other information represents the opinion of U.S. Bank and is not intended to be a forecast of future events or a guarantee of future results. U.S. Bank and its representatives do not provide tax, accounting or legal advice. Each individual's financial situation is unique. You should consult your tax, accounting and/or legal advisor for advice and information concerning your particular situation.

Deposit products are offered by U.S. Bank National Association. Member FDIC..

RTP® is a registered trademark of The Clearing House Payments Company LLC.

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