Finance functions were historically busy last year. Whether or not these workloads are leveling off, finance functions cannot afford to back off. In the coming year, between maintain margins, complying with emerging new regulations and combating cyber threats, finance functions will have to be incredibly vigilant. If the 16th President of the United States were to return as a 21st Century CFO, his mandate to his financial troops would echo the guidance he dispensed to a top general 150 years ago.
The results of the 2016 Finance Priorities Survey from the Financial Executives Research Foundation and Protiviti indicate that CFOs and finance professionals remain alert to intensifying volatility while continuing to address a large and growing set of priorities. As we examine in our report, our findings suggest CFOs and their teams also focusing efforts on many different priorities, including but not limited to margin and earnings performance, cybersecurity risks, strategic planning, financial and profitability analysis, enterprise performance management, forecasting, and organizational leadership.