Taking ownership of the future
Data shows most CFOs are “stuck in the grind” — with 80% of CFOs saying they feel this way. However, The CFO Alliance’s founder and CEO, Nick Araco Jr., says leaving their job isn’t the only way finance leaders stuck in a rut can remedy their situation. He says collaborating with other areas of the organization and investing in networking and personal development can help restore sentiment and reinvigorate confidence.
“I think if CFOs lean into overtly demonstrating their position about caring about the reputation and the future of both the organization and the accounting and finance team, it opens the door to a change in mindset,” he said. “There needs to be an emphasis on strengthening the relationship with leadership because there’s more power in a collective. It’s not an ‘I’ equation anymore in finance, it’s a ‘we’ equation.”
Mid-market CFO sentiment YoY
The challenges for this subset of CFOs remain mostly unchanged.
Finance leaders are also proactively creating pathways for their next career steps by working on their personal brand. More than half (51%) of CFOs said they are prioritizing peer engagement this year, 44% said self-directed learning and 36% said personal branding.
Although LinkedIn has become the go-to place to develop a virtual brand for professionals, Araco says developing a cringe-free LinkedIn presence is only part of the process. “CFOs need to put the same messages out on LinkedIn that they would in speaking engagements, podcast appearances and media interviews in a way that their voice can not only be heard but validated by their peers positively.”
Araco says this involves developing personal stretch goals around communication efforts. “The two most important elements to focus on here are substance and form,” he said. “CFOs need to figure out which form they are most comfortable in and where they aren’t, then make an effort to stretch into that uncomfortable zone.”
He says those who branch out their communication efforts in 2025 will likely get the best results, improving their experience as a CFO and their ability to be hired for future roles. “Some of our members love to do podcasts and interviews, others love to write and some love to present in front of audiences, but those who get out of their comfort zone in brand development seem to get the best results.”
Stress-inducing technology overload
An effort CFOs must focus on is “stuctured replication” in their tech stacks, surveyors say. This will help smooth increasingly important FP&A efforts involving existing tools, system rearrangement or elimination with minimum disruption and enhanced data-leveraging capabilities at a lower cost. However, to accomplish these things, Araco says it starts by addressing a bloated tech stack as a challenge rooted in process re-engineering.
“It’s important to focus on where CFOs tend to spend the least amount of time looking at this issue,” said Araco. “Most look at a [complex] tech stack as a technology problem or a people problem, but it’s about process re-engineering in a way that defines how information gets things done, then mapping your [new] tech stack to be most efficient and effective at mastering the capabilities you need.”
Araco also said CFOs who wish to downsize their tech stacks should ensure their analytical capabilities aren’t hindered during this process but should also make sure their teams aren’t relying on technology too heavily. “The number one and number two complaints we get about technology are the lack of analytical capabilities and the instantaneous demands that modern finance and accounting require of data,” he said. “But I think finance and accounting have gotten a bit lazy in their data acquisition efforts because there’s a tool for everything now, so this adds to the challenge of having more hands in the data pot.”
Bridging talent gaps
Mid-market CFOs are turning to technology to help supplement their needs. Though the survey instructs finance teams to “be more technical to spend less time being technical,” investment efforts in team efficiency are nearly split. Just over half (52%) said AI and automation are the focus, while 45% said data integration and visualization are the basis of their effort.
A split approach to team efficiency investments
Mid-market CFOs agree they need to invest in efficiency efforts, but are almost evenly divided on how to do so.
Areas where CFOs are struggling to fill gaps with technology include critical thinking, technology experience, AI adoption, FP&A skills and communication and presentation abilities. While the war for talent has been ongoing “since day one” for mid-market CFOs, Araco says an initiative to seek merit-based growth and work ethic over technical ability is growing among finance teams in this area.
“More CFOs are saying, ‘I’d rather hire a smart, good person and train them to do finance and accounting’ rather than, ‘I hired someone from Big Four and brought them in.’ Many CFOs are not going to overpay for talent — they are going to find the right talent. And if they can’t, they will outsource it or automate it over time.”
Economic outlook
When this data was compiled just before the inauguration of the new Trump administration , nearly three-quarters (74%) of finance chiefs were confident in the U.S. economy. Though global economic confidence was notably lower (53%), Araco says he believes CFO confidence stems from what they can control but notes interesting discrepancies in the U.S. economic outlook between foreign and domestic CFOs.
“There’s a strong level of foundational confidence around the new administration’s pro-business, pro-capital markets, pro-America mindset and so many CFOs are doubling down. It’s interesting because our data on CFOs in areas like the U.K. and France on their domestic economic sentiment are the exact opposite, as they’re concerned about the fragility of the global economy that is foundationally anchored in the U.S.”
More than 350 CFOs from across various industries were surveyed in the Mid-Market CFO Sentiment Report from December 1, 2024, to January 15, 2025.