Being Planful: CFO News & Helpful Resources for the Office of the CFO

Thanks for checking out this installment of “Being Planful,” our series recapping the latest news for the Office of the CFO. We’ve scanned the headlines for trending topics relevant to CFOs, Finance, Accounting, and FP&A team. Here’s what we found:

• 2023 Planning: The future of finance requires you to continue investing in resources for the Office of the CFO.
• Workforce Planning Collaboration: A great culture and useful benefits can mean as much as money to in-demand workers.
• Salary Trends: Salaries are expected to rise more than the typical 3% this year, especially for CFOs.

The Office of the CFO continues to be critical to guiding long-term planning, especially as economic uncertainty reigns. A global CFO survey by WNS Limited found that the continued transformation of finance and accounting is where CFOs must focus: “CFOs’ top priorities, including driving agility and resilience, and creating a future-ready finance function, are now becoming an imminent reality.”

• M&A has historically increased during economic downturns so be prepared to lean on your accounting team as your secret weapon: “as the shift to mergers and acquisitions becomes more apparent, companies can turn to…accountants, in particular, to help navigate new complexities.”
• The CFO of the future—and the future is now—must look beyond financials to “deliver on their current responsibilities with a view toward changing and increasing future accountabilities.”
• Don’t underestimate the risk of reducing your technology investments while your competitors double-down: “more than 70% of CFOs now recognize the need to leverage digital technologies to improve efficiency, effectiveness, and stakeholder experience as their top priority.”

The Bottom Line: “The future role of the CFO will continue to evolve into a highly strategic position with responsibility for transforming not only traditional finance responsibilities, but also all other functions of the business.”

Everything seems to be working against HR chiefs as labor markets remain tight, the economy appears to be shifting, and workers, feeling the pinch of inflation, demand larger salary increases.

• Keeping workers happy and making smarter hiring decisions puts pressure on HR to work more closely with the Office of the CFO: “providing workers with what they need and attracting the right kind of workers is imperative—and expensive.”
• Don’t forget about your accountants as you consider raises and incentives, since their negotiating power continues to climb: “The number of people sitting for the CPA exam had hit a decade low even before the pandemic.”
• Money always helps, but workers increasingly want more incentives to stay with or join a company: “In today’s historically tight labor market, with employees empowered to desire more than just a paycheck, companies have begun to offer different incentives to lure potential candidates as well as retain top talent.”

The Bottom Line: The cost of unhappy workers, or, rather, the value of happy workers, continues to skyrocket. “Quiet quitters,” which Gallup says describes half of all U.S. workers, costs companies half-a-trillion dollars in lost productivity.

CFOs are seeing big bumps in compensation this year. A recent study found that total CFO compensation rose by 17% in 2021, the highest annual increase in a decade. That’s great news, but only serves to ramp up pressure on everyone in the Office of the CFO. Here are a few tips CFOs and other finance and accounting leaders can use to keep up with rising demands:

• Expect to increase salaries across finance and accounting teams, especially as demand grows for those who can help you “get the most out of new tech investments in AI and machine learning.”
• Speaking of AI/ML, continue investing in digital tools for finance teams to increase forecast horizons, stay ahead of rising costs, and plan for fast-changing workforce needs.
• If you need even more of an edge, start work at 6 a.m.

The Bottom Line: Expect finance and accounting recruitment to remain a challenge in spite of a slowing economy: “high-skilled professionals in specialized finance and accounting positions will always be in demand by companies in all industries, no matter the economic context,” says Dominic Levesque, President, Tatum and Randstad Office Professionals.