Today, Protiviti released the results of its 2014 Finance Priorities Survey. As the title implies, we conduct this research annually to identify the top challenges and key areas of focus for CFOs and finance executives and professionals as they prepare for the coming year. Major findings from our just-released research include:
– Managing cash flow and working capital efficiently and effectively is key – As many of our respondents commented, “Cash is king.”
– There continues to be a strong focus on streamlining the financial close – From improving account reconciliation and financial consolidation processes to the period-end close, finance functions want to achieve greater efficiency.
– Harnessing business intelligence and “big data” is critical for strategic planning, forecasting, budgeting and profitability analysis – There is a major drive within more organizations to understand in minute detail the performance and profitability of product and service lines, customers, customer segments, and sales channels, thus strengthening executive management’s strategic decision-making regarding investments and resource allocation.
– Changes to U.S. healthcare regulations are having a major impact – This is no surprise given the many questions that remain open for companies related to the Affordable Care Act, from compliance to short- and long-term costs.
– Major and looming changes to U.S. tax laws and business regulations represent significant concerns – These changes will have significant implications on tax planning and forecasting.
I’ll be writing in more detail soon about these findings and their implications for organizations. For now, I want to point you to our comprehensive website for this study, which includes our report as well as a video and infographic (which you can also view below).
