Leading the Recovery: Finance Teams Guiding Businesses Toward Growth
May 20 2021 - 9:00AM
Business Wire
New survey from U.S. Bank reveals finance
leaders are in a unique position to unleash business
transformation
COVID-19 impacted businesses across many industries and
companies of all sizes. Through it all, CFOs and finance leaders
were at the helm, helping their businesses navigate the impacts and
chart a course forward. As the economy recovers from a challenging
year, U.S. Bank sought to better understand what is top of mind
with CFOs and finance leaders in 2021 and how they are helping
their businesses thrive beyond COVID-19.
A new survey from U.S. Bank found that finance leaders across
the U.S. are looking to the future while still managing the
short-term needs of their businesses. Leaders also believe the
finance function itself is ripe for digital transformation, but
they face internal obstacles such as resistance to change and lack
of awareness of the benefits of new technology.
The new data is from a proprietary survey of 300 U.S.-based
senior finance professionals with decision-making roles across a
range of industries.
“Despite all of the challenges of the past year, finance leaders
are hopeful and are looking to the future,” said Hassan Salem, head
of Commercial Banking for U.S. Bank. “They are prioritizing
long-term and growth-oriented initiatives, evaluating new business
models and investing in technology. There are many tools that make
it easier for businesses to send and receive invoices, strengthen
their cash flow and enhance efficiency, and finance leaders are in
the unique position to unleash business transformation and help
their organizations not just survive, but thrive.”
Key insights from the survey include:
Finance must transform itself to help the wider
business
To help their businesses grow and transform, finance must first
transform itself. When asked which areas within finance would
benefit most from digital transformation, leaders said:
- 39%: risk and compliance
- 32%: planning and budgeting
- 29%: cash management and treasury
When asked about the obstacles they faced in executing digital
transformation initiatives, 36% of leaders said their biggest
obstacle was reluctance/resistance to change, 35% said a lack of
awareness of new technology and its benefits, and 35% said lack of
skills/human resources to implement and use new technology.
Finance teams tackle ESG – but there is more they can
do
More than 70% of finance leaders said their focus on
environmental, social and governance (ESG) initiatives increased in
the past 12 months, including 80% of those generating more than $5
billion and 82% of those in the energy and commodities sector.
To further their business’ ESG strategies, 50% of finance
leaders said they are assessing the environmental credentials of
potential third parties and investments, 45% are assessing the risk
that climate change poses to their business’ operations and supply
chain, and 41% are reporting on ESG.
Finance leaders sow the seeds for long-term growth
The survey found that 44% of finance leaders are struggling to
balance the short- and long-term needs of their businesses, and 46%
struggle to balance the need to cut costs and build resilience with
the need to invest in future growth.
Their top priorities for 2021:
- 32%: improving cash flow
- 30%: supporting/furthering ESG objectives
- 26%: evaluating M&A, divestiture and partnership
opportunities
When asked how the finance function planned to drive business
growth and transformation, 42% said they were evaluating new
business models, 39% were generating insights for the wider
business, 38% were changing their capital allocation process, and
33% were exploring new technologies.
Preserving and enhancing the agility learned during
COVID-19
COVID-19 placed a huge amount of strain on finance functions. In
many businesses, the workload increased because of reforecasting
and budgeting requirements. Many finance employees also had to
shift to working from home.
Finance leaders had to be flexible and agile during the
pandemic, and many plan to continue on with some of the initiatives
they implemented last year, including:
- More flexible budgeting and capital planning (43%)
- More agile business practices (43%)
- Increased budget for technology (42%)
See the full results of the 2021 CFO Insights Report from U.S.
Bank.
About U.S. Bank
U.S. Bancorp, with nearly 70,000 employees and $553 billion in
assets as of March 31, 2021, is the parent company of U.S. Bank
National Association, the fifth-largest commercial bank in the
United States. The Minneapolis-based bank blends its relationship
teams, branches and ATM network with digital tools that allow
customers to bank when, where and how they prefer. U.S. Bank is
committed to serving its millions of retail, business, wealth
management, payment, commercial, corporate, and investment
customers across the country and around the world as a trusted and
responsible financial partner. This commitment continues to earn a
spot on the Ethisphere Institute’s World’s Most Ethical Companies
list and puts U.S. Bank in the top 5% of global companies assessed
on the CDP A List for climate change action. Visit usbank.com for
more.
About the Survey
The 2021 CFO Insights Report from U.S. Bank was conducted online
by Longitude, a Financial Times Company, of 300 U.S.-based CFO’s
and other senior finance leaders across a range of sectors and
company sizes. All surveyed companies had revenues of more than
$100 million, and 47% of companies generated more than $1 billion
in revenue. The survey was conducted in January and February
2021.
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210520005202/en/
Kristin Kelly, U.S. Bank Public Affairs & Communications
Kristin.kelly@usbank.com | 303.585.4129
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