CFOs are focusing on areas such as forecasting accuracy to better deal with unknowns, and they still share an optimistic view of recovery in the world economy. Seventy-five percent of CFOs in the UK anticipate revenue growth of over 10% for this year, reflecting further evidence of a broadly positive outlook for the economy.

But, problems that come with holding onto talent and old-fashioned financial steps stay as a worry.
To help growth in their groups, CFOs feel a big need for change; the poll showed that 20% of CFOs in the UK are struggling to keep finance talent and 80% rely on old tech and tools.

Nearly 90% (88%) of UK finance leaders claimed they would benefit from better financial tech and automation; 86% said improved forecasting accuracy would help with decision-making. FTI, based on survey results, advises CFOs to focus on upgrading digital infrastructure to increase operational efficiency and support effective business growth.

Use of AI-enabled forecasting and other automation tools will help in making decisions in real time with much lesser manual work, says FTI. It further adds, "The investment in tools that allow agility will enable CFOs to manage the unknowns much better and sustain growth paths notwithstanding external impediments."

FTI says CFOs should add better planning for different cases and data analysis into their predicting methods. But, making these predictions more right needs help from all areas. So, CFOs should use different views and knowledge to make fuller forecasts that think about many parts of their business.