While much about finance stays the same from year to year, priorities can change almost overnight.
In a fresh example, data security and privacy stormed to the top rank among priorities for finance executives in Protiviti’s annual Global Finance Trends Survey. That concern was fifth in the 2023 poll. This year, 61% of the respondents rated it a high priority.
Among other factors driving the change over the past year, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission amended its Cybersecurity Disclosure Rule, posing several additional challenges for finance teams. At the same time, the European Union expanded the scope of its Information Security Directive. Adding in the rising threats of cyber warfare and extortion is driving CFOs to prioritize data security.
Another big mover on the priority list, but in the opposite direction, was ESG metrics and measurement. That was the number one priority last year, given the spotlight on increased environmental regulations and corporate disclosures. In this year’s survey, which included 961 finance leaders, ESG fell to ninth among 15 finance areas, with companies having made progress in adapting to the new requirements.
Of course, data security has been near the top of CFOs’ priority lists for some time now. Still, Protiviti noted in its survey report, a decade ago a finding that finance executives prioritized it above all else “might have raised eyebrows.” After all, wasn’t that the CISO’s responsibility?
“Not anymore,” the consulting firm wrote. “The growing demand for financial, non-financial, structured and unstructured data, combined with the mission-critical need to safeguard organizational data with sophisticated controls, accuracy assurance and compliance savvy, have elevated the CFO’s data governance responsibilities.”
Second on the list of top finance priorities in 2024 was “financial planning and profitability reporting and analysis,” more commonly referred to as FP&A. The discipline has been greatly advanced by the advancement of AI, machine learning, and predictive analytics, which “further enable more timely identification of risks and opportunities, including new revenue streams,” Protiviti said.
However, only a third (34%) of the polled finance leaders said their finance organization is currently employing generative AI. Publicly held companies are using it more than private and government organizations, Protiviti said, as a result of their greater willingness to invest in the long-term promise of these technologies.
In fact, Protiviti noted, CFOs of publicly held companies rated FP&A in general as a notably higher priority than do finance leaders in private companies. The likely cause is shareholder desire for more sophisticated and meaningful analytics around business results, according to Protiviti.
Almost seven in 10 survey participants (69%) from public companies rated financial planning and profitability analysis as a high priority for the coming year (quantified as ratings of 8, 9, or 10 on a 10-point scale).
