If finance chiefs ended 2025 with any sense of certainty, the first few days of 2026 may well have shattered that.
Between simmering global conflicts, changing domestic policies and continued technological upheaval, the job of the CFO has grown considerably more complicated. It’s anyone’s guess how any of these things will play out in the months ahead, but, based on our conversations with finance chiefs and observers, we’ve gathered a general sense of how corporate finance teams might respond.
Below are seven trends we expect to cover in the year ahead.
1. Pesky inflation continues to shape liquidity and capital allocation decisions
Inflation remains a central planning variable for CFOs in 2026. Finance leaders are likely to reassess pricing, working capital and liquidity as cost pressures persist across non-discretionary categories such as housing, energy and health care.
Dean Quiambao, partner at Armanino, said capital discipline remains central. “Even growth-oriented businesses are being forced to justify expansion with unit economics,” he said.
CFOs are also planning around an environment where the Federal Reserve is cutting rates while simultaneously injecting liquidity through short-term Treasury purchases, a dynamic that supports asset prices and borrowing activity but adds inflationary risk. That combination may begin pushing finance teams to spend more time on scenario planning, stress testing and trade-offs around cash deployment, particularly as labor market data, inflation readings and growth indicators continue to send mixed signals.
There is also growing scrutiny of headline inflation data, given its role in determining cost-of-living adjustments tied to government programs, for example. The Fed’s rate-cutting posture, meanwhile, is expected to increase liquidity in the system and contribute to ongoing inflationary pressure. The selection of the next Federal Reserve chair by President Donald Trump in May will likely be the most important factor at play here.
2. Finance teams are prepping for a slate of tax changes this April
Tax season may look a bit different this year following the passage of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act in July 2025. The legislation continues many provisions from the 2017 Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, with a few notable caveats. For one, to the relief of many tech-oriented businesses, the latest tax bill will allow for immediate expensing on domestic research and development.
The 2017 law had included a provision that ended such expensing beginning in 2022, in part, to pay for tax cuts.
“The ability to choose whether to immediately expense domestic R&E expenditures or elect to amortize them over time will allow taxpayers more flexibility to match their deductions with expected taxable income, allowing them to defer deductions in situations in which they would otherwise generate [net operating losses] carryforwards,” said law firm Latham & Watkins in a July 2025 analysis.
Finance leaders may find a lot they like in the latest legislation, but it may also have some less pleasant surprises. “For the most part, [One Big Beautiful Bill] does not include further structural reforms, and instead introduces many new, narrow tax breaks to the code, adding complexity and raising revenue costs,” the nonpartisan Tax Foundation wrote in an analysis in July 2025.
3. ERP modernization centers on data quality and execution
ERP modernization remains a priority heading into 2026, particularly as finance teams face increasing demands for faster reporting and cleaner data. CFOs are evaluating both established platforms and newer cloud-native offerings, with an emphasis on governance, auditability and implementation discipline.
Christina Ross, a seasoned CFO and now CEO of FP&A software firm Cube, said finance leaders are expected to move beyond reporting. “What matters now is the story behind the numbers and what it means for what comes next,” Ross said, describing how finance teams are being pushed to translate data into decisions.
ERP decisions are increasingly tied to broader goals, including valuation, capital raises and strategic planning, where inconsistent or delayed data can slow execution.
4. CPA licensure changes affect how CFOs think about accounting talent
CPA licensure reform is becoming a practical workforce issue for CFOs. As more states adopt alternative pathways alongside the traditional 150-hour requirement, finance leaders are preparing for a broader mix of candidates entering accounting and finance roles.
Calvin Harris Jr., CEO of the New York State Society of CPAs, said the changes are intended to expand access without weakening standards. “In the end, both pathways lead to the same credential,” Harris said. “The CPA itself remains the differentiator.”
For CFOs in 2026, the focus is on onboarding and developing talent with different educational backgrounds while maintaining consistency in supervision, training and audit readiness.
5. Mergers and acquisitions, especially those involving private equity, aren’t slowing down anytime soon
On the heels of Trump’s reelection, 2025 was, by many accounts, supposed to be a year of deals. And despite a stuttering start, that proved to be true, for the most part, with a Bain & Company analysis showing a 36% uptick in deal value and 5% increase in deal volume for the year. 2026, observers say, is likely to see even more deals.
As some see it, the specter of tariffs, which hung over much of 2025, appears considerably less haunting in the new year. “Absent some unexpected shock, the tariffs are sort of done,” said Steven Kaplan, professor at the University of Chicago’s Booth School of Business. “They’re not going to get worse, and could get better if the Supreme Court turns them down.”
The Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice, meanwhile, have “not been terribly active” in halting mergers and acquisitions, Kaplan noted. Plus, lower interest rates could drive more activity.
“You’ve got several positive forces that could drive deal activity pretty high in 2026,” Kaplan said.
Christian Streu, CFO of Chicago-based manufacturer The Partner Companies, acknowledged that higher interest rates in recent history had “really put a damper on activity.”
“On the M&A side, it’s been largely quiet industrywide for the past three years,” he said.
But he believes recent rate cuts are likely to change that.
“We have a very bullish outlook in our space in the foreseeable future, in the next three to seven years,” Streu added. “We geared up to be very active both in organic and inorganic. … More and more investment opportunities are coming back to the market, so we expect to have a pretty nice deployment in the near term.”
6. Stablecoins move closer to treasury consideration as regulation evolves
Stablecoins are receiving more attention from treasury teams, particularly for cross-border payments and settlement efficiency, following new regulatory developments in 2025.
The passage of the Guiding and Establishing National Innovation for U.S. Stablecoins Act established a federal framework for payment stablecoins. Under the law, only approved entities may issue stablecoins, which must be backed one-to-one with high-quality liquid assets and subject to audits, disclosures and anti-money laundering requirements.
For CFOs, the change is not about evaluating whether regulated stablecoin providers can be used for certain payment flows. Armanino’s Quiambao said interest is emerging cautiously. “There’s curiosity, especially around cross-border use cases,” he said. “But adoption depends on regulatory clarity around custody, auditability and counterparty risk.”
In 2026, stablecoins remain an area of monitoring rather than widespread adoption, as finance teams assess whether they offer advantages over existing payment infrastructure.
7. Fears of an economic recession and more geopolitical conflict remain
The outlook for deals might be improved this year, but finance teams aren’t exactly out of the woods quite yet.
The prospect of an economic recession still weighs heavily on many, with year-end research showing that about half of CFOs expect such a downturn this year.
That’s all on top of finance chiefs’ day-to-day responsibilities. For some leaders, the year ahead will be something of a transition period as they brace for any unforeseen economic disruptions.
“2026 is a hold steady kind of year, with more planning on deck,” said Amy Dickerson, EVP, CFO and CHRO at Regenesis Remediation Technologies.
Not to mention, with the United States’ intervention in Venezuela at the top of this year, geopolitical uncertainty doesn’t appear to be abating. What all that means for finance teams is anyone’s guess, but CFOs may find themselves tuning into international news between meetings.
