CFO Dive report: ‘Having real-time visibility into cash flow is becoming crucial for CFOs and other financial leaders’

Visibility over cash flow has become top of mind for finance and accounting leaders, according to CFO Dive. According to a recent survey, 62% of C-suite and F&A professionals said “real-time visibility into cash flow is a ‘must-have’ for their businesses during the coming next year” and 98% said “they could be more confident about their current level of visibility.”

Survey respondents expressed concerns over rising interest rates and market uncertainty — 95% anticipate that rate hikes will pose risks to business operations. Increased regulation and scrutiny also are driving the need for more automation and greater visibility over cash and cash flow. The survey of 737 C-level and 746 finance and accounting professionals included respondents from seven countries and was conducted by BlackLine. 

What do leaders believe could help them weather a downturn? Increased automation and improved visibility over cash. 

“Nearly half of the survey respondents (49%) are concerned that a lack of visibility into cash flow indicates their business is making decisions with inaccurate or outdated information, while 48% said an incomplete understanding of cash flow complicates efforts to respond to market fluctuations,” CFO Dive reported.

Thirty-six percent cited identifying manual errors during month-end close processes as a key challenge; 30% said they lack the automated controls appropriate to the volume of data they process.

“Among C-suite executives, CFOs are most likely to believe that they hold sole responsibility for navigating their companies through a downturn, the study found, suggesting that financial leaders may face greater comparative stress if the economy falters,” CFO Dive reported.

Read the full article here: “C-suite, financial leaders eager to gain cash flow visibility”