2025 CFO/Controller Outlook & Sentiment Study

Learn what your corporate finance and accounting peers are planning for in 2025! Participate in this important study by taking a brief survey (est. 5 minutes) and be the first to receive a complimentary copy of the results of the 2025 CFO/Controller Outlook & Sentiment Study. All responses are anonymous and strictly confidential.

With a backdrop of a rapidly changing business and economic environments, return to office talent challenges, and the greatest geo/political risk in decades, what are financial Controllers and CFOs doing differently to manage in 2025 and beyond?

The annual CFO/Controller Outlook & Sentiment Study seeks to understand how these macro-economic trends are shaping corporate finance planning, strategy, priorities and outlooks.

Be sure to register for the 2025 CFO/Controller Outlook & Sentiment Study Results – Panel Discussion on Thursday January 23, 1 pm CST (copy/paste following link): https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/4110720376489435736/?source=survey

Question Title

* 1. What is your overall prediction of your organization’s financial performance in 2025 vs. 2024?

2025 will achieve better financial performance than 2024

2025 will have similar financial performance as 2024

2025 will have lower financial performance than 2024

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* 2. Please rate your organization’s financial metrics for 2025 vs 2024:

	Decrease	Stay the Same	Increase	N/A
Revenue	Revenue Decrease	Revenue Stay the Same	Revenue Increase	Revenue N/A
Gross Margin	Gross Margin Decrease	Gross Margin Stay the Same	Gross Margin Increase	Gross Margin N/A
Sales/General/Administrative (SG&A) costs	Sales/General/Administrative (SG&A) costs Decrease	Sales/General/Administrative (SG&A) costs Stay the Same	Sales/General/Administrative (SG&A) costs Increase	Sales/General/Administrative (SG&A) costs N/A
Profits	Profits Decrease	Profits Stay the Same	Profits Increase	Profits N/A
Organization Headcount	Organization Headcount Decrease	Organization Headcount Stay the Same	Organization Headcount Increase	Organization Headcount N/A
Finance/Accounting Headcount	Finance/Accounting Headcount Decrease	Finance/Accounting Headcount Stay the Same	Finance/Accounting Headcount Increase	Finance/Accounting Headcount N/A
Other	Other Decrease	Other Stay the Same	Other Increase	Other N/A

(please list)

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* 3. How will business, economic and geo-political uncertainties impact your organization’s spending plans?

We plan to reduce spending and budgets in 2025 in comparison to 2024

We plan to maintain spending and budgets in 2025 in comparison to 2024

We plan to increase spending and budgets in 2025 in comparison to 2024

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 4. What are your organization’s 2025 Hiring plans by Function?

	Decrease	Stay the Same	Increase	N/A
Finance/Accounting	Finance/Accounting Decrease	Finance/Accounting Stay the Same	Finance/Accounting Increase	Finance/Accounting N/A
Operations including Labor	Operations including Labor Decrease	Operations including Labor Stay the Same	Operations including Labor Increase	Operations including Labor N/A
HR	HR Decrease	HR Stay the Same	HR Increase	HR N/A
Administrative	Administrative Decrease	Administrative Stay the Same	Administrative Increase	Administrative N/A
Marketing	Marketing Decrease	Marketing Stay the Same	Marketing Increase	Marketing N/A
Sales/Customer Support	Sales/Customer Support Decrease	Sales/Customer Support Stay the Same	Sales/Customer Support Increase	Sales/Customer Support N/A
Engineering/Technical	Engineering/Technical Decrease	Engineering/Technical Stay the Same	Engineering/Technical Increase	Engineering/Technical N/A
IT/Technology	IT/Technology Decrease	IT/Technology Stay the Same	IT/Technology Increase	IT/Technology N/A
Procurement	Procurement Decrease	Procurement Stay the Same	Procurement Increase	Procurement N/A
Legal	Legal Decrease	Legal Stay the Same	Legal Increase	Legal N/A
Other	Other Decrease	Other Stay the Same	Other Increase	Other N/A

(please list)

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* 5. What will be your organization’s work environment plans for 2025?

HYBRID combination of ONSITE and REMOTE

Full ONSITE

Full REMOTE

Other (please specify)

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* 6. What are your organization’s 2025 plans for implementing Technology?

	Decrease	Stay the Same	Increase	N/A
AI and/or Automation	AI and/or Automation Decrease	AI and/or Automation Stay the Same	AI and/or Automation Increase	AI and/or Automation N/A
Accounting/Finance Back-Office/Operations (AP/AR/Close/Tax/Other)	Accounting/Finance Back-Office/Operations (AP/AR/Close/Tax/Other) Decrease	Accounting/Finance Back-Office/Operations (AP/AR/Close/Tax/Other) Stay the Same	Accounting/Finance Back-Office/Operations (AP/AR/Close/Tax/Other) Increase	Accounting/Finance Back-Office/Operations (AP/AR/Close/Tax/Other) N/A
ERP Software/Systems	ERP Software/Systems Decrease	ERP Software/Systems Stay the Same	ERP Software/Systems Increase	ERP Software/Systems N/A
Cybersecurity	Cybersecurity Decrease	Cybersecurity Stay the Same	Cybersecurity Increase	Cybersecurity N/A
Business Intelligence	Business Intelligence Decrease	Business Intelligence Stay the Same	Business Intelligence Increase	Business Intelligence N/A
Cloud and/or Data Storage	Cloud and/or Data Storage Decrease	Cloud and/or Data Storage Stay the Same	Cloud and/or Data Storage Increase	Cloud and/or Data Storage N/A
Other	Other Decrease	Other Stay the Same	Other Increase	Other N/A

(please list)

Question Title

* 7. What keeps you up at night? Greatest concern(s)? (Rate all that Apply 1 – 3; 1 being of highest concern)

	1	2	3	N/A
Talent/Retention/Recruitment	Talent/Retention/Recruitment 1	Talent/Retention/Recruitment 2	Talent/Retention/Recruitment 3	Talent/Retention/Recruitment N/A
Geo-Political Risk	Geo-Political Risk 1	Geo-Political Risk 2	Geo-Political Risk 3	Geo-Political Risk N/A
Interest Rates	Interest Rates 1	Interest Rates 2	Interest Rates 3	Interest Rates N/A
Recession	Recession 1	Recession 2	Recession 3	Recession N/A
Inflation	Inflation 1	Inflation 2	Inflation 3	Inflation N/A
Supply-Chain Issues	Supply-Chain Issues 1	Supply-Chain Issues 2	Supply-Chain Issues 3	Supply-Chain Issues N/A
Other	Other 1	Other 2	Other 3	Other N/A

(please list)

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* 8. What is your title or role?

Controller

CFO

VP Accounting

VP Finance

Chief Accounting Officer

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 9. What Industry is your organization in?

Accounting & Legal

Agriculture & Mining

Business & Industrial Services

Construction

Consumer Services

Educational Services

Energy & Utilities

Financial Services

Government

Healthcare

Hospitality, Food & Recreation

Insurance

Life Sciences, Biotechnology & Pharmaceuticals

Manufacturing

Not for Profit & Faith-Based

Professional Services & Consulting

Publishing, Media, Advertising, Marketing

Real Estate

Retail

Software & Technology

Telecommunications

Transportation

Wholesale Trade

Other (please specify)

Question Title

* 10. Approximately how many employees does your organization have?

1-9

10-19

20-49

50-99

100-249

250-499

500-999

1000+

Question Title

* 11. What is your company’s approximate revenue?

Less than $25M

$25M to $100M

$101M to $250M

$251M to $500M

$501M to $750M

Over $750M

Don’t know or prefer not to say

Question Title

* 12. Where is your business headquartered?

United States

Canada

Europe

Other (please specify)

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* 1. What is your overall prediction of your organization’s financial performance in 2025 vs. 2024?

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* 2. Please rate your organization’s financial metrics for 2025 vs 2024:

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* 3. How will business, economic and geo-political uncertainties impact your organization’s spending plans?

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* 4. What are your organization’s 2025 Hiring plans by Function?

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* 5. What will be your organization’s work environment plans for 2025?

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* 6. What are your organization’s 2025 plans for implementing Technology?

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* 7. What keeps you up at night? Greatest concern(s)? (Rate all that Apply 1 – 3; 1 being of highest concern)

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* 8. What is your title or role?

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* 9. What Industry is your organization in?

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* 10. Approximately how many employees does your organization have?

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* 11. What is your company’s approximate revenue?

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* 12. Where is your business headquartered?

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* 13. Thank you for completing the survey! If you would like a copy of the study report, please provide your email address here.