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What’s important to the CFO in 2026
Executive insights
Five trends reshaping the finance leader’s agenda
Finance at the speed of change
CFOs are stepping into 2026 as enterprise strategists and architects of reinvention. You’re charting a course through shifting regulations, evolving trade dynamics, and rising expectations from your board, investors, regulators, and your people. The pressure is on to prove returns on AI and digital investments, build teams ready to adapt—again and again—and help advance sustainability efforts. The challenge? Maintain financial confidence while shaping an enterprise that thrives through disruption.
In the spotlight
A new tempo for the modern CFO
CFOs are operating at the center of disruption—managing economic volatility, shifting trade and tax policy, and rapid advances in AI and emerging technology. They’re also tightening capital discipline and preparing for new regulatory demands. The issue isn’t any single change but the speed and overlap of all of them. Understanding where value is moving, how regulatory shifts may rewire supply chains, and how stronger data, AI and risk analytics can sharpen decisions is essential to staying ahead.
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[58%] of CFOs are increasing focus on cash and liquidity forecasting to adjust planning in today’s volatile environment
Source: PwC Pulse Survey, May 2025
Where to focus in 2026
Strategy and growth
Fuel growth through strategic capital allocation
New business models are emerging from unexpected places. AI is redrawing industry lines. And what used to be vertical-specific challenges are now enterprise-wide decisions—shaped by regulation, data, and accelerated transformation. For senior executives, especially CFOs, the question is no longer if to pivot but where, how fast, and on what terms.
Today’s finance leaders are navigating unfamiliar terrain. Funding innovation, supporting resilience, managing risk—often all at once. The most effective go beyond cost control to architect value creation across the enterprise. That means not only linking finance with strategy, tech, and talent, but attracting and developing the next generation of finance professionals. It also requires aligning capital allocation with enterprise goals to confirm growth strategies, and meet evolving stakeholder expectations and regulatory demands. And through it all, they stay focused on one outcome: delivering expected value.
Top insights
Strategy and growth
The leader’s guide to value in motion
For today’s CFOs, AI, climate change, and other megatrends aren’t future risks—they’re already reshaping value pools and demanding new models of resilience and foresight.
Strategy and growth
How leading CEOs and CFOs are treating portfolio reviews as core strategy
Why CFOs can’t afford to overlook data-driven portfolio reviews.
Deals
How M&A leaders are navigating policy uncertainty
Amid volatility, CFOs should balance caution with bold moves that unlock transformation and long-term value.
Operations
Formula 1®: Rewiring the future of race operations
From setup to teardown, everything leads to one moment: the green lights. PwC is helping F1 design operations built for sustainability, resilience, and speed.
[$7.1 trillion] in revenue will shift this year as companies reinvent business models to unlock growth
Source: Value in Motion
Finance transformation
Make finance the engine of enterprise transformation
Finance expectations keep climbing—faster forecasts, sharper insights, tighter controls—even as teams manage fragmented data and shrinking budgets. The pressure isn’t to perform, but to transform.
Finance is being reconfigured for speed, visibility, and cross-functional decision-making. What were once siloed functions—accounting, FP&A, treasury and audit—now require tighter coordination to keep pace with strategic demands. Controllers are stepping beyond the ledger to help deliver real-time insights that support planning, risk decisions, and AI adoption. Strategic planning depends on operational accuracy and teams upskilled in analytics, automation, and scenario modeling. Investment decisions demand real-time visibility. And AI raises the bar on speed and accountability.
The future of finance can‘t be built through reporting alone. It can be shaped in every operational decision.
Top insghts
Finance transformation
Future of finance: How you can lead with insight, not just oversight
From reporting to reinvention—see how finance leaders create enterprise value.
Finance transformation
Unlock sharper strategy, stronger execution and sustained results
Elevate finance beyond compliance: Streamline operations, boost accuracy, and deliver insights that guide strategy and unlock value.
Value creation
2025 Global Treasury Survey
See how treasury is becoming a CFO’s engine for agility and value.
PwC Private
6 actions private CFOs should take when transforming the finance function
Discover the strategic moves private-company CFOs are using to modernize finance—boosting agility, insights, and long-term value with leaner teams.
Top quartile organizations have reduced the cost of finance to 0.55% of company revenue
Artificial intelligence
Embed AI into finance delivery
AI is reshaping finance from the inside out, and CFOs are focusing where precision matters most—process controls, compliance, and the back office. It enhances accuracy in reconciliations and exception handling while freeing teams from manual tasks that slow close cycles and increase risk.
Agentic AI is also shifting how work gets done. In FP&A, AI powers real-time scenario planning, while in procure-to-pay it autonomously matches purchase orders and processes invoices—cutting cycle times by up to 80%.
But speed isn’t enough. To scale AI with confidence, CFOs are embedding controls, proving ROI, and earning board-level trust. They’re building in responsible AI—and helping make sure models are transparent, explainable, and compliant. The most advanced teams are beyond simply automating. They're making faster, smarter decisions with less risk and more impact.
Top insights
Technology
How AI agents help drive a new finance operating model
CFOs are embedding intelligence and insights across the enterprise to boost both operational and financial performance—and AI is a powerful lever to make it happen.
Artificial intelligence
AI agents are here—and they’re transforming finance and reporting
AI agents are reshaping finance. Learn how CFOs can harness them for speed, insight, and trust.
Artificial intelligence
How enterprise performance management is powering finance’s role in driving growth
Discover how to transform performance management, drive growth, and enhance strategic decision-making though EPM and analytics.
Artificial intelligence
Responsible AI: Now that AI is part of your business, what does it mean for audits?
What does the growing use of AI mean for assurance?
[Up to 40%] improvement in forecasting accuracy and speed when finance teams deploy AI agents
Source: PwC’s AI Agent Survey, May 2025
Risk and regulatory
Redefine resilience for a new policy era
CFOs face a new kind of disruption—shaped by US tax reform debates, tariff shifts, and the mainstreaming of digital assets. Leading teams are stress testing capital allocation and liquidity as corporate tax changes and cross-border rules could reshape cash flow. They’re also mapping tariff impacts and supply chain dependencies, with boards pressing for visibility into second- and third-tier risks, especially around vendors.
At the same time, digital assets like crypto and blockchain are no longer fringe. Boards expect CFOs to anticipate how adoption, regulation, and market volatility could shape payments, accounting treatment, and treasury operations. Resilient finance functions are embedding governance frameworks, building policy scenarios, and setting triggers that allow them to reset strategy in real time. The result: Clarity on how today’s policy and technology shapes tomorrow’s performance.
Top insights
Resilience
Trade positions are taking shape: What’s your next move
How CFOs can turn tariff turbulence into strategic readiness.
Legislative policy and tax reform
Translating the tax bill for business: How should executives prepare?
Tax changes aren’t just fiscal. CFOs should recalibrate strategy and capital bets to turn complexity into advantage.
Crypto and digital assets
A turning point in stablecoin reporting is here: 4 takeaways for issuers
A new AICPA framework helps CFOs bring clarity and trust to stablecoin reporting.
Financial reporting
How leaders can manage regulatory and compliance risks
Explore three critical questions every leader should ask about regulatory and compliance risks and how to proactively manage them.
[57%] of CFOs cite economic policy as a top-3 factor affecting short-term strategy changes
Source: PwC Pulse Survey, May 2025
Financial reporting
Raising the bar on transparency
Finance has always been more than bookkeeping—it’s the foundation for performance. For CFOs, that starts with the fundamentals like strong internal controls, reliable reporting, and a high-quality audit. But expectations now extend further. Investors, regulators, and boards press for greater financial transparency into how businesses create long-term value—and they look to finance to provide it with confidence, from the integrity of reporting to the credibility of nonfinancial disclosures.
Sustainability is also broadening the lens on performance. By applying the same rigor to sustainability data as financials—confirming it’s reliable, decision-ready, and audit-backed—CFOs can elevate insights into strategy. Done right, this approach strengthens disclosures, attracts capital, informs investment, and drives growth. In today’s environment, measurable rigor leads to measurable performance.
Top insights
Reporting
Navigating the challenges—and opportunities—of an evolving reporting landscape
Explore how finance leaders can unify sustainability and financial reporting.
Sustainability
Get ahead of California’s sweeping climate mandates
Get ahead of California’s sweeping climate mandates—your CFO roadmap to regulatory clarity.
Sustainability
The CFO’s sustainability playbook for driving growth
Lead the value agenda: Apply finance discipline to sustainability.
Auditing
Financial statement audit
The PwC audit revolves around you—anticipating the complex issues that matter most to your business.
[24%]of organizations are spending significantly more on proactive measures than on reactive measures
Explore executive insights
Identify the key focus areas of your colleagues.
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