Finance Monthly. 7 The Monthly Round-Up ers to adapt as the ESG reporting landscape continues to evolve quickly, with priorities differing vastly across industries and geographies,” said Christopher Wright, global leader of Protiviti’s Business Performance Improvement solution and sponsor of the firm’s ESG client services steering committee. “Along with the need for finance leaders to meet ESG-related reporting demands globally, our survey also finds the underlying issues that ESG commitments strive to address continue to command the attention of finance leaders and organizations over the next 12 months and beyond.” Top 10 Priorities In the survey of over 900 global finance leaders, including CFOs, vice presidents, directors and managers, conducted in the second and third quarters of 2023, participants ranked their priorities for the coming year. The results shown above indicate the top 10 finance priorities. The survey also found that the impact of inflation is weighing heavily on finance teams, a concern rising to second priority from the 6th spot in 2022. Combined with a focus on financial planning and analysis as well as profitability reporting and analysis, finance teams are reinforcing cost optimization measures in response to an uncertain global economy. Organizations are exploring generative AI to drive productivity and performance to counteract the escalation of challenges for the finance function. Of the finance functions surveyed, 63% of publicly held and 39% of privately held organizations currently use generative AI. Among organizations employing this technology, almost half (49%) are utilizing it for compliance and regulatory reporting, 45% are focusing on risk assessment and management and 37% are using it for financial forecasting. “As the number of priorities for finance leaders increases, they are forced to make high-stakes decisions by reacting quickly to a constant stream of evolving regulatory requirements,” said Wright. “CFOs and their teams rely on technology and data resources to mitigate these pressures and devise strategic responses to complex challenges.” 2023 Rank 2022 Rank 1 ESG metrics and measurement 14 2 Impact of inflation 6 3 Financial planning and analysis 2 4 Profitability reporting and analysis 7 5 Security and privacy of data 1 6 Strategic planning 3 7 Enhanced data analytics 9 8 National tax changes 18 9 Cloud-based applications 4 10 Routine reporting and closing activities 8
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