CFO Study 2021

“Beyond the Crisis – What is on the CFO-Agenda post-Corona?”

Our yearly CFO study highlights contemporary trends and challenges CFOs and their finance organizations are facing. Furthermore, the study identifies specific measures that are being introduced to address these challenges and trends, as well as strategic approaches that are being pursued to master a holistic finance transformation.

The Covid-19 virus has been part of our private and business life for most of 2020 and will continue to be in 2021. The spread of the pandemic has triggered a global crisis. Companies from all sectors have been affected economically and were forced to formulate quick responses to introduce counteractive measures. The unforeseen developments raise the question of what experience finance executives have had in the past months and what they expect for the future. This year’s CFO study makes the implications of the Covid-19 crisis transparent, especially regarding the role of the CFO, his or her finance agenda, and the finance function as a whole. In particular, the following questions are being addressed: What are the expected implications of the crisis? Which strategic measures are gaining in relevance to counteract the influence of the coronavirus pandemic? How does the crisis affect the overall finance transformation and what role does the CFO and finance executives play in this matter?

In addition, the study shows how much progress has been made within the last year regarding the introduction and implementation of digitalization projects within the finance functions and to what extent existing experience levels could be further expanded. Also, planned organizational and structural changes as well as changing methods of collaboration are examined. With the coronavirus crisis influencing finance executives’ agendas for over a year, key aspects of the study are compared with the results from the 2020 CFO study.

Click here for the study!