Top Priorities, Predictions, and Concerns of Finance Leaders in 2022
2021 was an interesting year for the world of finance, to say the least. The effects of the pandemic continued from the year before, unpredictable economic developments unfurled, and finance leaders found themselves adapting to the ever-changing environment on top of their already busy job.
As we start the new year, will any of that change? We reached out to top finance leaders to find out. From familiar challenges like supply chain issues and labor shortages to newer concerns like inflation, here’s what’s top of mind for finance leaders for 2022:
Jack McCullough, President of the CFO Leadership Council
Top Predictions for 2022
- The talent shortage will continue, forcing employers to get more creative in recruiting talent.
- More CFOs will be promoted to the CEO position than any year in history, as companies continue to value the blend of financial expertise and strategic thinking that only CFOs possess.
- Companies will continue to invest in new technologies, to the extent that 2022 will be the year of the greatest tech spend ever. Many will manage the talent shortage through investments in automation, AI, and Robotics.
- Generation Z will assert its dominance on the economy. This would have started a couple of years ago if not for the pandemic, but America’s largest, most technologically savvy, and most diverse will make its presence known in a major way.
Top Concerns for 2022
- Inflation. CFOs hate volatility more than just about anything, and the worst sustained inflation in decades will create a volatile business environment.
- The talent shortage. I could make this prediction every year, but most companies simply will not be able to find enough people to support their strategic objectives.
- Supply chain disruption. It’s simply not going away for a while.
Hear more from Jack on the Leaders of Modern Finance Podcast here: Ep. 7 – How to Be a Rockstar CFO
Peter Taylor, Corporate Controller at Purple:
Top Concerns for 2022
- In regards to unchecked inflation, the continued kicking of the can down the road only erodes the purchasing power of the dollar. This leads to great uncertainty around 2022 sales projections, as folks are more likely to put a pause on higher-priced/luxury goods.
- Supply chain issues are unlikely to be resolved any time soon. If there is uncertainty around sourcing products/materials, AND fulfilling our orders to customers, we are unlikely to have provided accurate guidance.
- Lastly, the looming threat of possible government COVID-related mandates presents serious employment issues and could put our company’s ability to have adequate staffing levels to produce our US-made products, never mind any potential legal exposure coming out of wrongful treatment/termination.
Hear more from Peter on the Leaders of Modern Finance Podcast here: Ep. 2 – The Proactive Accountant
Kerstin Benden, CFO of Altium Packaging
Top Questions for 2022
- How transitory is the inflation that we are seeing – really?
- Related to that, when will the labor market (especially in manufacturing) stabilize?
- Looking at the impact the pandemic has had on work approaches, how will we operate differently in a hybrid work world and shift from the urgent to the important?
Hear more from Kersten on the Leaders of Modern Finance Podcast here: Ep. 9 – An Unpredictable Journey to CFO
Scott Almeida, CFO of Recorded Future
Top Priorities for 2022
- Keep great talent.
- Keep getting more efficient through automation of non-value-add processes.
- Real-time data decisioning moving to predictive decision making.
Top Concerns for 2022
- Keeping great talent.
- Cyber risks.
- Global economy.
Hear more from Scott on the Leaders of Modern Finance Podcast here: Ep. 5 – Building a Winning Culture & Staying Humble
Ben Murray, Founder of The SaaS CFO
Top Predictions for 2022
- Finance will assume the role of the corporate data steward.
- Corporate technology stacks will be managed holistically. Silos are gone.
- Operations is a new financial discipline.
Top Concerns for 2022
- Attracting, retaining, and investing in talent.
- Finance departments that can move as fast as the data changes.
- Managing corporate compliance with global sales and a global workforce.
Hear more from Ben on the Leaders of Modern Finance Podcast here: Ep. 10 – Investing Energy to Streamline Solutions
Evgeny Fetisov, CFO of SEMrush
Top Priorities for 2022
- Continue building out teams (including hiring).
- Developing the company’s infrastructure to support growth.
- Continue telling $SEMR story to investors.
Top Concerns for 2022
- US economic growth and inflation.
- COVID-19 and reopening.
- Labor market pressures.
Hear more from Evgeny on the Leaders of Modern Finance Podcast here: Ep. 6 – Humanizing Your Data
Dan Haarmann, CFO of AiFi
Top Priorities for 2022
- Operationalizing the business. Building processes for launching stores, recognizing revenue, closing the books, forecasting spend/revenue, and formalizing management reporting.
- Building the team. Moving from external support to internally managed team and expanding ops into Europe and Asia
- Audit readiness. Looking to do our first audit and need compliance for 605/606 as well as inception to date house cleaning.
Top Concerns for 2022
- Hiring. It will be a very hard labor market in every area of the business.
- Macroeconomic outlook. If inflation and supply chain issues continue, is there a broader check coming? Does COVID stay?
- Keeping the team connected without an office and continuing to drive as hard as we are without a break. I feel like we’re missing the human side of working together and worried that there is no pressure release valve to help monitor.
Hear more from Dan on the Leaders of Modern Finance Podcast here: Ep. 4 – Cash Is King
