Key findings from a recent CFO sentiment study include two primary channels to deliver growth and profitability and four factors that will determine company success in 2017.

1. 1© 2017 The CFO Alliance. All Rights Reserved.
DELIVERING GROWTH & PROFITABILITY IN 2017
INSIGHTS FROM OVER 500 CFOS
February 22, 2017

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OUR WEBINAR PARTNER

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Housekeeping Items
• The slides are available under “Handouts.”
• We will send you links to the presentation and the recording
via email within 24 hrs.
• For CPE credit: Answer all polling questions and remain for the
duration.
 Questions on CPE credit? Email Ernie.Humphrey@thecfoalliance.org
• We want to hear from you! Ask questions for the Q&A session.
• Please take the short survey at the end of the webinar.

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• Benchmark your 2017 plans and activities relative to over
500 of your CFO peers.
• Discover what over 500 of your CFO peers view as key
challenges and opportunities in 2017.
• Understand specific tactics CFOs plan to leverage to deliver
growth and profitability in 2017.
• Discover key take-aways from CFO Roundtable held in
NYC, Philadelphia, LA, Orange County, and Denver
Learning Objectives

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The 7th Annual CFO Sentiment Study
Annual Revenue Top Industry Concentrations

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CFO Sentiment Study - Key Findings
• CFOs will look to 2 primary channels to deliver growth
and profitability in 2017:
1. Organic Growth (Innovation)
2. Increasing Customer Spend
• Four factors will determine company success in 2017:
1. Expanding Relationships with Existing Customers
2. Marketing Execution
3. Operational Efficiency
4. Adding the right Talent and upgrading existing Talent across the
organization

7. 7© 2017 The CFO Alliance. All Rights Reserved.
Economic Overview
Respondents rated their confidence in
the US economy as strong or extremely
strong. *This is up from 30% in 2014.
The 2017 outlook for the global economy is
weak or extremely weak but getting better.
Why is CFO Sentiment trending positive going into 2017?

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Notable Year-over-Year Changes
• 39% of survey respondents report that
they will be pursuing a significant
upgrade in information, data, and
communications systems.
• If given $500K to allocate to the
marketing department, 44% reported
that spend would focus on market
research.
• 90% of respondents reported that the
results of US political elections would
impact business strategy in 2017 up
from 2016.

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Polling Question

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2017 CFO Wish Lists
• If CFOs were given $1M in additional budget to allocate:
 40% would heavily allocate funds to sales and marketing.
 25% would allocate all funds to improving technology.
• If CFOs were given $500K in additional budget to allocate to
Marketing as they see fit:
 44% reported that the spend would focus on market research to improve the
company’s understanding of addressable markets.
• If CFOs were given $500K in additional budget to allocate to Sales as
they see fit:
 40% of CFOs reported that the spend would focus on upgrading/defining top
performer talent.
• If CFOs were given $500K in additional budget to allocate to HR as
they see fit:
 40% of CFOs reported that the spend would focus on developing in-house
training programs.

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2017 CFO Wish Lists- Industry Insights
• Recruiting and Retaining Top Talent is Critical in Retail/Wholesale
 If CFOs were given $1M in additional budget to allocate in Finance:
o In Financial Services - 50% reported a heavy allocation would go to
recruiting and retaining top talent - 10% higher than other respondents.
o In Retail/Wholesale - 46% reported a heavy allocation would go to
recruiting and retaining top talent - 6% higher than other respondents.
• Technology Upgrades Matter Most in the Manufacturing and Technology
Industries
 If CFOs were given $1M in additional budget to allocate in Finance:
o In Manufacturing – 39% of respondents would allocate all funds to
upgrading financial technology - 13% higher than other respondents.
o In Technology - 42% of respondents would allocate all funds to upgrade
financial technology - 16% higher than other respondents.

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2017 CFO Wish Lists- Industry Insights
• Sales and Marketing Talent Needs in Financial Services
 If CFOs were given $1M to invest in talent across the
organization:
o 59% reported heavy allocations would go to upgrading
Sales and Marketing talent - 19% higher than other
respondents.
• Sales and Marketing Talent Needs are Less in Healthcare
 If CFOs were given $1M to invest in talent across the
organization:
o Only 8% reported heavy allocations would go to upgrading
Sales & Marketing talent - 32% lower than other
respondents.

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Top Factors Driving Growth & Profitability
1. Expanding Relationships with Existing Customers
2. Marketing Execution
3. Adding the Right Talent across the Enterprise
4. Operational Efficiency

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Polling Question

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Top Factors Driving Growth & Profitability -
Where Company Size Matters
• M&A is a focus in 2017 for companies with annual
revenue greater than $250M
 For companies with annual revenue from $250M to $999M:
o 20% reported M&A activity will have the greatest impact
on company growth and profitability in 2017 compared to
7% for the other respondents.
 For companies with annual revenue greater than $1B:
o 17% reported M&A activity as the top priority for
company growth in 2017 compared to 6% for the other
respondents.
o 30% reported the top operational challenge faced in 2017
will be integrating acquisitions compared to 10% for the
other respondents.

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Expanding Relationships with Existing Customers
• Meeting customer expectations was most frequently
identified as the top operational challenge CFOs will face
in 2017.
• If CFOs were given an additional $1M budget to improve
the talent at their organizations, over 40% would allocate
funds to hire sales and marketing professionals.
• Ideas from other Roundtable discussions:
 Deploy finance talent throughout other business functions
 The CFO is getting more involved in the customer experience at an
earlier time
 A focus on “language and data translation” by finance professional

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Key Drivers of Growth & Profitability
• Deepening and Strengthening Customer Relationships
 More involvement in developing and managing customer
relationships
o 40% of CFOs reported that their involvement in developing and
managing customer relationships will increase in 2017.
 Promote investment in a better understanding of addressable
markets/customer behaviors
o If CFOs were given an additional $500K budget to allocate to their
marketing department per their direction, 44% reported that the
spend would focus on market research to improve the company’s
understanding of addressable markets (up from 34% last year).

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Acquiring the right TALENT,
upgrading the skill sets of existing talent,
and motivating each Finance team member
• 66% of finance leaders characterized human capital acquisition
and retention as a concern or a great concern in 2017.
• 90% reported that they would invest in acquiring and/or
upgrading finance talent in 2017.
• 76% of finance leaders identified the ability to motivate and
challenge millennials as a concern in 2017.

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Key Drivers of Growth & Profitability
• Acquiring the right TALENT, upgrading the skill sets
of existing talent, and motivating each finance team
member
– Hiring
o Over 57% of survey respondents indicated they would be hiring
new full time employees in Finance in 2017.
– Training
o Over 21% reported that their most meaningful investment in
talent would be additional training and development for
existing employees.
– Retention
o 55% of finance leaders reported that they are involved in the
professional development of their employees to a great extent.

20. 20© 2017 The CFO Alliance. All Rights Reserved.
Finance Leaders Reported Operational
Efficiency as a Top Factor that would
Impact Growth & Profitability
• 39% of survey respondents reported that they were
concerned with their company’s information, data and
communications systems.
• Business agility is critical – 1/3 of the respondents indicated
a shift in the top financial, risk and operations issues.
• Moving operational efficiency to operational agility.

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Key Drivers of Growth & Profitability
Business challenges shift year to year. CFOs are
walking the tightrope to mitigate risks and manage
constant business challenge shifts.
• Regulatory changes
• Improve their company’s information, data, and communications
systems
– Spreadsheet hell
• Ensuring that employees have access to the right technology
across the enterprise.
– 83% of companies surveyed are currently leveraging cloud-based
applications
• Over 19% of companies surveyed will be fully migrated to cloud based
solutions in the next 18 months.

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What You Should Tell Your Board
• Data Security/Information Governance: 35% of companies
discuss at least on monthly basis (69% at least on a quarterly
basis).
• Cybersecurity Risk Management: 98% of CFOs have
responsibility and/or ownership relative to cybersecurity risk
management and data breach response.
• Cyber Insurance: 61% have some level of cyber insurance.
• Board Preparedness: 64% feel their Boards are somewhat or not
very well prepared to address the important matter facing their
organizations.
• Board Training and Resources: 84% of companies are making
some level of investment in providing education, tools and
resources to board members.

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1. Companies need to focus on delivering more value and
communicating this value to customers, and show customers they
understand their key concerns to expand customer relationships.
2. Companies need to do a better job of aligning sales talent with what
customers need. This means market specific expertise is now a
requirement for an effective sales professional.
3. Last year, companies were effective in acquiring better talent. This
year, CFOs will pivot the focus in collaborative efforts with HR to
developing talent and engaging employees to ensure retention.
4. CFOs need to focus on educating their teams on the languages of HR,
Sales, Marketing and Operations in addition to educating colleagues
who work in these areas on the language of Finance.
10 Key Take-Aways from CFO Roundtables

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5. Finance needs to help sales professionals connect information to
growth. Sales is accustomed to flying their own plane. Finance needs
to act as a co-pilot in sales growth, educating sales professionals on
how to leverage information to close deals.
6. Companies would do well to formally define a framework to drive
strategic alignment across the enterprise with a focus on employee
education relative to key objectives and messaging to customers.
Decisions need to be driven by core company values which need to
align with strategic objectives.
7. Companies are in a good position to grow in 2017, but there must be
consideration given to the dangers of growing too quickly and/or into
the wrong markets. Companies need deeper customer relationships
and achieve aggressive growth.
10 Key Take-Aways from CFO Roundtables

25. 25© 2017 The CFO Alliance. All Rights Reserved.
8. Companies need to understand customers well enough to
recognize and capitalize on signals that they need to purchase
products and/or services. Know what companies need before they
know they need it.
9. Tremendous insights can be gained from interviewing smarter.
Screen for candidates whose motivation is solely the amount of
their salary. Make sure that a candidate is running to your
company and your culture as opposed to running away from an
employer.
10. A CFO needs to serve in the role of Chief Reality Officer. This
means that fellow leaders trust the CFO to always offer an honest
assessment of situations and issues that matter, and to assist
them in averting issues and crises before they occur.
10 Key Take-Aways from CFO Roundtables

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Compete in 2017
• Be more engaged in customer relationships.
• Understand what marketing needs to optimize execution
and help them get it.
• Review business systems to ensure they optimize strategic
agility across the enterprise.
• Own the optimization of human capital in the office of the
CFO.
• Earn the role of Chief Trusted Advisor.

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Q&A

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Polling Question

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What’s next…
1. CFO Roundtables in DC, Dallas, Chicago, SF
2. CFO Alliance Webinars –
• Feb.23: The CFOs Guide to Controlling Legal Fees- Pt.1
• March 15: The CFOs Guide to Controlling Legal Fees- Pt.2
• March 16: CPM: Enough Hype: How it Impacts the Bottom Line
3. Q2 CFO Roundtables – Human Capital

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OUR WEBINAR PARTNER

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Thank You
http://www.thecfoalliance.org