CFO Sentiment Report | Edition 19
Global uncertainty dents confidence
CFO Sentiment offers a compelling view of Australia’s business landscape through the eyes of its financial leaders.
Edition 19 of CFO Sentiment shows that while 2024 was a year of business sentiment rebounding from historical lows, the first half of 2025 has seen CFO confidence pegged back.
Net optimism about business prospects has fallen to 49% in H1 2025, down 16 percentage points from H2 2024. It’s a sign that CFOs have tempered expectations for business recovery amidst an uncertain global environment and internal challenges.
Net optimism in the Australian economy has continued to improve however, up 18 percentage points to 23%, its highest level since H2 2022. This points to a confidence among businesses that the Australian economy has passed its low point and is on the up.
The upturn in confidence in the economy comes despite elevated uncertainty caused by recent changes in global tariffs. At 92%, net uncertainty is at its highest level in over two years, with CFO risk appetite remaining low as a result, although many CFOs believe Australia will avoid the worst of the tariff fallout.
Instead, CFO risk registers are dominated by internal business challenges. An inability to execute strategies remains the top issue, with 62% identifying this as a significant risk. Meanwhile, technology implementation and digital disruption (48%) is a growing concern for CFOs.
To this end, maximising the value of investments in AI remains front of mind. Most organisations and finance functions are now using AI in what has been a rapid transformation of business practices, but many businesses are still struggling to implement at scale. Overcoming the challenges of investment costs, privacy concerns and demonstrating value to the business is key to maximising the productivity benefits of the technology.
Explore highlights from this edition below, and download the full report for detailed insights and analysis.
Net optimism in the economy is rising while net optimism in business prospects is falling. It is the first time both indicators have failed to move in tandem since we started tracking CFO economic sentiment in 2022.
The divergence from this trend reflects the uncertainty caused by changes to global tariffs, internal challenges faced by business, and shows how an improving economy does not always flow through to better business conditions.
Most CFOs (84%) agree that the recent changes in global tariffs will have a negative or significantly negative impact on the Australian economy.
In contrast, when asked what impact they expect tariffs to have on their own organisation, CFOs are more divided. While 64% believe tariffs will negatively impact their business, 28% believe they will have no impact.
This suggests some CFOs feel that their organisation is more insulated from the impacts of tariffs than the wider economy.
CFOs believe that sustainably boosting productivity requires a fundamental shift in business practices, with most of their organisations currently executing longer term strategic initiatives that may require investment to implement. One-third are making more minor operational changes and just over 20% are targeting innovative and fundamental changes.
Technology – specifically artificial intelligence (AI) – is often viewed as a way to achieve desired efficiencies, and what we’re seeing is a growing number of organisations exploring meaningful pockets of use with AI, but this is even more restricted inside finance as AI effort is directed in the wider business first. For CFOs, partnering with the business to develop a robust AI adoption strategy that brings strategic alignment and embeds AI usage across the functions is key for unlocking value and driving efficiencies.
