The CFO Program

The year in preview: Chief financial officer confidence soars heading into 2025

US finance chiefs appear cautious headed into the 2024 election. Here’s what surveyed CFOs are watching.

The results of the quarter’s survey can be characterized by caution. A large proportion of surveyed CFOs may be waiting for more tangible, quantifiable, evidence that the economy is on the right track.

In this quarter, CFOs see North America’s economic conditions improving and potential for higher productivity with GenAI despite concerns over GenAI skills.

In this quarter’s survey CFOs diminished their 12-month outlook for economic conditions falling in most regions tracked by CFO Signals. They also indicated lower year-over-year (YOY) growth expectations for earnings, revenue, and other key metrics.

Our third-quarter 2023 North American CFO Signals survey reveals a fair degree of positive momentum—in CFOs’ assessments of North America’s economy, their level of optimism for their own companies’ financial prospects, and their interest in the potential uses and benefits of Generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI).