CFOs See Silver Linings to Coronavirus Crisis

The coronavirus pandemic has spurred surprising enhancements at U.S. firms and pushed CFOs to reprioritize engineering investment, in accordance to a Grant Thornton study.

The accounting agency claimed that a lot more than sixty% of CFOs cited improved versatile and distant work environments as an upside of the pandemic, with forty% also noting improved collaboration, improved enterprise procedures, and an skill to far better aim on tactic.

Amid the change to distant work, sixty one% of finance chiefs indicated that they be expecting to boost investment in cybersecurity in the up coming calendar year. When questioned to name the a few greatest challenges struggling with their firms, forty six% indicated cybersecurity threats, forty six% selected engineering upgrades, and thirty% explained distant workforce troubles.

Fifty-a few per cent of respondents are prioritizing extensive-expression foundational engineering infrastructure investment above engineering that addresses quick enterprise wants (forty seven%).

“A calendar year ago, CFOs were being scrambling just to endure, but in some cases a disaster can speed up optimistic change,” Chris Schenkenberg, regional tax enterprise traces national handling husband or wife at Grant Thornton, explained in a information launch.

The study also revealed that numerous CFOs prepare to reduce vacation and actual estate costs in the coming calendar year and past and a lot more than half prepare to boost investment in their companies’ DE&I (diversity, equity, and inclusion) and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) practices.

CFOs skewed unfavorable on taxes, with 39% saying the Biden administration’s tax plans will negatively impression their enterprises. Amid firms with a lot more than $one billion in revenue, fifty five% be expecting tax alterations to have a unfavorable impression, even though only 29% of firms with revenues involving $one hundred and one and $five hundred million felt the exact same.

Indicating the special goal acquisition corporation boom of 2020 will continue on, 84% of non-public corporation respondents explained SPACs have greater their interest in going general public. When questioned whether a SPAC or a standard IPO would be their selection, respondents were being just about equally split, with forty nine% choosing a SPAC and 51% choosing an IPO.

Additional than two-thirds of CFOs, having said that, be expecting greater SPAC regulation from the Securities and Exchange Commission in 2021 even though fifty five% think SPACs depart new general public firms overvalued.

coronavirus, ESG, Grant Thornton, distant work, SPACs, study, Technologies