Research by OneStream Software Finds 2021 Financial Plans to be Driven by Consumer Spending, Remote Workforce Enablement and the Presidential Election

Businesses will rely on upskilling and technology adoption to guide investments and business growth(OneStream Software)

OneStream Software, a leader in corporate performance management (CPM) solutions for mid-sized to very large enterprises, announced the results of its “Enterprise Financial Decision-Making 2020 – North America” survey. The study, conducted by Hanover Research, targeted finance leaders across North America, looking at how they have responded to the challenges this year and their plans for investments, hiring, upskilling and technology adoption in 2021.

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“This research illustrates the need for unified cloud-based planning and reporting solutions as well as advanced analytics that help finance leaders intelligently guide key decision-making at the speed of the business during these rapidly changing business conditions.”

The impact of COVID-19 has tested many finance leaders, accelerating the need for agile forecasting and digital transformation to respond to the unprecedented disruption caused by the pandemic. With the backdrop of a nearly 33 percent drop in GDP and many organizations withdrawing earnings guidance, finance leaders are closely tracking important economic trends and internal metrics, re-tooling their workforces and supply chains, and carefully considering critical investment and budgeting decisions. When asked about key business drivers and plans for 2021, CFOs and other financial leaders were focused on several areas:

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Optimism is mixed, consumer spending and impending election are driving plans

Despite pandemic-driven uncertainties, 43 percent of finance leaders are either somewhat or very optimistic about the economy’s outlook and plan to increase budgets across their entire companies in 2021. That optimism will consistently require re-evaluation as leaders look to a mix of internal and external factors to gauge the pace of the economic recovery. Externally, 40 percent of finance leaders are assessing consumer spending while the balance of survey respondents are focused on manufacturing activity, wage growth, unemployment and consumer sentiment. Internally, 47 percent of respondents are highly focused on signals from sales volume and revenue as indicators of their own organization’s recovery, followed by cash flow, gross profit margins and working capital.

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