What are the priorities and challenges for CFOs in 2026?
In 2025, finance departments still had one foot in the "old world," focused on performance management, cash management, and development strategy in a tense but relatively predictable environment. In 2026, the study "2026 Priorities for Finance Departments" by PwC and the DFCG 1, tells us that the landscape is changing: CFOs must navigate economic instability, technological revolution (generative AI, automation, real-time data), and increased regulatory pressure, while making process efficiency and sustainable finance real levers for value creation.
Quick summary of the article:
- The new priorities for finance departments in 2026 (and what has changed since 2025).
- How the CFO is becoming a strategic co-pilot for senior management.
- Why digitization and AI are becoming essential for securing cash, automating financial data, and making it more reliable.
- What are the underlying trends shaping the Finance & Administration Department?
- How the Freedz Approved Platform helps CFOs meet their 2026 targets.
The top priorities for CFOs in 2026
Managing performance more effectively in an uncertain world
In 2025, performance management was already a priority, but often with a traditional 3–5 year horizon. In 2026, CFOs are narrowing their focus: the priority is now "even more precise and responsive" management in the short and medium term (1 to 3 years), in order to adapt quickly to market shocks, supply tensions, and interest rate movements.
Finance departments are strengthening their forecasting tools, rolling out "what-if" scenarios and increasingly rely on predictive analytics solutions connected to ERP systems to simulate the impact of commercial, industrial, or investment decisions. The challenge is to provide senior management with an actionable, near real-time view of performance.
Cash management: the big comeback of strategic treasury management
Already a key concern in 2025, cash becomes a real strategic pillar in 2026. Against a backdrop of economic volatility and pressure on financing costs, CFOs seek to secure liquidity, anticipate financing needs, and preserve investment capacity.
New practices include the implementation of real-time cash flow forecasting tools, the use of AI to anticipate payment delays and customer late payments, and the creation of dedicated KPIs (Cash Conversion Cycle, DSO, etc.).
The reform of electronic invoicing is a lever for making flows more reliable and faster, via Approved platforms such as Freedz capable of automating and securing invoice processing.
Process efficiency: a priority that ranks among the top three
Big news for 2026: process and organizational efficiency has become one of the top three priorities for finance departments. The goal is no longer just to "do better with less," but to design a more agile, digitalized, and resilient finance function
CFOs are accelerating process standardization (P2P, O2C, closing, reporting), deploying digital workflows, and automating low-value-added tasks (follow-ups, reconciliations, data entry). Generative AI is used to produce reports, analyze performance gaps, and assist with budget preparation, while RPA and APIs streamline exchanges between tools.
In the PwC and DFCG study, the concern for efficiency is already reflected in the organization of finance departments. A significant proportion of respondents say they have implemented a new process-based organization of accounting teams (21%), a team dedicated to transforming the finance function (19%), and a centralized unit for data processing and reporting (18%). The quest for efficiency is now structured and managed as a genuine strategic project.
Key trends shaping the finance function
Digital transformation and augmented finance
In 2026, digitalization is no longer a "nice to have" project: it is a given. Finance departments are entering the era of augmented finance. People and technology work together to increase reliability, speed, and depth of analysis.
Visionary CFOs rely on:
- Generative AI for producing reports, simulating scenarios, or documenting financial decisions.
- Unified BI solutions offering a 360° view of performance, cash flow, and risks.
- Predictive analytics tools integrated into the ERP system to anticipate cash flow, market fluctuations, and supplier risks.
This digital transformation also involves reforming electronic invoicing, which is becoming a catalyst for fundamental rethinking. the P2P chain (purchase–invoice–payment).
Cost control and "sustainable" savings
Faced with pressure on margins, cost control remains a key issue in 2026. It is no longer just a matter of cutting budgets: CFOs are aiming for "sustainable and strategic" savings. How? By carefully balancing digitalization, sustainability, cybersecurity, and innovation.
FinOps approaches 2 are becoming widespread as a way to optimize costs related to the cloud and digital services without compromising performance. On the operational side, cost reduction is achieved through the automation of financial processes, the streamlining of financial information systems, and the reduction of errors and disputes, particularly through improved billing data quality.
Sustainable finance and impactful value creation
Another significant development : sustainable finance is moving beyond simple CSR reporting and becoming a driver of value creation. By 2026, CFOs will be incorporating environmental and social costs into budgets, business plans, and investment decisions.
Compliance, regulations, and cybersecurity: a more demanding framework
Electronic invoicing, "VAT in the Digital Age," and real-time reporting
In 2026, the electronic invoicing reform continues to transform the daily lives of CFOs. All VAT-registered companies must align themselves with a model where B2B and B2C flows go through Approved Platforms or the public portal, in compliance with European standards (EN16931) and (near) real-time reporting requirements.
Added to this is the gradual rollout of " VAT in the Digital Age ," the European harmonization of VAT invoicing and reporting, as well as the strengthening of tax controls and the fight against fraud. The big question for CFOs: how can these constraints be integrated into a simple, robust, and scalable IT architecture?
Cybersecurity and resilience of the finance function
With the increase in cyber threats and the implementation of the NIS2 directive, financial security is becoming a critical issue. Finance departments must ensure that their systems, sensitive data flows (invoices, payments, contracts), and partners (banks, platforms, publishers) meet high cybersecurity standards.
💡Operational resilience is becoming a major criterion for choosing financial solutions: business continuity, data backup, transaction traceability, rights and access management, etc.. Here again, selecting a reliable Approved Platform for electronic invoicing is a concrete lever for securing the P2P chain.
Freedz: the Approved Platform serving DAF 2026 priorities
A lever for digitizing and automating the P2P chain
As an Approved Platform, Freedz is at the heart of finance departments' priorities for 2026: digitization, process efficiency, cash security, and regulatory compliance. The platform centralizes and automates the collection, control, and routing of supplier invoices (and, where applicable, customer invoices), regardless of format or channel, while ensuring compliance with government requirements.
By automating order-invoice reconciliation, rejecting non-compliant invoices, and offering electronic archiving with probative value, Freedz drastically reduces manual tasks, errors, and disputes. The result: a smoother P2P chain, an accelerated closing process, and more reliable reporting.
Want to move from reactive management to controlled management of your supplier invoices? Book a demo and see the concrete impact on your finance team.
Compliance, security, and collaboration between CFOs and CIOs
Freedz meets the administration's requirements for electronic invoicing: consistency checks on mandatory data, status management, interoperability with the Data Concentrator, compliant archiving, and e-reporting management. This built-in compliance makes it a key ally in absorbing regulatory complexity without overburdening internal teams.
The solution also promotes collaboration between CFOs, CIOs, and accounts payableby providing a common platform to frame the e-invoicing project, align functional requirements, and define a realistic deployment path.
Are you preparing your 2026–2027 electronic invoicing roadmap? Talk to a Freedz expert to frame your project and make sure you're making the right choices.
(1) 250 French companies and 220 finance departments from 12 sectors responded to the questionnaire for the study "Finance Departments' Priorities for 2026." The sectors represented are: aerospace & defense, associations, automotive, banking & insurance, distribution, energy & utilities, healthcare, infrastructure & transportation, manufacturing, real estate, technology & media & telecoms, and the public sector.
(2) FinOps (short for "financial operations") is a methodology designed to help organizations gain visibility, control, and efficiency over their IT spending.
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