Analyst firm Gartner shared the five most important finance trends and priorities for finance managers in 2024.
The firm’s 2024 Finance Executive Priorities Survey asked 185 finance executives to rank their top priorities and related key tasks. Leading transformation efforts was the top response, followed by evaluating or improving the finance function’s strategy and design and improving finance metrics, insights, and storytelling.
The survey also identified the biggest shift in finance chief priorities. The importance of board communication and engagement was the third-highest priority in 2023 but dropped to twelfth in 2024.
Gartner also sought insights from 232 finance leaders, including controllers, heads of finance planning and analysis, and finance transformation leaders. The discussion revealed that controllers are increasingly focused on using technology to automate processes as a strategy to increase speed, efficiency, and accuracy. Additionally, heads of financial planning and analysis are prioritizing improving personal productivity to be more critical to success.
The research also identified some of the biggest hurdles finance managers face in focusing on these priorities. The first of these is capacity; Because they have fewer staff dedicated to technology work, burnout among finance workers is a growing concern.
Another obstacle is change fatigue; organizations see a 50 percent decrease in employees’ ability to absorb changes before they become fatigued. This becomes a problem due to the ever-evolving nature of the financial environment.
To help finance managers achieve their goals in 2024, Gartner recommends identifying use cases for AI in the context of their own organization, partnering with chief information officers to increase visibility into digital spend, and working with the chief human resources officer to reduce costs. Taking proactive measures to prevent talent loss and engage and retain top talent.