Nearly Three-Quarters of CFOs Project Double Digit Growth in 2025: FTI Consulting’s Global CFO Report
Madrid, 5 February 2025 — FTI Consulting, Inc. (NYSE: FCN) today announced the release of its 2025 Global CFO Report, which reveals almost three-quarters (72%) of Chief Financial Officers expect revenue growth of 10% or more over the next 12 months.
The survey, which collected the views of 655 senior finance executives across North America; Europe, the Middle East and Africa; Asia; and Australia, was conducted by the firm’s Office of the CFO Solutions practice in collaboration with CFO Dive.
More than three-quarters (77%) of CFOs surveyed from larger companies, those with revenues greater than $5 billion, remain highly optimistic about revenue growth in the coming year despite economic pressures driven by supply chain improvements and favorable market conditions. However, talent retention and financial forecasting still remain challenging for this group.
Mid-market firms with revenues between $100 million and $1 billion are adjusting expectations, with only 67.5% of CFOs surveyed predicting double-digit growth for 2025, down from 76% in 2024. The decrease may stem from rising costs, increased competition and talent shortages.
Although global trends are similar in Spain, our country faces specific challenges: Inflation and energy costs are significant factors influencing the forecasts of Spanish CFOs, affecting both large and mid-sized companies. Additionally, one of the key areas for improvement within companies is financial technology, which aligns with the challenge of finding financial talent.
On the other hand, Spanish companies are also adopting digitalization strategies to enhance operational efficiency. However, the pace of adoption is slower compared to markets such as North America, highlighting a digital gap that must be bridged to ensure future competitiveness.
Across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), three additional areas are drawing CFOs’ attention:
- Reducing financial costs is becoming a growing trend in European and other countries across the EMEA region as a result of global concerns over inflationary pressures. This initiative is supported by an increasing desire to optimize costs (75%) and to focus financial teams’ efforts on higher value-added activities (76%).
- Optimizing business decision-making is an increasingly important objective for European CFOs (81%). With a strong focus on resource optimization, they are striving to enhance the finance function with greater emphasis on financial control. Productivity emerges as a key area requiring a shift in approach, as finance leaders struggle to achieve greater efficiency and effectiveness.
- Financial talent shortages and retention challenges are concerns expressed by CFOs worldwide. Additionally, CFOs in some European regions face internal resistance to change within their teams—a common trend across European countries (76%)—which makes it difficult to shift priorities and approaches within financial functions to enhance productivity.
In this context, the report highlights how CFOs are evolving from financial managers to strategic leaders who not only oversee numbers but also drive business transformation. This new perspective is helping Spanish companies quickly adapt to global changes, improve operational efficiency, and foster economic growth.
“CFOs are taking a more relevant approach to growth, emphasizing strategic planning and prioritizing business models capable of adapting to market volatility and economic pressures. Their role is rapidly evolving from financial guardians to change agents and strategic leaders”, said Riccardo Pacelli, Senior Managing Director at FTI Consulting in Spain.
Additional insights from the global survey include:
- Cybersecurity was ranked in the top three strategic priorities for CFOs across all regions surveyed. In North America, 75% of respondents say cyber attacks are among their top challenges, leading to investment in robust defenses.
- Outsourcing finance functions has increased by 11% from 2024 to 2025. This increase highlights the growing reliance on external capabilities as CFOs seek to enhance operational efficiency, reduce costs and improve access to both technology and skills, without sacrificing capacity.
- CFO turnover rates are changing. While the majority (54%) of respondents still view the average tenure of a CFO at one company to be between three to five years, the number of respondents believing CFO tenure is five years or longer has increased 5% from 2024. This shift suggests organizations are valuingstrategic leadership from CFOs, especially as they navigate complex challenges and market uncertainty.
- CFOs continue to emphasize the importance ofimproving forecasting capabilities, with 85% identifying forecasting accuracy as a primary area needing improvement.
- 87% of CFOs stated that they plan to use AI tools within the next 12 months, demonstrating a commitment to leveraging innovative tools that can enhance predictive capabilities.
“Despite market volatility and economic pressures, this survey reflects what we’re seeing from our CFO clients: confidence in the ability of their businesses to expand,” said Gina Gutzeit, Global Leader of the Office of the CFO Solutions practice at FTI Consulting. “Additionally, CFO roles have shifted beyond traditional financial stewardship; they are placing more emphasis on strategic planning to help navigate the technological advancements and evolving business models needed to stay competitive.”
For more information, read the full survey report here.
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Source: FTI Consulting, Inc.