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Don’t get SaaD. Get Rippling.

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Stop SaaD in its tracks

Hey there, CFOs! 💼

Finance leaders are leaving static budgets behind for agile finance playbooks. Rolling forecasts and scenario triggers now outperform perfect estimates.

Are you budgeting for control or for speed?

📰 Upcoming in this issue

• 🦕 Don’t Be a Budget Dinosaur: Why Agility Beats Accuracy

• 🛡️ De-Risking Tech and Data: The CFO’s Evolving Role

• 📈 CFOs Grow Cautiously Optimistic for 2026

📈 Trending news

• CFO Optimism Stays Local

• Deloitte AI Debacle is a CFO Wake-Up Call

• How AI Transforms CFO Leadership

🦕 Don’t Be a Budget Dinosaur: Why Agility Beats Accuracy

Finance leaders are shifting their focus from precision to adaptability. The article explains how rolling forecasts and trigger-based plans enable faster and more confident decisions than traditional annual budgets.

Read the full article here »

Key Takeaways:

• 📈 Rolling Forecasts: Replace annual budgets with quarterly rolling forecasts that refresh assumptions as conditions evolve.

• 🧪 Scenario Planning: Model multiple outcomes, assign triggers, and define preapproved actions to respond quickly when thresholds are met.

• 🧭 Decision Rights: Grant operators greater spending authority within established guardrails to enhance speed and accountability.

• 📏 Measure Outcomes: Track cycle times, forecast accuracy bands, and return on change, rewarding learning over false precision.

🛡️ De-Risking Tech and Data: The CFO’s Evolving Role

FTI Consulting outlines how finance leaders turn technology risk into managed value creation. CFOs are aligning investments, governance, and resilience with measurable business outcomes.

Read the full article here »

Key Takeaways:

• 🧭 Own the Risk Agenda: Map technology risks to financial impact, set clear thresholds, and guide investments toward the highest-value controls.

• 🔐 Strengthen Governance: Establish firm policies, access controls, and audit trails to safeguard data quality, privacy, and compliance across systems and vendors.

• 📊 Value-Linked Metrics: Utilize dashboards to track incidents, remediation progress, and ROI, thereby transforming risk management into measurable business performance.

• 🔁 Resilience by Design: Test scenarios, monitor third-party risk, and prepare recovery playbooks that keep operations running through disruptions.

📈 CFOs Grow Cautiously Optimistic for 2026

A new survey reveals an improving sentiment among CFOs, although most remain focused on maintaining cost discipline and pricing strategies to protect margins. Many are planning selective hiring and measured investments in AI.

Read the full article here »

Key Takeaways:

• 📊 Pricing Power: Implement targeted pricing actions and packaging to offset costs while maintaining demand stability.

• 🧰 Cost Discipline: Tighten procurement, automation, and vendor consolidation to defend margins amid uncertain demand.

• 🤖 AI Investment: Allocate budgets to automation and analytics that accelerate forecasting and reduce SG&A without increasing headcount.

• 🧭 Risk Watchlist: Monitor interest rates, elections, and supply chain shocks while maintaining scenarios and cash buffers for rapid pivots.

📊 Take This Edition’s Poll:

Why It Matters

Agile finance allows faster pivots and smarter capital allocation in volatile markets. Start by introducing quarterly rolling forecasts and trigger-based plans.

Empowering teams within clear guardrails ensures decisions remain responsive, accountable, and aligned with long-term goals.

Wishing you continued success,

Vanessa Carter
Editor-in-Chief
CFO Executive Insights

P.S. Interested in sponsoring a future issue? Just reply to this email and I’ll send packages!