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TRANSFORM

2024 Global Finance Trends Survey Report

CFOs Prioritising Financial Planning, Profitability Analysis and Data Protection

In an era of prolonged global volatility, increasingly competitive landscape and rapid regulatory changes, Chief Financial Officers (CFOs) are devising new ways to navigate uncertainty. On the global front, these responses emphasise uplifting financial planning and analysis (FP&A) (in particular strategic forecasting and profitability analyses), data security and privacy, the use of artificial intelligence (AI) and sustainability reporting. These priorities reflect the responses of more than 950 CFOs and finance leaders worldwide who participated in Protiviti’s Global Finance Trends Survey.

 

Our research shows that Hong Kong-based CFOs identify similar priorities with some subtle differences, as shown in the table below. 

 

This makes sense given Hong Kong’s rapidly evolving business environment, which places a premium on financial planning and strategic forecasting. These proficiencies enable organisations to respond to sudden marketplace shifts, and shareholder demands for deeper performance analytics with more speed and precision. 

Finance-driven business agility requires strong supporting technology, and finance leaders in Hong Kong prioritise system modernisation as well as AI investments. Cost optimisation and talent management represent two major urgencies Hong Kong finance leaders plan to focus on in the coming 12 months. This often triggers revisiting current operating models or process optimisation with the use of automation and AI tools to improve resiliency and improve cost effectiveness, as per below. 

 

Some might leverage managed services or outsourcing models to achieve such a goal. The table below shows notable year over year changes in how finance organisations are resourcing and staff certain activities. Of note, there is a shift away from leveraging full-time employees and a shift back toward staff augmentation and fully outsources activities. 

 

CFOs also play a central role in complying with new and emerging data security and privacy disclosure requirements, such as EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and China’s Personal Information Protection Law ("PIPL"), along with their deepening involvement in organisational cybersecurity and data governance activities. 

Combined, these priorities reflect the ongoing evolution of the CFO, a position that must continually recalibrate its focus on traditional finance and accounting activities along with a growing number of additional “beyond finance” responsibilities related to cybersecurity, AI investments, sustainability reporting and more. Our key insights for Hong Kong show this clearly, as CFOs recognise the need to modernise ERP, increase investment in AI, and focus on cost optimisation over the next 12 months. 

Transform your finance function with Protiviti’s expertise, from advisory to implementation in building a resilient and cost-effective operating model. Protiviti's approach focuses on aligning people, processes and technology to empower finance teams with robust data and analytics. Our flexible approach and service models enable quick adaptation to shifting demands – all essential for sustainable enterprise-wide growth and resilience in a dynamic business environment.

Karen Ko is Protiviti’s APAC Financial Services Transformation Lead, and Hong Kong’s Business Performance Improvement & Digital Solutions Lead.

She has over 20 years of professional experience in leading complex, multi-country transformation projects for financial services clients in New York, London and APAC. Her expertise lies in partnering strategically with clients to innovate their business models and operations by implementing new processes, integrating core ERP systems, AI, automation and data.

She leads Protiviti Hong Kong's business performance improvement and digital teams, with a focus on driving growth in APAC financial services transformation solutions. Previously, she was a partner at IBM Consulting, where she led the business transformation practice, and prior to that, a partner with EY, where she headed the strategy and operations advisory practice.

Karen is a regular speaker at international conferences on topics from AI in finance to large-scale business transformation.

Reach out at [email protected].

To learn more, read our research report, Transform: Assessing CFO and finance leader perspectives and priorities for the coming year, available at https://www.protiviti.com/hk-en/survey/global-finance-trends-survey.

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