Finance and Accounting (F&A) teams are expected to do more than ensure compliance – they must now manage a growing array of risks while enhancing resilience and business value. Traditional risk management methods, such as periodic audits and retrospective controls, are no longer sufficient in today’s environment of macroeconomic volatility, digital transaction complexities, and heightened regulatory scrutiny. This Viewpoint introduces Finance Risk Intelligence (FRI) as a dedicated, AI-powered capability designed to embed continuous, predictive, and autonomous risk monitoring across the F&A value chain. FRI represents a distinct evolution in the F&A technology stack. These solutions function as an intelligence layer that integrates with ERP and process execution platforms to ingest financial transaction data, apply layered AI models for anomaly detection, and enable near real-time intervention. The report outlines the FRI architecture, comprising data processing, intelligence, and action layers, and details how enterprises can use FRI for use cases across procure-to-pay, order-to-cash, and record-to-report processes. It also presents the emerging provider landscape and provides practical adoption guidance, including imperatives to align people, processes, and technology.

Current cost pressures and the increased need for regulatory compliance to avoid costly penalties from tax authorities have accelerated the adoption of tax outsourcing. Tax outsourcing lowers operating costs for organizations and provides them access to better quality, scalable talent and the ability to transform their tax functions. Organizations are leveraging tax providers’ services through various constructs such as tax advisory, technology support, managed services, and tax CoE setups. In this report, we explore the capabilities of different types of tax providers, such as the Big 4s, tax specialists, and traditional F&A managed services providers. Furthermore, we explore how the convergence of providers’ capabilities will likely characterize the tax service provider landscape’s future, as providers aim to be the jacks of all trades beyond their current primary area(s) of focus. Scope All industries and geographies Contents In this report, we examine: The recent evolution of tax sourcing The engagement between enterprises and tax service providers Tax service provider landscape’s recent evolution and future Memberships Finance and Accounting Sourcing and Vendor Management

Enterprises have increased their expectations from their finance function to have a strategic impact on organizational success, especially amid economic downturns. Encouragingly, many finance teams are already shifting their focus to improve Finance Stakeholder Experience (FinStX) and deliver business value, given its direct influence on important business outcomes such as revenue and growth, profitability and cost management, sustainability, and risk resilience. Consequently, finance organizations are aligning their strategic priorities to enhance various dimensions of FinStX, including accuracy, collaboration and communication, user interface, and access to organizational data and insightful value additions. Notably, they are navigating challenges such as fragmented data landscapes and potential stakeholder misalignment while doing so. Finance organizations are investing in initiatives to elevate their FinStX, particularly in customer-facing activities such as customer-to-cash processes, by prioritizing internal and external customer experience. Together with generative AI, transformative technologies such as automation, AI, and data analytics empower them to aggressively seek improvements in FinStX, often in collaboration with third-party providers. To understand how FinStX can drive organizational value, Everest Group conducted The Role of Experience in Driving Finance Transformation Survey 2023 among over 250 CFOs and their direct reports across multiple geographies and industries. In this report, we share key findings from the survey, including the current state of finance priorities, the importance of FinStX (including customer experience), and the role of third-party providers in improving FinStX. Scope All industries and geographies Contents In this report, we examine: The current state of finance priorities The importance of FinStX (including customer experience) Providers’ role in improving FinStX Membership(s) Finance and Accounting Sourcing and Vendor Management

The vital role of finance processes in organizational performance has made finance leaders attentive to the dynamic business environment and how it impacts financial performance. In the past two years, CFOs have worked hard to support their organizations’ short-term survival, while taking advantage of large-scale disruptions to drive the changes necessary to gain long-term competitive advantage. To understand how CFOs’ roles and business imperatives are evolving, Everest Group conducted the Global CFO Survey 2022, whose findings we lay out in this report. Scope Industries including insurance, CPG & retail, hi-tech & technology, life sciences, manufacturing, airlines, and hospitality Geographies including North America, UK & Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa Source: Global CFO Survey 2022, in which more than 300 CFOs and their direct reports participated Contents In this study, we share key findings and insights from the Global CFO Survey 2022, including: The current state of finance priorities Key organizational and transformational initiatives that CFOs have undertaken in the recent past The building blocks for enabling change in the F&A function Membership(s) Finance and Accounting Sourcing and Vendor Management

With businesses gradually stabilizing in a post-pandemic world, tax functions are playing a greater role in helping organizations evaluate and determine their future paths. Broader organizational changes, such as supply chain restructuring and corporate transactions (M&As, divestments, carve-outs, joint ventures), all have tax consequences, making it important for organizations to align their tax strategies with business goals. The global tax landscape is also changing rapidly. Governments and regulatory bodies are implementing tax reforms to assist local businesses and national or local economies and creating opportunities for healthy cross-border relationships that have significant implications for the tax function. In light of this evolving environment, organizations need to develop a robust strategy for tax compliance management, as tax can have significant business impact on both the bottom line and the top line. In this viewpoint, we focus on the key challenges in tax compliance management, the key transformation enablers in the tax compliance process, outsourcing as a potential solution for effective tax compliance management, along with the future outlook for tax compliance. Scope All industries and geographies Contents In this viewpoint, we focus on tax compliance management and answer the following key questions: What are the key challenges in tax compliance management? What are the key transformation enablers in the tax compliance process? Is outsourcing a potential solution for effective tax compliance management? What is the future outlook for tax compliance? Membership(s) Finance and AccountingSourcing and Vendor Management

The COVID-19 pandemic changed the way we look at cash. CEO and CFO responses in the initial stages of the crisis were aimed at survival – freeing up cash and resources to keep the lights on. The pandemic revealed the vital importance of prudent cash and liquidity management. To sustain their businesses during the crisis, companies started looking for opportunities to revamp their technology infrastructures to optimize liquidity and strengthen their balance sheets. Companies that managed cash prudently before the pandemic remained resilient through it, while their less-prepared counterparts faced existential threats, as well as tightening liquidity. Many companies encountered significant working capital challenges during the pandemic, highlighting the need for rigorous process management through the entire cash conversion cycle. In this viewpoint, we focus on working capital and liquidity management and examine key working capital components, the technology vendor landscape, and working capital solutions in order-to-cash, along with digital priorities for working capital optimization. Scope All industries and geographies Contents Drawing insights from our extensive research, we focus in this viewpoint on working capital and liquidity management and address the following topics: Key working capital components The technology vendor landscape and working capital solutions in order-to-cash Digital priorities for working capital optimization Membership(s) Finance and AccountingSourcing and Vendor Management

The demand for superior customer experience, accelerated time-to-market, and continuous innovation, especially after the pandemic, are compelling organizations to rapidly undertake digital transformation efforts, leaving operations leaders with little time to keep up with these new innovations. An integrated operations transformation approach is a force multiplier that enables better business outcomes from digital transformation. In this research, we explore how finance leaders can evaluate, redesign, and realign operations across infrastructure, core systems, and process layers to help optimize and realize more value from their digital transformation efforts. Scope Function: Finance and Accounting (F&A) All industries and geographies Contents In this report, we discuss: Key challenges in F&A digital transformation initiatives and understanding organizational operations maturity levels An integrated approach to F&A operations transformation Key success drivers and the role of third-party providers Membership(s) Finance and Accounting Sourcing and Vendor Management

COVID-19 has compelled organizations to take a hard look at their business models and associated societal license to operate. Organizations recognize that they cannot go about their businesses in isolation from their people, society, and environment. CFOs and finance leaders need to play a key role in ensuring that Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations are a part of their companies’ core strategies and integrate them into business decision-making. As a finance leader, it is imperative to define a robust governance framework aligned with the organizational strategy to implement ESG initiatives and demonstrate success through a set of measurable and standardized metrics. Initiatives such as climate accounting, ESG investing, and carbon disclosures are the first steps in the right direction. Scope All industries and geographies Contents In this report, we explore the role of finance organizations and CFO offices in the context of ESG and examine: Evolution of ESG programs over the years Key drivers and expected benefits from ESG Overview of a purpose-driven ESG program ESG integration with investment, accounting, and business decision-making ESG performance metrics – financial and non-financial Membership(s) Finance and Accounting Sourcing and Vendor Management

The threat of COVID-19 has caused unprecedented levels of global disruption, requiring businesses to reassess their priorities. CFOs are busy helping their businesses navigate through an environment characterized by extreme uncertainty. At the same time, they recognize the dire need to develop a long-term strategy to enable their businesses to remain relevant and viable as they come out of this period of disruption. To understand how CFOs’ roles and business imperatives are evolving, Everest Group conducted the Global CFO Survey 2020, whose findings we lay out in this report. Scope All industries and geographies Source: Global CFO Survey 2020, in which more than 300 CFOs and their direct reportees across North America, Latin America, Europe, Asia Pacific, and the Middle East and Africa from more than 20 industry sectors participated Contents In this study, we share key findings and insights obtained through the Global CFO Survey 2020 and present them under the following topics: COVID-19 disruption – impact and CFO reactions Emergence of a new normal Building a future-ready organization Membership(s) Finance & Accounting Outsourcing Sourcing and Vendor Management

Finance & Accounting Outsourcing (FAO) has traditionally been a horizontal service offering, with cost savings and efficiency gains considered to be key value propositions. However, rising outsourcing maturity and increasing requirements across industries are shifting the emphasis toward domain expertise. While a majority of Finance & Accounting (F&A) solutions are industry-agnostic, there has been growing demand for solutions to address industry-specific F&A processes in recent times. In particular, growing pressures in industries severely impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, such as travel & logistics, have increased the demand for solutions to address industry-specific F&A needs beyond traditional horizontal F&A processes. Scope Industries: BFSI, healthcare, and travel & logistics, and limited coverage of retail & CPG, media & entertainment, and energy & utilities Geography: global Contents In this report, we study the growing industry-specific focus in F&A and look at: Industry-specific F&A solutions and their drivers Benefits of engaging a third party for industry-specific F&A processes Maturity and application of industry-specific F&A solutions, including a high-level view of service providers’ industry-specific F&A capabilities Membership(s) Finance & Accounting Outsourcing