Navigating 2026: A Role-by-Role Checklist for Finance Leaders

With tight budgets, new technologies, and rising organizational expectations, it is a demanding time for global finance departments. Meanwhile, their responsibilities are rapidly expanding. 

Finance departments are now being asked to shape strategy, not just report on it. 

This guide is built for this moment, to help finance professionals now. Grounded in feedback from finance leaders, we outline what each function—from CFO to procurement—should prioritize to shape a stronger strategy for 2026.

Emerging themes from Finance Leaders

Finance automation maturity

• Most teams still operate with low-to-moderate levels of automation
• Fully automated finance environments remain extremely rare

Top strategic priorities for 2026

1. Gaps in internal expertise
2. Integration complexity across legacy systems (i.e. ERPs, accounting software, CRMs, etc.)
3. Budget constraints

Common barriers to finance automation

1. Reporting and forecasting tasks
2. Reconciliations and close processes
3. Accounts payable, invoice management, and risk monitoring

What teams are looking to automate

1. Improving process efficiency and driving automation
2. Optimizing cash flow and operational costs
3. Supporting strategic business growth

Each role faces a different set of challenges and opportunities. Use the links below to jump directly to the sections that matter most for your team:

Chief Financial Officers (CFOs)

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Finance Leaders (VPs, Directors, and General Finance Roles)

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Controllers and Accounting Leaders

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Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) Leaders

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Procurement and Supply Chain Leaders

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Chief Financial Officers (CFOs)

In 2026, CFOs are focused on balancing growth, cost control, and modernization. With limited automation across core processes, the priority is turning ambition into action while building the capabilities needed to scale.

*Based on survey data from CFOs in multiple technology sectors and financial services industries.

What CFOs should focus on in 2026

In 2026, CFOs share a clear agenda: grow the business and modernize processes at the same time. They must oversee cost control while fostering growth and strategic investments, all while managing risk across financial operations.

However, ambition and readiness don’t always match. Every single CFO we surveyed indicated that their core processes are either “slightly,” “minimally,” or “moderately” automated. That means there’s a significant opportunity to gain efficiency by automating and using AI, but 78% of CFOs believe a “lack of internal expertise” is holding their teams back.

What is the biggest challenge you anticipate your finance team will face in achieving its 2026 goals?

For many CFOs, 2026 is the year to turn ambition into action. Growth, AI, and automation top the agenda, but skills and capacity set the pace. Here’s where to focus first:

For the teams directly beneath the CFOs, the challenge is translating that strategic agenda into decisions and numbers everyone can use.

Finance Leaders 
(VPs, Directors, and General Finance Roles)

With 2026 budgets stretched thin, finance department leaders are under intense pressure to turn strategy into a repeatable discipline. They’re the link between the growth plans created by the executive leadership team and the day-to-day numbers that make them real.

*Based on survey data from Finance VPs, Finance Directors, Heads of Strategic Finance, and more.

What Finance Leaders should focus on in 2026

Based on our survey results, finance leaders are focused on balancing growth with efficiency this year.

Many finance leaders believe they’ve already made strong progress toward automating their core processes, but scaling that success—and using better data for forecasting and cost control—will define the next stage.

What is the biggest challenge you anticipate your finance team will face in achieving its 2026 goals?

After a demanding year spent tightening budgets and modernizing core workflows, 2026 is about sustaining that efficiency and turning process gains into everyday reliability.

Those priorities and plans only hold together if the close itself runs flawlessly, which is where Controllers and the leaders of the accounting department take over.

Controllers and Accounting Leaders

As Controllers and accounting leaders move through 2026, their focus is on accuracy, consistency, and speed. Automation is shaping how finance teams manage their workloads, but success still depends on precise oversight and preparation. The priorities below will help ensure a smoother, audit-ready year.

*Based on survey data from VP Controllers, Senior Accounting Managers, Senior Directors of Financial Reporting, and more.

What Controllers and Accounting Leaders should focus on in 2026

After a year of strained resources and expanding responsibilities, most are targeting practical efficiency gains rather than bigger budgets or larger teams.

As nearly all respondents said their accounting operations are only slightly or moderately automated, it’s no surprise that automation is a top priority. The benefits are clear. Tipalti customers alone have achieved up to 25% faster close cycles and 66% fewer payment errors* by automating reconciliations, invoice approvals, and audit workflows.

What is the biggest challenge you anticipate your finance team will face in achieving its 2026 goals?

As these leaders refine their approach, they’re focused on practical improvements, like building a close process that’s more efficient and consistent across the business.

Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) Leaders

FP&A leaders are being asked to deliver sharper insight sooner—with less data lag and fewer resources. After a year focused on aligning data and reporting across different systems, their focus now is speed: getting leadership the numbers they need before decisions outpace the models.

*Based on survey data from Vice Presidents, Directors, and other FP&A leaders.

What to focus on in 2026 for FP&A functions

Those leading the FP&A function in 2026 are split about where to put the most effort.

In our survey, the FP&A leaders ranked process efficiency, automation, and forecasting accuracy among their top priorities—not because those goals are new, but because executive leadership is asking them to deliver more insight in less time. Tighter budgets and fragmented systems make that difficult, leaving finance teams under pressure to explain performance and adjust plans with limited or delayed data.

What is the biggest challenge you anticipate your finance team will face in achieving its 2026 goals?

To overcome these challenges, FP&A leaders are focusing on practical steps that strengthen forecasting, streamline reporting, and make insights easier to act on.

FP&A can model every scenario on paper, but the results only hold if real‑world spending and supplier choices follow suit. That’s where procurement and supply chain teams step in.

Procurement and Supply Chain Leaders

Every dollar matters across the business, and procurement feels that first. Procurement and supply chain functions in 2026 will continue to reconcile spend data, tighten vendor compliance, and surface savings that can fund existing and new initiatives.

*Based on survey data from Vice Presidents and Directors of Procurement, Global Procurement Managers, Heads of Supply Chain and Procurement, and more.

What to focus on in 2026 for Procurement and Supply Chain leaders

In 2026, procurement and supply chain teams will continue dealing with the same spend scrutiny, global complexity, and tight budgets. Yet, those challenges sit on top of another: a lack of full automation and figuring out how to maximize AI. With teams managing so many manual processes, even small workflow automations and improvements can bring noticeable relief.

The responses from those we surveyed reflect a balance of goals, giving equal weight to efficiency, cash-flow discipline, and business growth. Together, they point to a single pressure of doing more with the same resources. In fact, multiple leaders even noted flat or shrinking headcount, even as project demand and reporting needs continue to expand.

What is the biggest challenge you anticipate your finance team will face in achieving its 2026 goals?

To make progress in 2026, the leaders in these roles are focusing on practical, measurable steps that free capacity, reduce risk, and improve visibility from purchase order (PO) to payment.

How top-performing finance teams use automation and AI for a faster close

The most effective finance teams now use automation and AI to shorten close cycles, boost productivity, and improve visibility—all without adding headcount. Where manual processes once dominated, automation now handles the routine work so finance professionals can concentrate on analysis and strategic decision-making.

Rather than replacing human expertise, AI amplifies it. By working seamlessly alongside teams, AI helps spot anomalies, predict cash-flow risks, and deliver real-time insights to guide smarter decisions and faster financial closes.

The table below shows how top performers are outpacing their peers and turning technology into a competitive differentiator.

The bottom line for finance leaders

A strong close shows how well your finance team runs, and our survey shows that the teams using AI and automation have faster closes, fewer errors, and greater confidence. By letting AI take on manual, repetitive work, your finance team can focus on higher-value tasks.

Tipalti is the AI-powered platform for finance automation, helping mid-market companies scale faster by simplifying global payables, streamlining workflows, and improving efficiency.

* Based on internal Tipalti data and customer research.