5 CFO Tips for Boosting Tech ROI

CFOs at the start of 2023 are holding a tight grip on technology spending as several risks beyond their control threaten profitability.

Forecasts of recession, high inflation, turbulent equity markets, rising borrowing costs, geopolitical tensions and the most aggressive monetary tightening in four decades are compelling CFOs to conserve cash and ensure every dollar spent on technology pays off, according to financial executives and technology consultants.

A recession “is not going to be a surprise to anyone,” Coupa Software CFO Tony Tiscornia said in an interview. “Everyone is battening down the hatches, getting ready for whatever may come in the next year or two years, and most CFOs are hoping for the best but fearing and preparing for the worst.”

Gartner this month cut its projection for 2023 growth in global information technology spending to 2.4% from an estimate of 5.1% just three months ago. It forecasts $4.5 trillion in IT outlays this year, only 2.1% higher than in 2021.

“What every CFO is saying right now is, ‘I don’t want to buy it unless I have a business leader who is sitting in front of me screaming they have to have it,’” Salesloft CFO Chad Gold said in an interview. “It’s this idea of how do you do more with less?”

The pullback in stimulus has prompted a change in CFO strategy. During the past six to nine months, “profitability and generation of cash flow have really become as important if not more important than growth to investors,” Tiscornia said. Read the full article at CFO Dive here.