FTI Consulting - CFO Report 2025: Focus on cost reduction in Europe, global challenges in the strategic area

• Top strategic priorities for CFOs across all regions of the world are optimizing business models and cybersecurity.
• Worldwide, a minority of 28 percent of CFOs see cost reduction as a priority.
• Only CFOs in North America cite strategic planning as one of the top three tasks on which they spend their time.

Cyber attacks were named as the biggest challenge for 2025 by 75 percent of North American CFOs, followed by high inflation (74 percent) and rising capital costs (73 percent). In Asia, CFOs cite the renewal of business models (78 percent), the disruption of supply chains (73 percent) and the renewal of outdated technologies (72 percent) as their biggest difficulties.

“The different top challenges for CFOs show very clearly how diverse and region-specific problems for companies currently are worldwide,” said Ralf Winzer, Member of the Executive Board and Senior Managing Director at FTI-Andersch, FTI Consulting's specialized German consulting unit for restructuring, business transformation and transactions. “By contrast, there is much greater consistency in the priorities that CFOs have set themselves for 2025.”

CFOs prioritize strategic issues beyond pure finance functions

For example, optimizing business models is at the top of the list of priorities for CFOs in all three regions in 2025 (Asia: 56 percent, Europe: 48 percent, North America: 55 percent). Cybersecurity comes in second place (Asia: 46 percent, Europe: 44 percent, North America: 50 percent). When it comes to third place, the world regions differ again. In Asia, CFOs want to focus on customer acquisition, in Europe on developing new global markets and regions, and in North America on implementing and optimizing technology (43 percent each). Globally, however, only 28 percent of CFOs said that cost reduction is their key priority for the current year.

Julian Drellmann, Partner and Senior Managing Director at FTI-Andersch, says: “We are also observing in the market that the issue of cost reduction is playing a significantly greater role in the German economy this year than in other countries. This is due to the poor state of the German economy. If you disregard that, it is remarkable that CFOs worldwide have identified highly relevant strategic and technological issues as their most important priorities.”

“For many years, the increase in the strategic relevance of the CFO has been the subject of discussion. Our survey shows that the discussion of recent years has now become reality. The CFO is no longer the chief accountant of the company, but in many cases the key strategic leader alongside the CEO,” says Ralf Winzer.

In Europe 2025, the operational focus is on cost reduction

When asked where CFOs are currently spending most of their time, there are again significant regional differences. “As the market environment also reflects to us, European CFOs are now spending the majority of their time developing and implementing cost-cutting strategies,” says Ralf Winzer. This was stated by 63 percent of respondents in Europe. In Asia, CFOs are currently spending most of their time on capital restructuring (46 percent). And in North America, they are focusing on financial planning and analysis (37 percent).

Reporting is the second most time-consuming topic that keeps CFOs busy. In Europe, specific ESG reporting is in third place – 28 percent of the CFOs surveyed cited this. In North America, strategic planning has priority (37 percent, third place).

“While European CFOs want to turn their attention to the business model, cybersecurity and new markets, they are already very busy with cost reduction and reporting, including in the area of ESG,” says Julian Drellmann. ”This in particular takes up so much of their time that they are unable to concentrate on truly strategic tasks. Apart from the fact that reporting times can only be significantly reduced by reducing bureaucracy, I believe that focusing on cost reduction is absolutely the right approach in the current market phase. Only companies that strengthen their financial base now will be able to continue investing during the difficult market phase. And they need to do so in order to remain competitive in the long term. That is why it is right for CFOs to set a clear focus here.”

You can download the complete CFO Report 2025 here:

About FTI-Andersch

FTI-Andersch is a management consulting firm that supports its clients in developing and implementing viable performance and restructuring concepts. FTI-Andersch actively assists companies that are facing strategic, operational or financial challenges and change processes – or that want to align their business model, organization and processes with future requirements at an early stage.

Its clients include, in particular, medium-sized companies and corporations that operate internationally. FTI-Andersch is part of the FTI Consulting Group (NYSE: FCN), which has more than 8,300 employees worldwide.