How CFOs Are Rethinking Talent, Tech, and Growth in 2026: 5 Trends Every Finance Leader Should Know

By Jacqueline Berman, Managing Director, Accounting, Finance, Administrative & HR

Executive Summary: Top CFO Insights for 2026

As corporate finance shifts from reactive cost-cutting to strategic expansion, CFOs in 2026 are rethinking talent acquisition, technology integration, and operational strategy. Backed by insights from the U.S. Bank CFO Insights Report alongside industry data from Gartner, Deloitte, and McKinsey, this report highlights five core trends shaping accounting and finance leadership:

Balancing Growth with Cost Control: Revenue expansion (35%) has caught up with cost containment (37%) as a top CFO priority, requiring FP&A teams with strong commercial acumen.
Accelerating M&A Activity: With 57% of finance leaders planning acquisitions over the next 12 months, demand is surging for talent skilled in Quality of Earnings (QofE) reporting and post-merger integration.
Navigating AI Opportunities and Costs: While 68% of CFOs see clear commercial value in AI, managing variable technology costs and ensuring FinOps governance remain critical challenges.
Risk Mitigation as a Core Operational Focus: With geopolitical volatility (38%), high borrowing costs (35%), and inflation (34%) topping CFO concerns (U.S. Bank), finance leaders are embedding strict liquidity oversight, internal controls, and SOX compliance directly into daily operations to maintain resilience against market disruption.
Growing Economic Optimism: Confidence is rebounding, with 68% of CFOs expressing a positive three-year economic outlook (U.S. Bank) and 90% optimistic about their own company's trajectory (Deloitte), encouraging organizations to leverage internal momentum to attract top talent and invest in long-term growth.

Key Takeaway for Hiring Managers: Finance leaders are pivoting from pure cost-cutting to driving growth, strategic M&A, and managing AI ROI, making business-minded talent essential. To prepare, hiring managers should proactively build agile teams by recruiting candidates with hands-on experience in deal due diligence, post-merger integration, and commercial forecasting.

Key Takeaway for Candidates: Finance professionals must showcase commercial acumen by demonstrating how their models, analyses, or process improvements directly generated revenue or saved costs. Highlighting experience with deal workflows, systems integration, and efficiency metrics on your resume will make you stand out to growth-focused finance leaders.

5 Strategic Insights from New CFO Data to Build Stronger Finance Teams

Fueled by AI, hiring trends, and broader geopolitical and macroeconomic concerns, the finance and accounting landscape is evolving rapidly to keep up. Corporate finance leaders are shifting away from traditional cost-containment strategies and moving toward strategic expansion, technology integration, and operational efficiency.

To help hiring managers construct forward-thinking teams—and to give accounting and finance professionals a competitive edge in their career trajectories—we have compiled ten crucial insights backed by research from theU.S. Bank CFO Insights Report alongside leading industry benchmarks from Gartner, Deloitte, and McKinsey.

Here are the five key trends defining accounting and finance hiring today, along with practical advice for both employers and job seekers.

1. Growth Goals Are Catching Up to Cost Control

While controlling expenses remains top-of-mind, revenue growth is rapidly taking center stage across corporate finance departments. According to the U.S. Bank CFO Insights Report, 37% of finance leaders cite cutting costs as a primary focus, while driving revenue growth has climbed to 35%. Modern CFOs want teams capable of identifying new revenue drivers rather than strictly managing balance sheet caps.

For Hiring Managers: Focus your interviews on strategic thinking. Look for corporate controllers, FP&A managers, and financial analysts who can demonstrate how their financial models directly uncovered revenue opportunities.
For Candidates: Highlight commercial acumen on your resume. Quantify how your forecasting, variance analyses, or pricing suggestions expanded profit margins or supported revenue expansion.

2. Strategic Dealmaking and M&A Momentum Are Rising

M&A activity is regaining significant momentum as corporate leaders look to expand market share. Data from the U.S. Bank CFO Insights Report shows that 57% of finance leaders report their company is more likely to pursue acquisitions over the next year compared to the previous 12 months.

For Hiring Managers: Hire deal-ready talent before transaction workflows begin. Prioritize candidates with hands-on experience in financial due diligence, quality of earnings (QofE) reporting, and post-merger integration.
For Candidates: Showcase deal experience prominently on your resume. Highlight cross-functional leadership in unbundling legacy systems, standardizing general ledgers, or standardizing audit routines during acquisitions.

3. AI Opens Doors, But Requires Tight Budget Control

The surge in artificial intelligence across the broader economy is creating massive business value, but it is also forcing finance departments to grapple with unexpected technology costs. According to the U.S. Bank CFO Insights Report, more than two-thirds (68%) of finance leaders state that rapid economywide investment in AI is generating meaningful commercial opportunities for their business. However, capturing that value comes with a steep learning curve: 51% of finance leaders report that their firm's spending on AI tools and platforms exceeded budget over the past year.

Complementary data from the Gartner AI Investment Report reveals that 45% of CFOs explicitly direct AI spending toward functional productivity gains. Will those investments pay off? CFOs who’ve implemented strategic AI deployment are predicted to add 10 Margin points of growth, according to Gartner.

For Hiring Managers: Attract top talent by showcasing your tech stack. Candidates want to join teams that leverage automated workflows rather than relying on manual processing.
For Candidates: Highlight your software proficiency. Detail how you have used advanced Excel features, ERP software, automated pipelines, or data visualizers to reduce routine administrative tasks.

4. Risk Mitigation Remains Embedded in Daily Operations

Managing enterprise risk is a continuous requirement for financial leadership. According to the U.S. Bank CFO Insights Report, top external risks cited by finance leaders include geopolitical volatility (38%), elevated borrowing costs (35%), and persistent inflation (34%).

Furthermore, research from Deloitte's CFO Signals Survey highlights that risk tolerance requires finance teams to maintain strict liquidity oversight and tight internal controls.

For Hiring Managers: Incorporate scenario-based questions into interviews to evaluate how accounting leaders handle sudden supply chain adjustments or cash flow constraints.
For Candidates: Emphasize achievements in internal audit, fraud prevention, cash flow management, and compliance frameworks like Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX).

5. Finance Leaders Are Feeling Positive About The Economy

Finance executives retain high confidence in their own corporate structures. The U.S. Bank CFO Insights Report notes that 68% of finance leaders maintain a positive three-year outlook on the broader national economy, up from 58% in the spring.

This trend aligns with findings from Deloitte, which found that as of Q3 2026, 90% of surveyed CFOs express optimism regarding their company's operational trajectory.

For Hiring Managers: Capitalize on internal momentum by showing potential hires clear pathways for business stability and long-term career growth.
For Candidates: Focus your job search on companies demonstrating strong balance sheets, proactive technology investments, and transparent leadership vision.

Partner with DeWinter to Build Your Next Finance Team

The latest research makes one thing clear: success in modern accounting and finance requires a blend of technology adoption, strategic foresight, and strong operational leadership. Organizations that secure agile talent will build a distinct competitive advantage, while accounting professionals who invest in high-demand skills will accelerate their career growth.

At DeWinter, we specialize in connecting top-tier finance and accounting professionals with leading companies across all industries. Whether you are a hiring manager looking to add key talent to your department or a candidate searching for your next career move, our executive recruitment team is here to assist. Contact us today to start the conversation.