Nearly 75 percent of CFOs are at least moderately concerned about the risks they might face in the next 12 months, according to a national survey released today by Euler Hermes Americas. The Euler Hermes ‘Risky Business’ Survey analyzed responses from US CFOs and those in related jobs in companies with at least $5 million of annual revenues to understand their top concerns related to global political, economic and digital uncertainties.
Key findings include:
- From cybercrime to political gridlock, potential threats to businesses are often in the news, but a quiet risk factor is causing its fair share of sleepless nights for CFOs: 70 percent consider that non-payment events could present a business continuity threat to their businesses. While some higher profile risk events impact some industries more than others, non-payment events are industry agnostic. In fact, 72 percent of CFOs have experienced a non-payment in the last three years, with CFOs reporting an average of 17.2 non-payment events during the last three years.
- 70 percent of CFOs say the Trump Administration’s tariffs could at least moderately affect their company. These effects could include cash flow disruption, increased input or output costs or potential supply disruptions.
- 58 percent of CFOs say that they don’t feel fully prepared to handle the current risk landscape.
Methodology
The Risky Business survey analyzed responses from 250 US CFOs and their direct reports. Quotas were established to ensure that half of the respondents were from small companies (revenues between $5M and $25M) and that the remainder were medium sized (with revenues of $25M or more). Survey responses were collected during the period of September 10 – October 4, 2018.
