According to the August 2026 edition of The 2026 Certainty Project report by PYMNTS Intelligence and Fynapse, 45% of middle-market firms underwent at least three major business changes in the last 24 months. Additionally, 62% of these companies expanded their product or service offerings during the same period.
The research highlights that companies are facing increased operational complexity due to rising transaction volumes and market expansion, even in the absence of revenue growth. CFOs are shifting their focus from traditional ERP systems to tools that provide financial visibility in real time to enable faster decision-making.
Investment priorities for finance leaders are currently led by cash flow forecasting at 52%, followed by real-time reporting at 35%. Reducing manual processes and unifying financial data are prioritized by 33% and 32% of firms, respectively, while AI-driven tools currently hold a lower priority ranking.
Despite 62% of surveyed firms claiming they are mostly prepared for the next two years, only 12% report that their back-office systems are fully ready. The report notes that while automation can improve speed, it risks accelerating errors if the underlying financial data remains fragmented or poorly reconciled.
