CFOs, Tax, Tariffs & Transformation: Building Financial Resilience

Today's finance leaders recognize that change and volatility are constant. Tariffs shift overnight, regulations evolve, technology investments accelerate, and executives must make decisions more quickly than ever.

Finance transformation remains the top priority for CFOs, according to Gartner. However, only 13.5% of finance leaders report success, and over 70% say initiatives deliver less impact than expected.

The challenge is not just responding to disruption. It's building a finance function that absorbs change while supporting growth, profitability, and strategic decision-making.

AI Tied to Business Outcomes

AI is now essential for finance teams, reshaping workflows, from invoice processing and anomaly detection to forecasting and decision support. Over half of CFOs (59%) plan to increase AI spending, yet 12% have not started due to limited AI literacy and outdated systems. A CloudZero survey found that 87% of finance leaders want to connect AI spending to business outcomes, but only 22% have achieved that goal.

The goal isn't AI for AI's sake. Finance leaders need confidence that forecasts, models, and recommendations are based on accurate data and governed processes. Without that foundation, AI simply accelerates bad decisions.

Talent Transformation & Governance

As finance evolves, CFOs and their teams face increasing pressure to modernize. Over 40% of CFOs report that a lack of skills is a key challenge to advancing finance modernization, and over 60% identify talent development as a primary focus.

A recent Avalara study found that over 90% of finance leaders feel career pressure to demonstrate ROI from AI investments. However, 76% lack dedicated expertise to assess this impact, and 30% have not updated internal control frameworks to address AI.

These gaps create significant challenges for finance teams. Governance is essential for any technology adoption; without it, organizations face unnecessary risk. Forward-thinking leaders establish shared standards, strong controls, data security, and targeted upskilling to ensure consistent and secure adoption of new tools.

Tariffs as Part of Financial Strategy

Tariffs are now a reality for all organizations. According to Thomson Reuters’ 2026 global trade report, 76% of trade professionals view tariffs as a permanent strategy likely to persist for the next four years. Trade disruptions and regulatory changes are also top challenges in Eide Bailly’s Mid-Market Manufacturing Outlook Report.

The key question is how quickly your organization can evaluate the impact of tariffs. Leading CFOs are developing scenario-planning capabilities to model sourcing changes, pricing impacts, inventory costs, cash flow implications, and tax consequences before disruptions occur.

When one of our clients faced sudden tariff increases, they needed to onboard a U.S. warehouse in under a month. Their real-time response was thanks to an earlier review of processes and an investment in ERP and integration platforms.

With Eide Bailly’s help, they had:

• Scalable systems (NetSuite, Boomi) that flexed with growth.)
• Tax and compliance support aligned to the new warehouse setup.
• Rapid integration and testing that got the warehouse live in just three weeks.

Optimize Cash Flow

CFOs increasingly need a tax strategy that is proactive, cross-functional, and aligned with transformation initiatives, especially when operations span multiple jurisdictions or change rapidly.

In a volatile environment, tax must be integrated into strategic planning to improve cash flow, support growth, uncover incentives, and reduce operational friction. Finance leaders who view tax as a strategy, not just a reporting requirement, are better positioned to adapt as conditions change.

Ask:

• Are we minimizing exposure across entities, states, and countries, and can we demonstrate this with accurate data?
• Are we missing credits or incentives due to fragmented documentation?
• Do we have defensible processes, or are we relying on end-of-year reconstruction?

Tax Is No Longer Just Compliance

As tariff volatility reshapes cost structures and supply chains, it also exposes weaknesses in tax strategy. After all, tax impacts are embedded in day-to-day decisions: entity design, supply chain and transfer pricing, incentives, M&A readiness, and audit defensibility.

CFOs increasingly need a tax strategy that is proactive, cross-functional, and connected to business transformation initiatives, especially when operations span multiple jurisdictions or change quickly.

Ask:

• Are we minimizing exposure across entities, states, and countries, and can we prove it with clean data?
• Are we leaving credits or incentives on the table because documentation is too fragmented to support a position?
• Do we have audit-ready processes — or are we relying on end-of-year reconstruction?

How Modern CFOs Build a Strategy that Performs, Protects, and Prospers

An effective finance strategy now connects tax, tariffs, and technology into a unified operating approach.

The Role of Resilience in Financial Leadership

Whether responding to tariff changes, adopting AI, managing tax exposure, or developing talent, CFOs require resilient systems and processes that can adapt without disrupting operations.

The most successful CFOs aren't trying to predict every disruption. They're building organizations capable of responding to whatever comes next. Connected data, disciplined scenario planning, proactive tax strategy, and modern technology ultimately create stronger, more resilient organizations capable of preparing for what’s next, no matter how conditions change.

Eide Bailly’s team of mid-market finance leaders can help you drive performance, manage risk, and build long-term value. Learn more.