CFOs and senior finance leaders are under intense pressure to do more with less:
more insight, more control, more regulation, more reporting – with the same (or smaller) teams.

In this Accountex webinar, “What’s driving CFO decisions about software and why does it matter?”, Elaine Birch (Content & Comms Manager) and Taylor Andrew (Senior Account Executive) from AccountsIQ share fresh insights from their 2025 CFO Mindset Report, based on a survey of 1,000 senior finance professionals across the UK and Ireland.

You’ll hear:

• Why so many mid-market organisations regret recent ERP decisions
• How long, stressful implementations and hidden costs are damaging both teams and outcomes
• Which factors most influence CFO software choices today (and why data & reporting now top the list)
• How attitudes to AI and automation have shifted from fear to pragmatic adoption
• Why mid-market “golden middle ground” platforms are increasingly replacing both entry-level tools and full ERPs

The session ends with a concise walkthrough of AccountsIQ as an example of a mid-market cloud FMS: what it does, where it sits in the landscape, and how it helps finance teams move from firefighting to forward-looking.

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1. ERP regrets and implementation reality

Elaine and Taylor dig into some striking survey findings:

• Only a tiny minority of those who implemented a full ERP say they have no regrets
• A quarter of respondents reported ERP implementations taking 7+ months
• Two-thirds described the process as stressful

They explore:

• Why long implementations spiral (scope creep, changing requirements, reliance on third parties)
• The “kitchen renovation” analogy – once you’ve ripped everything out, it’s very hard to back out
• How sunk cost – in time, money and morale – keeps teams stuck in painful projects far longer than they’d like

2. Paying for power you don’t use: underutilised features

The report shows around 60% of finance leaders use less than half of their ERP’s functionality.

Using the “gym membership” analogy, they cover:

• When a top-tier, everything-included ERP genuinely makes sense
• When it’s overkill – you’re basically paying for pool, tennis courts and classes you never use
• Why “functionality on paper” isn’t the same as adopted, embedded capability in the team

3. Hidden and unexpected software costs

Across all finance software (not just ERPs), 95% of respondents reported encountering hidden or unexpected costs, including:

• Extra charges for AI or “advanced” modules
• Outsourced / third-party support packages only revealed post-sale
• Rolling price increases buried in the small print
• Reliance on multiple bolt-ons to plug gaps in entry-level tools

Elaine uses the “office with no desks or heating” analogy to underline the importance of:

• Transparent pricing
• Clear scope of what’s truly included (support, integrations, approvals, automation, etc.)

4. What’s keeping CFOs up at night?

The survey asked: “What concerns you most?” Results were spread across:

• Real-time access to reliable data
• ESG and new reporting demands
• Regulatory and compliance risks
• Talent and skills shortages
• Cybersecurity and data protection

That spread is itself a signal: the CFO role is broadening into data, risk, technology and strategy.

Drilling into data specifically:

• 65% say they often make key financial decisions without sufficient data
• Almost a third say this happens often or always

Taylor links this to what he hears daily:

• Over-reliance on Excel exports and manual BI
• Reporting that takes days, so questions stop being asked
• The compounding risk of human error when everything lives in spreadsheets

5. The human cost: overtime, burnout and retention

The report shows 64% of finance leaders working evenings/weekends regularly.

The presenters ask: “Does this really have to be the norm?” and discuss:

• How manual processes (AP, AR, consolidation, month-end, reporting) eat into personal time
• Why persistent overtime drives attrition in key finance roles
• How targeted automation and better systems can shift teams from repetitive data work to higher-value analysis

6. AI in finance: from fear to practical tool

AI and automation came out top (just) as the biggest driver of change over the next 5–10 years.

Key findings and discussion points:

• Main concerns about AI:
  • Ethics and decision transparency
  • Data security and confidentiality
  • Lack of human oversight / “black box” behaviour
• Good news: fear of “AI taking my job” has dropped from 24% (2023) to 13% (2025)
• Growing realisation that:
  • AI is a tool, not a replacement for finance professionals
  • It needs guidance, guardrails and context from humans
  • It will be “threaded through” many tools (e.g. OCR, anomaly detection, forecasting) rather than arrive as one standalone “AI product”

7. Outgrowing your current system & the mid-market “golden middle”

The research highlights that many teams feel they’ve:

• Outgrown entry-level tools (e.g. Xero / QuickBooks / Sage 50)
• Are struggling with legacy on-prem systems going end-of-life
• Are under pressure to handle:
  • Multi-entity and consolidation
  • Intercompany, multi-currency
  • Group VAT / GST, more complex reporting

Too often, the perceived next step is: “we have to go full ERP”.

Elaine and Taylor argue there’s a better option for many:

• A mid-market cloud financial management system with:
  • Richer core finance and multi-entity features
  • Faster, less painful implementation
  • Lower cost and less complexity than ERP
• Enough headroom for 8–10 years of growth without needing to re-platform again

8. Non-negotiables when choosing finance software

From the survey plus AccountsIQ’s own experience, they outline the “must-haves” most CFOs now look for:

• Onboarding & implementation
  • Realistic timelines
  • Dedicated, in-house implementation teams
  • Training and support through at least the first month-end
• Integrations & ecosystem
  • Bank feeds
  • Payroll and expenses
  • CRM / billing / vertical systems
  • APIs for custom integrations
• Scalability
  • Multi-entity, multi-currency
  • Group VAT / GST and consolidation
  • Ability to add entities/users without re-implementing
• Support & transparency
  • Dedicated account management
  • Clear, responsive support channels
  • Honest, transparent pricing – no surprises
• Data & reporting
  • Strong multi-dimensional analysis
  • Dashboards for both finance and non-finance users
  • Options to live-link into Excel / Power BI

9. Where AccountsIQ fits (live walkthrough)

To make the “mid-market option” concrete, Taylor gives a short demo of AccountsIQ:

• Fully cloud FMS, founded 2008, 35,000+ users in 80+ countries
• Sits firmly in the mid-market space between entry-level tools and big ERPs
• Key capabilities shown:
  • Multi-entity and consolidation in one platform
  • 3-tier chart of accounts + up to 6 dimensions (projects, departments, locations, revenue streams, etc.)
  • Dashboards for P&L, AP/AR, working capital, and more
  • AP automation: OCR, workflows, PO-matching, bulk payments and remittances
  • Bank feeds with rule-based auto-reconciliation
  • Intercompany posting and elimination
• Implementation approach:
  • In-house implementers only – no outsourcing
  • Sandbox environment from day one
  • Guided build of chart of accounts, dimensions, workflows and integrations
  • Implementer support through first month-end, then handover to dedicated account manager

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