Research & Commentary

The most recent CFO Survey indicates that most firms expect pricing pressures to persist during 2024, and firms implementing automation are expecting slower price growth than those who are not.

In this report, we investigate how the firms that adopted automation differ — in performance and expectations — from those that did not adopt automation.

This quarter's Research & Commentary digs into an important question facing policymakers: whether the constellation of economic indicators have returned close enough to "normal" levels to merit a reconsideration of the monetary policy stance.

In the most recent CFO survey, financial decision-makers shared whether interest rate hikes have caused them to pull back on their spending plans, and for those not yet affected, whether further hikes would impact their firm. Compared to the fourth quarter of last year, a higher percentage of firms reported that interest rates have curtailed capital and non-capital spending plans.

The current outlook of small firms is noticeably worse than for large firms. On average, small firms report being more affected by tight financing conditions, are less optimistic about the economy and their own prospects, and expect lower revenue growth in 2023.

Results from the fourth quarter 2022 CFO Survey indicate that although monetary policy has grown as a key concern for respondents, most note that current interest rate levels have not affected their capital or non-capital spending plans. We also find evidence that if employers were looking to raise wages to account for inflation in 2022, the catch-up was only partial.

In the third quarter 2022 CFO Survey, more firms reported elevated cost increases and the ability to pass a larger chunk of those cost increases on via price increases.