The Modern Finance Leader: How Technology Gaps Are Limiting Strategic Impact
New finance and accounting leader survey data reveals how breakdowns in order-to-cash processes and technology are impeding the strategic growth and efficiency of finance teams, particularly within SaaS companies.
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Finance and accounting leaders are caught in a modernization dilemma.
Increasingly expected to drive business strategy while constrained by outdated technology that forces them into manual, reactive work instead of strategic advisory roles, these leaders are stuck in a modernization catch-22.
Zuora commissioned a survey of over 900 senior finance and accounting leaders, including CFOs, CAOs, Controllers, and VPs of Finance and Accounting, across North America (NA), the United Kingdom (UK), and France, revealing significant shifts in finance operations at enterprise organizations across industries. Leaders report mounting pressure to function as strategic advisors, yet outdated systems and manual processes continue to impede their effectiveness, particularly in order-to-cash (O2C) operations.
Although this report looks at findings across industries, it also zooms in on SaaS organizations as they represent the epicenter to modern finance complexity. SaaS companies often stress-test traditional finance operations through dynamic pricing models, usage-based billing, and hybrid revenue structures. As digital transformation accelerates, SaaS companies serve as an early indicator of finance challenges all organizations will soon face.
To overcome these barriers, organizations must prioritize infrastructure modernization to eliminate manual processes, organizational alignment to clarify O2C ownership, and positioning technology investments as enablers of finance’s advisory role. Companies that address these systemic issues can unlock finance’s potential, while those that don’t risk constraining growth when financial agility becomes critical to competitive advantage.
Key Findings
When Strategic Demands Outpace Technology: How Legacy Systems Limit Finance's Vision
- Finance and accounting leaders are expected to be strategic advisors—but lack the tools to deliver: 89% of finance and accounting leaders (88% in SaaS) say they’re increasingly expected to act as a strategic advisor, but 70% (and 92% in SaaS) say their current tech stack is hindering them from playing that role. In SaaS, 100% say manual data issues and reconciliation work are preventing strategic focus, with 42% saying it happens “often.”
- Order-to-cash technology gaps are blocking finance modernization: While finance and accounting leaders across industries prioritize O2C modernization initiatives such as enhanced cash flow and better forecasting, 68% report that gaps in their technology are limiting them. In SaaS, the disconnect is sharper: 95% of leaders say tech gaps are hindering O2C, and among those, 54% describe those gaps as “severe.”
The AI Paradox: Finance Teams Are Investing in Tomorrow While Drowning in Yesterday's Work
- AI is a strategic priority in both technology and skill sets—but its impact has yet to fully materialize: Nearly all (93% across industries, 88% in SaaS) finance leaders say they prioritize AI capabilities when evaluating new financial technology investments. And yet, manual work remains a top challenge for 79% of leaders surveyed. 61% of SaaS leaders say AI fluency is a “very important” consideration during the hiring process, compared to just 35% across industries.
- Even with AI, manual tasks are still overwhelming teams, especially in SaaS: 79% of finance leaders say their teams are swamped with manual work, with 88% citing reconciliation as a blocker to strategic focus. In SaaS, this problem is more acute: 97% are bogged down by manual tasks.
Misaligned Ownership, Missed Opportunities: Confusion Around Order-to-Cash Is Restricting Growth
- Lack of finance O2C system ownership puts growth, speed, and controls at risk: 82% of leaders say IT lags in system updates, and 82% of SaaS leaders say fragmented O2C ownership causes operational challenges. Only 56% of SaaS companies have a dedicated finance systems team within the finance department—and in many cases, that team is owned by IT.
- Upmarket ambitions and creative deals are stalled by O2C breakdowns: 94% of SaaS leaders sometimes or frequently reject non-standard deals because of gaps in their O2C process, and 80% say approvals of those non-standard deals lead to more manual work. 82% are overworked due to revenue allocation for complex deals, and while many (76%) SaaS finance teams own the deal desk, not all have direct influence over deal structure, adding to the risk of inefficiency.
The Scaling Bottleneck: Outdated Systems Are Constraining Business Model Innovation
- Legacy finance systems are holding back pricing and revenue model experimentation: 74% of finance and accounting leaders say their systems can’t support the complex pricing structures the business needs to continually delight customers and maintain its competitive edge. In SaaS, a staggering 97% say their tech falls short, with 86% calling the lack of system adaptability a frequent issue. Additionally, 82% of SaaS leaders struggle with complexity due to hybrid revenue models and 95% say usage pricing makes revenue forecasting more difficult.
- Order-to-cash processes are breaking under pressure to scale: Across industries, 52% of leaders report O2C struggles when scaling usage-based pricing, 49% following acquisitions, and 53% during PLG-to-enterprise transitions. In SaaS, these numbers surge to 71%, 82%, and 82% respectively—highlighting the urgent need for scalable, flexible O2C architecture.
Methodology
Zuora commissioned an independent research firm to survey 991 CFOs, CAOs, Controllers, and VPs of Finance and Accounting in a multi-national study in May 2025 across North America, the United Kingdom, and France about what’s driving success for accounting and financial planning. The margin of error for this total sample is +/- 2% at the 95% confidence level. Based on the survey findings, the report also includes strategic recommendations from Zuora to help overcome O2C technical gaps and improve processes.
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When Strategic Demands Outpace Technology: How Legacy Systems Limit Finance’s Vision