Research Archive

17 AI Mistakes Your Finance Team Is Making Right Now

This guide breaks down the 17 most common mistakes around AI in finance, from foundational issues to daily execution errors,...

The CFO’s Office 2.0: The 2026 AI Transformation facing Finance Teams

What does the CFO's Office actually look like in 2026? Datarails analyzed 5,000 job listings across CFO, FP&A, Controller, and...

CFO and the C-Suite 2026

CFOs at US public companies have never been paid more — or had a shorter tenure. Datarails analyzed 10,024 SEC...

14 Proven AI Plays for Finance Leaders

Finance leaders are building AI capabilities today. This playbook shares how fourteen finance leaders actually implemented AI and the metrics...

3 Golden Rules for 3-Day Month-end Close

If your month-end close is a marathon of manual consolidation and needle-in-haystack error hunting, it's time to embrace the three...

Excel Generations: How Excel is Dominating the CFO’s Office into 2036

The world runs on Excel and, it turns out, Gen Z and Millennials working in the CFO’s Office love it...

2025 AI in Finance Executive Report

AI has become the "new normal" in finance, with 84% of CFOs and finance leaders using it daily—77% through approved...

Getting perfect cash visibility for your business

Businesses face multiple challenges in managing cash across multiple bank accounts and spreadsheets–despite real-time cash visibility being crucial. Discover the...

Unconscious Uncoupling: CFO Business Partnering 2025

The report surveyed 240 US heads of Sales, Marketing, HR, IT, Customer Service, and R&D departments, lifting the lid for...

Best Practices for FP&A Storytelling with Data

FP&A storytelling is not easy. Each leader in the company has different needs for the data, various levels of finance...

The CFO’s Office 2.0: 2025 Transformation

This research analyzes 6000 job listings within the CFO’s Office comparing job descriptions for key positions in January 2024 and...

2026 AI Tech Stack for the CFO’s Office

Many software tools are now considered "AI", but research shows that only 4% of finance teams have an advanced level...

CFOs and the C-Suite: High Stakes, High Rewards in America’s Most Volatile C-Suite Role

CFOs are staying in post an average of 3.1 years over the latest five-year period analyzed, falling from an average...

2024 CFO Sentiments: How AI is Changing Finance Departments

The 2024 Datarails CFO Sentiments survey analyzes the views of 270 CFOs at US companies with annual revenue between $50million...

Bad Spreadsheet Cases: Lawsuit Tracker

Read the unreported cases of how Excel cases have been brought to court. This report finds that spreadsheet disputes have...

How to Solve FP&A Needs in the Chemical Manufacturing Industry

The chemical manufacturing industry faces many challenges due to changing laws and regulations. Fluctuations in raw materials and global supply...

The CFO’s Office 2.0

The CFO’s Office has transformed in 2024. Based on an analysis of 2000 job vacancies in 2024 for US CFOs,...

Navigating Your First 100 Days as a CFO – A Step by Step Guide

Whether this is your first CFO position or you are a seasoned financial leader, the first 100 days on the...

CFO Legal Tracker 2024

The CFO legal Tracker 2024 has been compiled by Datarails and law professor and legal practitioner Jed Chedid, adjunct professor...

CFOs: Still Far from the C-Suite Summit

CFOs have been beaten into fourth place for executive pay in the C-Suite and have seen a 10% decline in...

2023 SMB CFO sentiments: State of Finance Departments

The Datarails SMB CFO Sentiments, surveyed 260 CFOs at US companies with annual revenue between $3million to $999 million. It...

Powering Up Your Finance KPIs With Automation

Financial KPIs are often difficult to achieve due to the amount of manual work and inefficient processes involved in the...

The Complete 2023 CFO Tech Stack for SMEs

Welcome to the complete CFO Tech Stack for 2023! A well planned finance tech stack is increasingly important for the...

CFOs and the C-Suite: Staying Power, Pay and Pain Points

CFOs are suffering from Worst Job Security in the C-Suite, a study by Datarails reveals. The study of SEC filings...

The Ultimate Guide to Landing the Best FP&A Job

Datarails analyzed 500 open FP&A for some of the biggest companies in the United States, including the 10 biggest companies by...

The Economic Impact of the FP&A Role in the US

Study by Datarails and the University of Baltimore

CFO: No Way Home – How the most manual job in the C-Suite is keeping CFOs in the office

81% of CFOs believe they suffer from the most intensive daily manual work compared to any other role in the...

10 Wildly Effective FP&A Manufacturing KPIs for FP&A to Win

These 10 KPIs used by FP&A professionals at large manufacturing companies focus on asking vital questions about the business. They...

Top Steps for Improved CFO Board Reporting

Reporting to the Board can be one of the least fun experiences for CFOs. There is lots of pressure, last...

The Quest For a Single Version of Truth

Break down the role of pioneering Chief Financial Officers and you’ll find their responsibilities stretch far beyond company numbers. The...

The (Successful) Business Intelligence Alternative for Finance Departments

Financial analytics, a new subset of BI, will forever change finance. Fintech evangelists are raving about the newest generation of...

Conquering FP&A Data Consolidation

In order to run effectively, businesses must have accurate financial data. Unfortunately, combining and summarizing spreadsheet-based information can be tricky,...

Planning for Business Agility

How can CFOs facilitate digital transformation? How can they enable nimble and agile planning processes with little to no change...

Modern Financial Reporting: Challenges and Solutions

Improving Financial Reporting Is A Must

How to Adopt an FP&A Solution Without Ditching your Spreadsheets

If you are considering choosing an FP&A solution to consolidate your financial reporting and end manual processes, you need to...

Business Budgets: A New Era of Change

US business budgets celebrate their centenary this year and despite flaws in the process, CFOs say budgeting remains fundamental to...

CFO 2022: Challenges and Opportunities

Needless to say, 2020 was a challenging year. COVID-19 and its ramifications were feltthroughout the world in every household, industry,...