New research reveals that nearly all financial leaders (90%) have been impacted by Budget uncertainty in 2024, with over two-thirds (70%) choosing to delay or cancel planned investments as they await clarity from the upcoming Autumn Budget.
The research, which surveyed 400 UK financial decision makers, and was commissioned by innovative payments solutions provider Equals Money, highlighted a clear focus on increasing investment in technology, with 63% of businesses prioritising this area in 2024.
In contrast, spending on work social events has decreased or remained the same (63%). Looking ahead to 2025, employee wellbeing and benefits (14%) and ESG initiatives (14%) were among the lowest priorities for business investment.
Across specific sectors, ESG initiatives ranked lowest in priority for businesses in finance and insurance (11%), business administration services (11%), technology (10%) and hospitality (6%).
Employee well-being and benefits were also ranked lowest in priority by the manufacturing (11%) technology (10%), construction (8%) and hospitality (6%) sectors.
Steve Paul, Deputy CFO at Equals Money, commented, “Managing business spend is complex at the best of times, but when you throw in a new Government and an uncertain market, it only heightens the challenge. However, market uncertainty doesn’t have to prevent businesses from growing. With the right tools in place, such as currency hedging and clear budget oversight, financial leaders can still make smart and safe investments. The research, however, highlights that too few companies are utilising the data available to them to help in this decision-making.”
Despite the fact that data and financial insight are considered either critical for all decisions (30%) or used regularly in company decision making (58%), only 45% currently use budgeting and forecasting software, and 26% still rely on manual tracking methods.
However, there is a clear shift on the horizon, with 81% of companies planning to either adopt new or upgrade existing financial tools or software to better manage business spending and improve financial visibility.
Steve Paul continued, “Financial tools don’t just help your accountancy department, they can add value across the entire business. While holding back spend for employee wellbeing or ESG initiatives might offer short-term cash-flow relief, these investments are often key to longer term goals. By sorting back-office functions and providing better budget clarity, financial leaders can offer more strategic consultancy across company-wide investment decisions.”
Equals Money helps free up time and resources that finance leaders can reinvest into more growing their business. If you’re looking to optimise your financial processes, chat to the experts today.
