It is a common statement that “markets hate uncertainty,” and the recent AFP COVID-19 FP&A Survey proves that to be true. More than 600 FP&A practitioners considered the question: What impacts are/will the following have on your organization? They rated various responses on a 1-4 scale; the table below shows the percentage indicating 4: Significant or 3: Moderate impacts. 

Respondents that expect information uncertainty to have the biggest impact commented on the difficulty and receiving accurate, reliable and timely information. They also question how government/regulatory decisions might impact their business and how recovery/return to work models will look across the country.

FP&A practitioners are also concerned that they will see an uptick in contracts not being met and collections being an issue. Additionally, they cited a lack of new customers/business development as a key concern have found that they have become more dependent of fewer customers.

FP&A professionals report that businesses are moving through three phases of adaptation to the COVID-19 world. First was the immediate crisis response, followed by the transition to new modes of working, and lastly, settling into an operating rhythm for the “foreseeable future.” Our previous article in this series reported that 64% of companies are trying to invest and grow or reposition themselves. Managing information uncertainty is critical to taking next steps and ultimately returning to growth.

Read the rest of the survey results here.