What is stopping CFOs from leading at full capacity?
Chapter 1Finance leaders want to focus on strategy, but day-to-day demands still take up much of their time.
India Finance Leaders Barometer 2026
Chapter 2
Optimism among finance leaders is rising. However, it is also clear that growth needs stronger guardrails for managing and leveraging risk, sharper forecasting and tighter margin discipline.
85% of the finance leaders surveyed say they are more optimistic about their company's financial outlook for the next 12 months than they were six months ago.
Improved expectations for sales volumes and order books are key drivers of this optimism, with 34% identifying the demand environment as the reason for their optimism.
Stronger demand expectations provide a credible basis for business confidence, but the outlook remains sensitive to inflation, interest rates and shifts in global trade and investment. Finance leaders will need to distinguish between short-term improvements in sentiment and durable demand signals when setting growth assumptions and committing capital.
Rishi Shah
Partner and Economic Advisory Services Leader Grant Thornton Bharat
Financial outlook for the year ahead
Finance leaders are more optimistic, with demand and internal transformation influencing the outlook
Top factors shaping the financial outlook
CFOs prioritise growth
This stronger outlook is translating directly into the priorities CFOs are setting for the year ahead. Growth is the number-one priority for 66% of CFOs. Of these, 37% favour measured organic growth, while 29% are pursuing more aggressive expansion through new markets or capabilities.
Efficiency and margin optimisation rank third at 19%, indicating that a continued focus on productivity and profitability is shaping growth plans.
By comparison, only 7% prioritise transformation-led repositioning, suggesting that most organisations see transformation as a means to support growth and efficiency rather than as a standalone objective.
The improving demand outlook reflects the underlying strength of India's investment story. However, converting optimism into sustained growth will require businesses to align expansion plans with market opportunities, availability of capital and evolving operating conditions.
Krishan Arora
Partner and India Investment Advisory Services Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat
Top organisational goals for 2026
The story in numbers
85%
are more optimistic about their company's financial outlook than they were six months ago.
34%
cite the demand environment as the primary driver of their optimistic outlook.
66%
point to growth as their top organisational goal for 2026
CFOs are pursuing growth through different routes, from steady organic gains to market and capability expansion. The priority is to direct capital towards the opportunities that offer the strongest strategic fit and returns, while maintaining a clear focus on efficiency and margins.
Sumeet Abrol
Partner and Deals Lifecycle Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat
Market volatility threatens growth agenda
Growth may lead the agenda, but CFOs know the operating environment could test those ambitions. CFOs recognise that the path ahead is not predictable. 74% rank market volatility as one of the top three risks to the finance function's ability to deliver value over the next 12 months.
Operating costs and margin pressure follow closely at 72%, leaving finance leaders to manage two pressures at once: external uncertainty and the need to protect profitability. The findings suggest that growth ambitions will need to be backed by stronger resilience and tighter financial discipline.
Regulatory and compliance challenges also remain significant, with 38% ranking them among their top three risks. As requirements evolve, finance functions will need to strengthen regulatory readiness without slowing growth.
Top risks to growth and profitability
Talent capability and workforce gaps follow at 30%. Gaps in skills and capacity could limit the finance function’s ability to respond to change and support the organisation’s goals. Continued investment in skills and talent will be critical to turning growth ambitions into action.
CFOs are prepared for risks, but not fully ready
Despite the risks ahead, 96% of CFOs say their finance function is prepared to meet upcoming challenges. Most stop short of saying they are fully ready:
- 55% describe themselves as only “somewhat prepared”,
- while 42% feel “well prepared”.
This suggests that many finance functions are still strengthening the processes, skills and operating models needed to respond effectively when conditions change.
Preparedness for the most significant challenges
Execution capacity is under pressure
That gap in readiness becomes clearer when finance leaders assess whether their organisations have the capacity, investment headroom and risk appetite to deliver on their ambitions.
Three in four finance leaders identify the tension between ambition and execution capacity as a major organisational challenge. Cost discipline versus growth investment follows at 59%, while 52% point to the tension between innovation and risk appetite.
These pressures are shaping leadership decisions. 70% of finance leaders say balancing growth with risk appetite will require the most attention over the next 12 months, far ahead of other trade-offs.
The findings point to a difficult operating reality: organisations want to grow and innovate, but face limits on capacity, investment and risk-taking. Finance leaders will need sharper priorities and clearer criteria for allocating resources.
Getting a jump-start on risk requires finance leaders to look beyond identifying potential threats. They need to define early-warning indicators, assess how risks could affect margins, liquidity and execution, and agree on response actions in advance. This gives organisations more room to act before emerging pressures begin to constrain growth.
Gaganpreet Singh Puri
Partner, Crisis & Resilience and Dispute Advisory Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat
Top organisational tensions (% agreeing)
Leadership trade-off
Organisational agility is not just about moving fast; it is about adapting priorities and reallocating resources swiftly while preserving financial rigour. Companies that do this well rely on timely insights, continuous forecasting, and disciplined investment decisions. The finance function is central to this balance, enabling responsiveness to market opportunities while ensuring growth remains sustainable, value-accretive, and within the organisation’s risk tolerance.
Vikas Vinod Kapoor
Whole-time Director and Chief Financial Officer, Travel Food Services Limited
What will turn confidence into growth?
Finance leaders are optimistic about growth. The challenge is turning that optimism into growth while managing market volatility, cost pressures, and stretched execution capacity. The organisations best placed to succeed will be those that align ambition with the resources, discipline and risk appetite needed to deliver it.
Ambitious growth plans must be matched by the organisation's capacity to deliver. Leaders need a clear view of operational constraints, capability gaps and cost pressures before committing resources. This will help them prioritise investments, strengthen execution and pursue growth without placing undue strain on the business.
Rahul Turki
Partner, Operations Consulting and Global Value Chain Ecosystem Leader, Grant Thornton Bharat
The future of finance starts with the right conversations
Every organisation’s journey is different. Our experts work with finance leaders to navigate evolving priorities, from technology enablement and process transformation to strengthening strategic decision-making.
Let’s discuss what the next chapter of your finance function could look like.
About the survey
The India Finance Leaders Barometer 2026 by Grant Thornton Bharat captures the perspectives of CFOs and senior finance leaders on the priorities, challenges and opportunities shaping the finance function.
Drawing on insights from across industries, the survey explores how finance leaders are responding to an increasingly dynamic business environment and where they expect the function to evolve over the coming years.
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