At Evolvere, we believe 2025 will bring another wave of transformative challenges for finance leaders. With ongoing macroeconomic uncertainties, continuing demands for cost reductions, and an evolving compliance landscape, finance executives will face mounting pressure to foster innovation while managing risks effectively.
Finance Transformation is broadening
Cost optimisation is
here to stay
Compliance requirements will continue to increase
Modernising legacy processes and service delivery models
Automation continues to be a differentiator
AI will increase in prominence and use
Data and insights take center stage
The war for top talent is still real
1. The focus of Finance Transformation
will (and must) broaden
Historically, transformation efforts relied heavily on technology implementations as the silver bullet, resulting in numerous programs failing to deliver their promised value.
A shift in mindset is emerging, with leaders embracing a more integrated approach that combines data, change management, communication, and process optimisation.
Increasingly, organisations are also recognising the value of centralising transformation programs to enhance business alignment, optimise resources, and minimise the impact of change on teams.
At Evolvere, we advocate for a holistic approach to finance transformation that puts people at the centre.
Sustainable finance transformation:
Align objectives with your organisation’s overarching business vision
Assess current maturity of processes, data, technology, and team capabilities.
Evaluate your change readiness and prioritise initiatives based on ROI, strategic alignment, and risk.
Engage your teams through transparent communication to reduce resistance.
Foster continuous improvement to embed transformation as a sustainable practice.
2. Cost optimisation is here to stay
2024 saw leaders navigating economic volatility with heightened cost-reduction pressures—a trend we expect to continue in 2025.
“Only 48% of companies met their cost savings targets in 2024, indicating that more than half fell short of their goals”. (BCG)
Effective cost optimisation balances long-term value creation with operational efficiency, avoiding short-term measures that sacrifice future growth. Rather than treating all costs the same, leaders should measure the costs of outputs and return on investment to avoid short-term cost cutting at the expense of future growth.
A common pitfall is the allure of short-term cost-cutting measures that prove unsustainable, often leading to costs creeping back over time. Redundancies, for instance, can provide immediate cost savings but act as a blunt instrument. Without careful planning and alignment with long-term strategies, such actions can stifle growth and create resourcing pressures, forcing leaders to rely on contractors or even rehire for the same roles in the future.
At Evolvere, we endeavour to adopt a strategic approach to sustainable cost optimisation for our clients
3. Compliance requirements will continue to increase
Evolving regulations, from tax laws and ESG mandates to data security and disclosure requirements, will increase operational complexity in 2025. Non-compliance risks will further burden finance leaders.
A burden or an opportunity?
At Evolvere, we view compliance as an opportunity to enhance resilience, mitigate risks, and gain a competitive edge. For example, adopting standards like CPS230 – even partially – can strengthen business resilience, even for non-regulated entities.
6 key areas of finance regulatory change in Australia:
ESG – Mandatory climate reporting rules for large companies effective 1 January 2025
Wage Theft – Intentional wage underpayments a criminal offence from 1 January 2025
AML – Strengthened AML regulations are expected to increase reporting obligations for businesses in certain sectors.
CPS230 – From 1 July 2025, APRA-regulated entities must comply with CPS 230
Right to Disconnect – From 26 August 2025, Right to Disconnect rules will also apply to small businesses
Privacy Law Reforms – Amendments to enhance consumer protections and stronger data protection measures for business are expected
4. Modernisation of legacy processes and service delivery models
Core operational processes underpin every business, from HR’s recruit to retire to finance’s order to report, or sales’ lead to cash. These processes significantly impact cost efficiency, regulatory compliance, and competitive positioning.
In addition to modernising work flows, at Evolvere we believe more finance leaders will focus on ensuring their service delivery models are optimised, with larger organisations moving to a Global Business Services model. The ideal service delivery model is shaped by your organisation’s goals, resources, and strategic priorities.
Many businesses will adopt a hybrid approach, integrating multiple models:
- Shared Services – A centralised business unit delivers services to multiple business units within an organisation.
- Outsourcing – A third-party provider manages specific business processes or functions, often offshore or nearshore.
- Managed Services – A third-party provider proactively manages and delivers services under a contract with defined SLAs.
- Cloud Based Services – Organisations access services through the cloud using a subscription model or a pay-per-use approach.
- Centralised, Decentralised – Services are either delivered from a single location or team, or delivered locally by different teams. Can be hybrid of both.
- Captive – Company owned service center offshore or nearshore.
5. Automation continues to be a differentiator
At Evolvere, we believe automation tools such as RPA, AI, ML and BPM will continue to evolve and deliver even more cost efficiencies, reduced risk and strategic insights for finance in 2025
“ Only 5% of CFOs rate their level of automation as “very high,” highlighting significant challenges in implementing essential financial technologies”
Australian Fintech
- RPA – Traditionally used to automate repetitive rule based tasks, bots will be able to make decisions which extends their ability to automate entire workflows, bots will self learn and self correct and low code developments will make it easier for users to automate processes
- AI & ML – AI and Machine Learning will be increasingly used for fraud detection, predictive analytics and scenario based modelling
- ERP – ERPs will adopt AI and ML, continued move to the Cloud, greater ERP modularity to better integrate with best-of-breed systems and Edge computing for faster processing of data on local devices. Further, improved integrations between ERP and data lakes will improve decision making with big data
- OCR – Optical Character Recognition will be shaped by advancements in AI with increased accuracy by learning and adapting based on user corrections and supporting intelligent document processing
- Process Mining – Advancements in process mining in BPM tools will identify automation opportunities in real-time
6. AI will become more pervasive in Finance teams
AI will continue to rise in prominence, transitioning from a buzzword to a critical tool for automation and insight generation.
AI adoption in accounting and financial reporting is becoming common, while tax, risk and treasury operations are further behind
At Evolvere, we advocate starting with establishing a clear strategy and supporting policies to govern the use of AI and ML, ensuring data security and compliance before you start your AI journey.
72% of Australian businesses are using some form of AI BUT only 52% have staff policies in place governing its use (Datacom)
AI is increasingly being integrated into popular finance tools, enabling companies to leverage its capabilities without making significant standalone investments in AI technology.
Accounting and Financial Control
Tools such as BlackLine or Workiva can automate the reconciliation and financial reporting processes
FP&A
BI tools such as Power BI, Tableau and Cognos have embedded AI capabilities, enabling predictive analytics, text-prompted insights, visualisations and root cause analysis
Accounts Payable
Expense tools such as Appzen and Oversight can automate the auditing of expenses
7. Data and Insights Take Centre Stage
Accurate, real-time data is crucial for resilience, cost optimisation, and uncovering growth opportunities. However, finance leaders have been held back because of data silos and poor-quality inputs, undermining both efficiency and insights
Addressing these challenges requires more than just technology—it calls for a strategic approach to data management.
In 2025, we anticipate finance leaders will more actively collaborate with CIOs and CDOs to uplift the quality of their data holdings, not only to address finance’s specific needs, but also to secure access to non-financial data essential for driving and supporting broader business strategies.
The Evolvere three-step approach to enhancing your data assets:
Define key success metrics
Map data sources, document data lineage, identify silos, and establish a single source of truth.
Implement fit-for-purpose technology and governance frameworks.
8. The war for top talent is still real
Despite higher redundancies in 2024, the competition for top talent remains intense. In 2025, we expect this trend to continue, especially for finance professionals who are adept to change and have solid digital skills
“40% of finance roles will either be newly created or significantly transformed due to advancements in finance technology” (Gartner)
At Evolvere, we believe up-skilling & reskilling is the key.
Digital Skills
As the demand for digital transformation and the need to embrace emerging technologies increases, the need for finance teams to improve their digital skills is critical.
In fact, a lack of digital acumen is commonly cited by CFOs as a predominant reason for the reluctance to use AI and automation technologies.
Soft Skills
As the role of finance leaders broadens and technology handles more routine tasks, soft skills such as strategic thinking, change and communication becomes more important.
