 Amid the whirlwind of change we’ve seen in 2020, a few trends stand out. Here is CFO Dive's take on those that defined this year and point to what we can expect in 2021.
Capital never stopped flowing to pandemic-resilient companies, but they weren’t the only beneficiaries of funds sitting on lots of money. So, too, were companies whose business stagnated but had a compelling post-pandemic growth plan.
As you would expect, virtually no trend escaped the effect of the pandemic. It upended strategies on health benefits — allowing telemedicine and mental health coverage, for example — and real estate. And with many companies letting their employees remain remote going forward, finance chiefs are thinking about shrinking their space needs, which can open up tax and liability issues. But there are compensation issues, too, including whether to let employees play "paycheck arbitrage," when remote employees move to lower-cost areas while still drawing expensive-area salaries.
Other Covid-related trends touch on budgeting, bankruptcy, ESG reporting, IPOs, and even LIBOR strategies. Regulators gave financial institutions additional time to transition away from the rate-setting index, but there are still things companies must do to avoid headaches associated with their existing debt.
We hope you find our selection of this year’s top trends informative and useful. If there’s something we missed, let us know.
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Wishing you a great New Year.
 Robert Freedman
Editor, CFO Dive
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