Limelight Software today released its 2026 FP&A Statistics Report, revealing a finance function caught between rising technology investment and legacy workflows that continue to slow it down. The report, which compiles more than 50 benchmarks from sources including Gartner, PwC, and AFP, shows that while CFOs are sponsoring AI and lifting FP&A budgets to record levels, nearly 100% of finance professionals still rely on spreadsheets for monthly planning, 82% make decisions based on stale data, and 69% of finance transformation programs are behind schedule.
FP&A technology spending is climbing fast. According to the report, 77% of CFOs and senior finance leaders plan to increase FP&A technology spending in 2025, with 47% expecting a 10%+ increase versus 2024. The FP&A software market is projected to grow from $3.9 billion in 2023 to $9.7 billion by 2031. AI adoption is set to more than double within the next 12 months: 28% of finance departments currently use AI in forecasting, and another 39% plan to adopt it within the next year. The AI in FP&A market alone is projected to grow at a 34.8% CAGR through 2034.
Despite this tech push, spreadsheets remain near universal. The report finds that almost 100% of FP&A professionals still use spreadsheets for monthly planning and reporting, and over half of FP&A teams now manage eight or more data categories and 10 or more reporting tools each quarter. Forecast accuracy is the top cost-control obstacle for 61% of CFOs, while 82% of companies make decisions based on stale information, and 85% say that outdated data leads directly to lost revenue.
Transformation programs are stalling as well. The report notes that 69% of finance transformation initiatives are progressing slower than planned, and 30% fail to hit their goals outright, most often due to poor change management. Meanwhile, the CFO role keeps expanding: 82% of CFOs say their remit has grown significantly over the past five years, 81% now see themselves as the primary drivers of business growth, and 50% are planning a finance restructure.
AI is reshaping forecasting first. The report highlights that 66% of finance leaders say generative AI will have the biggest immediate impact on explaining forecast and budget variances, and 55% of retail and CPG finance leaders are already using Gen AI in their forecasting workflows.
"Finance leaders in 2026 are being pulled in two directions," said Rosie Shea, BDM at Limelight Software. "They're expected to drive strategy, sponsor digital transformation, and accelerate ROI, while still spending most of their week pulling numbers out of spreadsheets. The teams pulling ahead have stopped tolerating that gap. They've centralised their planning data, automated the manual work, and put AI on real forecasting problems rather than treating it as a science project."
The full report is available at Limelight's blog.
