With 67% of customer paying slower than six months ago, rising costs and tariff pressures are making fast, efficient cash generation the defining priority.
If 2025 was about staying afloat in choppy water, 2026 is about repairing the ship while still fighting the waves.
Tariffs. Inflation that won’t quit. Customers stretching every payment cycle. Federal spending cuts that are pulling the rug out from under entire industries. Oh, and AI – the technology everyone’s betting big on, even as more than half of finance leaders quietly wonder whether the whole thing is a bubble.
It’s a lot. And if you’re a CFO, accounts receivable leader, or finance executive trying to chart a course through all of it, you’re not alone.
Billtrust surveyed 550 finance professionals to find out how the people steering the money are actually responding. The sample spans strategic decision-makers who set financial direction, senior leaders who shape departmental strategy, and mid-level contributors who influence day-to-day financial decisions. They work across organizations of every size, from sub-$100 million companies to enterprises clearing over a billion in annual revenue.
What they told us is worth paying attention to. Finance leaders are pulling back hard on spending and growth, and at the same time, pouring money into AI and automation like the future depends on it. That push and pull is the story of 2026.
Key findings from this year's study
67%
say their customers are paying slower than six months ago. One in five says it’s significantly slower.
77%
view a U.S. recession as likely, possible, or already underway in their sector.
43%
canceled or delayed a major growth initiative due to economic or policy uncertainty; another 28% recommended against a project but were overridden.
77%
report moderate to significant supply cost increases from tariffs since early 2025, and 85% have deployed at least one mitigation strategy in response.
65%
are dedicating 10% or more of their 2026 budgets to AI and automation, yet 59% are simultaneously worried the investment wave may represent a bubble.
Finance leaders stopped waiting for things to get easier. The rest of this report shows what that looks like in practice.
