Finance in 2025: van volatiele rente tot AI-dashboards, dit moeten kmo’s en scale-ups weten én doen

1) Economic climate: money is no longer ‘free’

After years of low interest rates and abundant liquidity, we are back in an environment where every euro counts, for banks as well as for investors. That doesn’t mean financing is impossible, but the bar is set higher.

Money markets
Today’s macroeconomic and geopolitical climate is making banks more cautious, affecting both financing costs and valuations. Anyone seeking financing had better bring their A-game, because we’re seeing a clear shift from “Tell me?” to “Show me!”. Lenders demand solid, well-supported plans, accurate, robust cashflow projections and realistic scenarios.

PE & VC
Private equity and venture capital have also become stricter. Deal flow and multiples have cooled. There is still capital available, but investors expect operational excellence and data-driven plans to convince them.

Labour market
Meanwhile, the labour market remains tight and wage pressure is high. For companies with thin margins, working capital often makes the difference between growing and slowing down.

Your financial narrative must be razor sharp to convince others: know your unit economics and cap table impact, how your runway evolves, and how different “what-ifs” affect your cash position.

2) Technology: from monthly report to rolling dashboard

Technology has become inseparable from finance departments. Making the right tech choices makes finance faster, smarter and more consistent.

AI & automation
Finance is increasingly a data-driven discipline. AI and automation already make a difference today in forecasting, cashflow monitoring, anomaly detection and scenario analysis. Not to produce “more numbers”, but to allow faster and better decisions.

Real-time insights
The monthly PDF is getting replaced by a living dashboard. Entrepreneurs expect an up-to-date view of cash, margin and working capital. That requires data quality and strong data governance: clear definitions, one source of truth, and ownership of each data stream.

Cybersecurity
Finance remains a target for fraud. Think vendor spoofing, IBAN changes and phishing. Strong controls such as segregation of duties, vendor validation and well-designed payment workflows are not luxuries but necessities.

Invest in a lean tech stack, for example, a combination of an accounting tool, a payment platform and a reporting tool. Choose clear data standards and automate “low-value” steps so your team gains time for analysis.

3) Cash is still king: grip on liquidity

Cash awareness is the common thread among healthy scale-ups. Runway, DSO (Days Sales Outstanding)/DPO (Days Payable Outstanding), and inventory levels are daily talking points. According to Nick, these three habits make the difference:

Rolling forecast (13 weeks + 12 months).
Work with a weekly 13-week cashflow and a monthly 12-month P&L/BS forecast. Roll forward each period instead of relying on a “once-a-year budget”.

Scenario thinking as standard.
Base, upside and downside scenarios with clear “if-this-then-that” actions create speed, discipline, and a clear overview of actions required, such as pausing rent, a hiring freeze, or starting a financing track.

Working capital as a KPI set.
Monitor DSO, DPO, DIO (Days Inventory Outstanding) or the cash conversion cycle as steering metrics and prepare tactical levers in a contingency plan: advance invoices, faster invoicing, tighter credit control, inventory tiers, renegotiating payment terms, etc.

4) Pay transparency: clarity prevents friction

Transparency regarding salaries and growth paths is not only good HR policy, but also good financial hygiene. Clear salary ranges per role (from junior to senior) and a fixed compensation framework ensure:

• More predictability and consistency in budgeting and headcount planning
• Smoother recruitment
• Higher retention thanks to clear expectations

The EU Pay Transparency Directive (EU) 2023/970 must be transposed into national law by 7 June 2026 at the latest. Companies will have to disclose salary ranges to candidates, employees will gain access to average salaries per comparable job category, and action is mandatory when the gender pay gap is ≥5%. This also shifts more burden of proof to employers and requires consistent definitions and data quality in HR/finance systems.

Link your salary bands to competency levels and impact, not merely seniority. Also, establish a transparent growth framework: which skills belong to each level, and what are the concrete steps towards promotion? This makes remuneration predictable, motivating and financially manageable.

5) With this concrete approach, you give finance a head start

Which steps should you take to create maximum value as a finance department?

A. Build your “target operating system” for finance

• Establish unambiguous data definitions: create one “dictionary” for key terms such as MRR, churn, COGS, project margin, and ensure the entire finance team uses these definitions.
• Document sources & owners: who manages which dataset, and in which system does the truth live?
• Define a fixed rhythm: determine which analyses take place when, e.g. a weekly cash huddle, a monthly performance review, and a quarterly scenario update.

B. Automate where it pays off

• On transaction level: bank reconciliation, invoice processing, payment run workflows, …
• In reporting: dashboards for P&L, cash, working capital and pipeline-to-revenue.
• Define AI use cases: for example to detect anomalies (trade receivables, cost spikes, …).

C. Strengthen control & security

• Apply the four-eyes principle to payments and vendor changes.
• Manage access rights per role, across all tools.
• Prepare contingency plans for fraud scenarios (e.g. Who calls whom? Which payments must be put on hold?).

D. Make finance a strategic co-pilot

• Link the sales pipeline to resource planning and cash.
• Translate goals into leading & lagging KPIs.
• Involve finance earlier in decisions around pricing, hiring and investments.

6) When should you bring in additional financing?

Attracting extra capital is a strategic choice, not an emergency measure. When should you proactively secure financing to keep your company healthy and support growth?

• When runway is shorter than 9–12 months in the base scenario
• When you want to accelerate growth with positive unit economics
• When you want to redistribute or refinance existing debt

Make sure your dataroom is always almost ready: consistent reports, clear definitions and scenario plans with concrete actions. This increases credibility and speed towards banks or investors.

Summary

• Interest rates remain the centre of attention: banks and investors want hard evidence.
• Real-time finance becomes the norm: dashboards deliver more value than monthly reports, and AI improves speed and data quality.
• Cash & working capital are the daily discipline: rolling forecasts, scenarios and consistency always win.
• Pay transparency creates calm, accelerates hiring and makes budgets predictable.

Looking for a partner who can help you apply these insights? Our CFO can get your finance organisation into top shape! Feel free to contact us and learn about the possibilities.

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