How SMB Finance Leaders Can Drive Growth, Control Costs, and Improve AI ROI

Small business finance leaders and their CEOs are experiencing a mismatch of expectations and delivery these days: 88% of small business CEOs tell us finance should be leading the charge on cost efficiency, but just 52% report that wish is being fulfilled. The same gap emerged for strategic planning—89% vs. 74%— and risk management—82% vs. 62%­.

The survey results clearly indicate small business leaders have challenges—but also opportunities if they can align expectations and results on cost, growth, risk, AI adoption and ROI, and more. Insights on those topics and other findings can be found in our latest Insights for SMB leaders report, which draws on a survey of global business leaders. It reveals challenges facing small business leaders while also sharing practical advice on overcoming them.

What Are the Top 2026 Finance Challenges for Small Business Leaders?

While CEOs’ expectations around cost reduction and strategy aren’t being fully met, executives and finance leaders are in sync on the top internal obstacles their small businesses face. Cost management and operational efficiency lead the list, with manual processes, lack of innovation, and adoption of new technology and digital transformation rounding out the top five for SMBs.

 This blog provides perspective on the challenges and examines how small and midsized businesses can:

• Develop stronger, more structured cost control strategies.

• Strengthen the skills of both leaders and their teams.

• Better measure AI ROI and follow adoption best practices.    

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How Can SMB Finance Leaders Improve Cost Control, Strategy, and Skills?

The pace of business change and ongoing global and economic uncertainty have increased the pressures finance and business leaders face. And when you’re a small or midsized organization with limited resources, those burdens carry much more weight. You’ve got a thousand things to contend with, and manual processes consume time and energy that could be applied to planning ahead and strengthening the decisions that optimize costs and fuel growth.

How to Gain More Control Over Small Business Costs

Reframing your approach to cost control requires commitment and new tools. For example:

• Develop structured scenario models for major cost factors, such as input costs and margin sensitivity, to help you better measure and evaluate problems before they occur instead of after.

• Review costs continuously instead of periodically, enabling cash, margin, and risk exposure to be viewed together (integrated ERPs and spend management solutions help) and enabling leaders to decide when or if they’ll pass along cost increases.

Building the Finance Team’s Skills

It’s critical to make time to learn about the market trends and challenges impacting your small business and adding to your responsibilities.  AI is a prime example, with 62% of finance leaders and 69% of CEOs in small businesses saying that if they had one extra hour, they’d spend it deepening their knowledge of AI.

One way to gain time for skill development, analysis, and strategy is to eliminate or minimize time-consuming manual work through automated, AI-driven solutions that bring insights alongside efficiency. You can then develop a systematic approach that includes:

• Establishing monthly learning sessions on emerging tools and strategies for the leadership team.

• Dedicating time to scenario planning and testing, so you’ll hone responses to potential disruptions.

• Committing to regularly checking in with other departments to ensure strategic priorities and AI initiatives are turning into real action.

What’s the ROI of AI Adoption for Small and Midsized Businesses?

Revenue growth (87%), improved decision-making (86%), risk reduction (74%), and productivity (64%) are the top four areas where SMB finance leaders are seeing the greatest impact from bringing AI into their business processes and workflows. They’re seeing results, but both finance leaders and CEOs—61% and 58%, respectively—find it challenging to evaluate the exact ROI of their AI investments. They have identified certain factors, however, that are affecting returns, which can point to best practices.

What’s Improving AI Outcomes for Smaller Businesses?

AI is built to consume and comb data at scale, making strong data quality and governance essential for any organization seeking AI ROI. Once your data foundation has been validated and optimized, you can bring travel, expense, and invoice data into a single, automated platform that integrates with your ERP and/or accounting system. This integration delivers the accuracy, completeness, and spending visibility you need for concrete and measurable impact.

In addition to a strong data foundation, small business finance leaders report increased AI returns through:

• Effective cross-functional collaboration

• Quick productivity gains

• Limited need for rework and retraining

• Faster-than-expected implementation

What’s Holding Small Business Back from AI ROI

Common stumbling blocks that can lower small businesses’ AI returns include:

• Poor data quality or integration issues

• Overly optimistic expectations

• Skills and talent gaps

• Lack of adoption

• Inappropriate use cases

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Conclusion

Cost management, AI adoption, weak data, insufficient skills, and, of course, expectation gaps are all difficult issues that small business leaders and their finance counterparts must confront and be aligned upon. SMB finance leaders can take comfort in the knowledge that while CEOs may expect more, they also understand that their finance teams are understaffed. At the same time, small business finance leaders also can recognize that their organizational agility is an asset many larger companies lack, and that AI and other new technologies can help surmount resource gaps and refine strategy to drive growth.

FAQs: How SMB Finance Can Lead on Cost, Growth, and AI

Q: What are the top finance challenges for small business leaders in 2026?

A: Cost management, operational inefficiency, manual processes, lack of innovation, and digital transformation are the biggest concerns for CEOs and finance leaders in small businesses.

Q: Why don’t CEO expectations and finance’s performance match up in small businesses?

A: CEOs of small businesses expect their finance teams to lead on cost control, strategy, and risk management, but understaffing, manual work, and economic uncertainty make it difficult to meet those expectations consistently.

Q: How can small business finance teams improve cost control and strategic planning?

A: Finance teams in small businesses can develop structured scenario planning, continuously monitor costs, integrate ERP and spending systems, and automate manual processes to free time for analysis and decision-making.

Q: What benefits are SMBs seeing from AI adoption?

A: Small business finance leaders report stronger revenue growth, better decision-making, reduced risk, and improved productivity through AI-driven tools and automation.

Q: What factors improve or limit AI ROI in small businesses?

A: Strong data quality, cross-functional collaboration, and quick implementation improve results, while poor data, unrealistic expectations, skills gaps, and weak use cases can reduce AI returns for small businesses.