Finance leaders are stressed by increasingly volatile health insurance claims and by the long-term growth in healthcare costs, which many of them said will affect business results if it keeps outpacing overall inflation in the coming years.

The volatility has been making it more difficult to accurately forecast healthcare costs, CFOs and other finance leaders of 80 mostly large companies told Mercer, which published a report this month based on surveys in February and March. Not that forecasting was easy before, as evidenced by the 72% of respondents who said their expenses are more difficult to predict for healthcare than other areas, the 67% who worried about the costs of their benefits “compared to other operating expenses,” and the 65% who said they reforecast two or more times each year. More than two in five said their benefits team told them to expect more volatility in their claims this year.

One thing that is easy to predict: the upward march of healthcare costs above overall inflation. It’s been growing about 1%–2% above inflation for the last two decades, “but even to maintain that level of cost growth will be difficult,” according to the report. Nearly all organizations surveyed (94%) would be in trouble if costs rise above CPI+2% over the next three to five years.

For more on how CFOs are dealing with rising healthcare costs, click here.—GD

Do you know how to CFO? In the past, the job responsibilities of finance leaders revolved around…company finances. But these days, CFOs are planning for long-term growth.

Today’s financial leaders need to build expertise around business strategy and digital transformation to be effective. Enter BILL’s Next in Finance: The CFO of the Future—aka a virtual crash course in everything you need to know about how the CFO role is changing.

Every day from May 20–24, subject-matter experts will lead a tailored discussion on a must-know topic for CFOs. Attendees will dig into the following:

• how CFOs interact with strategy, leadership, + culture
• how to harness AI + automation in finance
• strategies to attract and retain talent
• FP&A trends

PLUS, earn a CPE credit for each session. Save your spot.

This is part of our occasional series on CFOs’ first day on their current job.

INSHUR has its destination set, and has brought on Clayton Carol to help it navigate there successfully.

Carol joined the managing general agent (MGA), which provides insurance to rideshare drivers, in December as its first-ever CFO. He’ll be taking on what he said includes the “full suite” of strategic finance and accounting responsibilities. He has served as finance chief at other early stage companies and also has 20 years of investment banking experience under his belt.

With that background, Carol said he brings to the role “more of a strategic finance lens,” which, in his view, means “really thinking about the business, the segment you’re in, and how to position the business to create the most value in that plan—period—with the resources you have.”

Carol said he prepared for the role in two ways, starting with immersing himself in the insurance industry. He said he read resources including public filings and research reports.

For more on preparing for the CFO role, click here.—AZ

It’s human nature to fear the change that new technologies may introduce. The Greek philosopher Socrates argued that the newfangled invention of writing would weaken our memories, according to Plato’s Phaedrus (which is, ironically, a written document).

But a little time and exposure may assuage these fears. This appears to be the case with finance leaders and the latest advancements in artificial intelligence, a recent survey by SAP Concur suggests.

The travel and expense-management platform surveyed 300 CFOs and senior finance leaders in March, and found that 27% of respondents view AI as a threat to their own job, down by more than half from August 2023, when SAP Concur reported that 68% felt their positions were threatened by AI.

“Anxiety about the existential threat from AI has eased as CFOs get used to the new technology,” Christopher Juneau, head of SAP Concur’s market strategy, wrote in the report.

Are CFOs overcoming the AI jitters? Click here to find out.—AZ

Finance leaders, unite! One day, three tracks, and 2k+ SaaS finance leaders: That’s what you can expect at The Modern SaaS Finance Forum on June 5. Hear from world-class experts about building processes and teams fit for scaling + winning your market. Register here.