The pandemic-induced inflation of 2021 was supposed to be temporary. But years later, the Federal Reserve’s 2% target inflation rate still feels out of reach, and the cost of doing business keeps rising.
This is a daily operational challenge for finance leaders. How do you plan, budget, and make confident decisions when prices won’t sit still?
That question was front and center in a recent webinar featuring economist Anirban Basu, AvidXchange’s VP of Product Marketing Nicole Granucci, and AvidXchange customer JaNett Penn, accounting manager at Peak Property Management.
Together, they broke down what’s happening in the economy, how it’s affecting finance and AP teams, and what businesses can do to stay ahead.
Inflation Is Forcing Finance Leaders to Rethink Strategy
Many business owners would tell you their No. 1 concern right now is inflation, Basu said.
“Their costs of delivering goods and services are rising,” he said. “And given all of the economic uncertainty out there, they’re not sure if they’ll be able to raise their prices enough to fully countervail those cost increases and therefore to defend current margins.”
Inflation has remained above the Fed’s 2% goldilocks zone since 2021. At the same time, interest rates are staying high. Although the U.S. economy has outperformed expectations in terms of GDP and retail spending, that doesn’t mean the pressure is off.
“I will admit to you that the economy has surprised me in the last couple of years—it’s performed much better given those high interest rates than expected,” Basu said. But he cautioned that the spending surge isn’t sustainable forever.
Consumer behavior is already shifting. Savings that consumers built during the pandemic—through stimulus checks and limited discretionary spending—have largely been depleted. Credit card debt (and delinquency) is rising.
And while retail sales remain stronger than pre-pandemic levels, signs are emerging that people are starting to pull back.
Wealth Disparity Creates Two Different Economic Realities
Basu also highlighted another factor shaping the economy: wealth inequality. The top 10% of Americans now control two-thirds of the nation’s wealth. The bottom half controls just 2.5%.
That kind of gap creates two very different economic realities. High earners can keep spending. But many households are feeling the squeeze of higher rent, food, and fuel costs—without the savings to fall back on.
“From a wealth profile perspective, it’s two different countries,” Basu said.
With this wealth disparity, you need an equalizer, Basu said: the strong labor market.
A Strong Jobs Market Is Teaching Finance Teams About Flexibility
Despite high rates and inflation, job creation has remained solid. The country hasn’t seen a month of negative job growth since December 2020. In April 2025 alone, there were 7.4 million job openings—more than before the pandemic.
That demand has changed how companies operate. It’s also pushed more teams to embrace remote and hybrid work, such as Penn’s property management company.
“With us having this system (AvidXchange) in place and being so automated with invoicing… this can be done anywhere,” she said.
When remote team members leave or go on PTO, she’s able to step in and reroute work using automation. “It makes it seem like no one is really gone.”
Manual work—like opening mail or uploading invoices—is becoming harder to justify. “It’s just not feasible, especially during these economic times,” she added.
Are Finance Leaders Ready for What’s Next?
Though many CFOs feel pessimistic about the economy, there are signs that businesses have grown more adaptable.
“I think many of us learned from the pandemic how to scale and how to pivot,” Granucci said.
Our recent Economic Sentiment Survey supports this. Two-thirds of respondents said they feel better prepared to handle today’s uncertainty than they did in 2020.
"How important is technology to your organization’s ability to respond to changing market conditions?"
Source: AvidXchange’s Economic Sentiment survey
That preparedness is largely thanks to technology. “The key is efficiency, visibility, and control,” Granucci said.
Tools that enable real-time cash flow monitoring, spend analysis, and working capital management are helping teams stay agile, even when the outlook is murky.
Supplier Relationships Are a Strategic Part of Financial Resilience
“When businesses fail, it’s often not because they’re late on taxes,” Basu said. “They fail because they lose their vendor relationships.”
That risk becomes even more real during economic uncertainty. If cash is tight and payments are delayed, it doesn’t take long for suppliers to lose trust.
“When you have an emergency, and you owe a vendor $5,000 that you haven’t paid—whether it’s 20 days or 32—they’re not going to run to your rescue and help you,” Penn said.
Reliable payment systems, visibility into your payables, and tools that reduce manual delays all support supplier confidence. But so does communication.
Transparency and predictability keep those relationships strong, Granucci said. When suppliers feel like they’re part of the plan—not just an afterthought—they’re far more likely to stick with you during a rough patch.
Finance Leaders Should Stay Ready, Not Reactive, During Economic Uncertainty
The thing about navigating economic uncertainty is that there are no easy answers. Inflation may linger. Consumer confidence might falter. At the end of the day, no one can predict the future.
But finance leaders aren’t powerless. With the right tools, clear visibility, and strong relationships, they can stay one step ahead for whatever’s next.
Now that you’ve heard from experts on rethinking finance strategy, you’re probably wondering how other business leaders are reacting to the economy and staying ahead. Download our latest whitepaper to hear insights from 700 finance professionals on how far teams have come since 2020—with technology driving readiness and resilience.
