By Simon Edwards, CFO at Conga
At the foundation of any resilient business model is the ability to adapt. That means pivoting throughout the year in response to evolving conditions, as volatility continues to shape how organisations plan, spend, and respond.
Growth expectations in the UK remain low, with projections at 1.2% for 2025, according to the latest CBI forecast, and inflation has proven more persistent than many hoped.
At the same time, confidence is beginning to return. Recent Deloitte research suggests CFOs are more willing to take on risk than in previous years, with the UK now seen as one of the most attractive countries globally for investment.
The past five years have demanded a more defensive mindset, one that protects margin, builds flexibility, and leaves room to manoeuvre. Now, with investment intent rising, finance teams are rethinking how that flexibility is created.
Agility depends on visibility, and a wealth of valuable financial intelligence already exists inside the organisation, though not always in a way that’s usable.
What the fine print reveals
Contracts hold more than a record of agreements. They determine how money moves, governing timing, commitments, and commercial exposure. The terms inside, like cost pass-throughs, rebate thresholds, or automatic renewals, can influence financial performance, especially in a volatile environment.
It’s often tracked in spreadsheets or split between legal, procurement, and finance teams, with limited visibility across the chain. That fragmentation slows reaction time and makes it harder to respond with confidence.
Details like pricing models, supplier terms, and tariff-linked clauses may live in contracts, but if they’re buried in static formats or scattered across systems, they’re unlikely to surface early enough to guide decisions.
This becomes especially important when supplier agreements extend across multi-year cycles. Clauses tied to outdated cost models can silently take effect, catching teams off guard if they haven’t been reviewed in the context of new trading conditions.
As more finance leaders look to shift out of purely defensive mode, having access to the right contractual triggers at the right time can make all the difference.
Putting everyone on the same terms
Often, the challenge isn’t a lack of tools or data but rather whether those assets are aligned and accessible.
Legal may hold the documents, procurement may own the relationship, and finance may track the outcome. But without shared visibility or a common language to work from, key information doesn’t make it into budget models. This is where contract lifecycle management can evolve into a more strategic function.
Modern contract intelligence tools are helping to close this gap. AI can now identify renewal windows, flag pricing triggers, and extract key terms that previously stayed buried. Once integrated into planning systems, this data supports more accurate forecasts, flags risk earlier and increases confidence in commercial decisions.
In practice, many businesses still haven’t joined the dots. Conga’s latest research found that while 87% of executives see AI as a performance enabler, only a quarter of organisations are using it in revenue or contract processes today. Finance teams are confident in the potential, but confidence doesn’t always translate into action.
Unless teams have the structure, training, and ownership models to act on what the data shows, value still gets left behind.
Contracts in motion
Many organisations are now rethinking how contracts are treated across the business. As analytics functions become more centralised, and clean data begins to flow across departments, contracts move from the margins of the business into an active input to business planning.
That shift depends on maturing governance as well as technology. Finance teams need to know which clauses matter, how they link to financial assumptions, and when to escalate.
With the right processes and training in place, cross-departmental teams begin to act in sync and respond in rhythm with planning cycles. And when decisions are made with the same version of the truth, the entire organisation is able to move faster.
Contracts aren’t the whole solution, but they hold more value than many teams realise. When handled as living data rather than static PDFs, they become a source of early signal. And in a climate where clarity is scarce, that’s a powerful advantage.
