PRACTICAL FINANCE · ISLAM ALI HASSANIN

Finance priorities: evidence into application

A research brief for the first decision-model collection.

Version 1.0 ·18 September 2026 · Original educational case

Conclusion

Prioritise forecast quality, cash resilience and measurable AI value. Support these with evidence-backed close controls.

Evidence boundary

Selected public primary sources, not a systematic survey or representation of every finance professional. Geography, sample and publication date limit generalisation.

Our contribution

Original calculations translate themes into testable management questions. Resource prioritisation is our editorial judgment.

Priority	Source observation	Practical response
Forecasting and cost discipline	Gartner’s 2026 agenda highlights competing cost, growth and AI priorities.	Open model
Cash and resilience	McKinsey’s 2026 article reports a late-2025 survey of 152 finance leaders in 22 countries and identifies planning, operational drivers and cash among priorities.	Open model
AI value and governance	Gartner’s Q3 2026 report frames AI return, risk ownership and skills as CFO questions; NIST provides a voluntary risk framework.	Open model
Reliable close evidence	PCAOB AS2201 identifies period-end procedures, entries and oversight. We use this as process context, not a universal compliance requirement.	Open model

Selection method

Topics combine a current leadership need, a measurable output, realistically available data and a useful boundary for a free educational model. No proprietary scoring methodology or paid research was reproduced. AFP informs cash discipline; NIST informs risk questions, not the ROI formula.

Source register

Accessed 18 September 2026. Public summaries support topic selection, not validation of our models. Source organisations have not reviewed or endorsed this collection.