INTHEBLACK September/October 2025 - Magazine - Page 28
ACTION POINTS FOR CFOS
Here are three actions CFOs can take to help them ride the tariff rollercoaster.
F E AT U R E
1. Draw on skills learnt from
recent economic upheavals
by assessing exposure and
strengthening cash flow,
forecasting sophistication
and working capital agility.
2. Reduce market concentration
while developing and
promoting a unique
selling proposition to
ensure and increase
demand.
and multiple transactions that occur. For example,
with the sale of goods between a manufacturer,
a trading company and an importer into the US,
under US trade laws, you can use the first sale
structure in that multiple-transaction flow as the
value of the imported goods.
“Many businesses have never had to use
that before, but it can bring down that customs
value. And, as tariffs are an ad valorem duty, the
tariff rate is multiplied by the value of the goods.
If you reduce the value, you reduce the tax payable.”
Daniel Rae, director of international trade, customs
and excise at KPMG Australia, expects CFOs
to be revisiting the Harmonized Tariff Schedule
classifications, which set out the tariff rates and
statistical categories for all merchandise imported
into the US.
“It’s quite a resource-intensive process, trying
to understand how you’re impacted and what your
options are,” he says. “But I think supply chains in
general became more of a strategic pillar for businesses
when things were hit by COVID-19 and there were
additional geopolitical factors. If you consider trade
to be a portion of that, then it also becomes elevated
to a more strategic level. While products previously
crossed borders comfortably, that can’t be taken for
granted anymore.”
OPPORTUNITY ON THE HORIZON
Disruption can present new opportunities through
operational efficiencies and market diversification.
“I’m seeing a lot of CFOs looking at parts of the
world that are likely to be more impacted by tariffs
and starting to anticipate some of the fiscal and
monetary support that governments could provide
to those regions,” says Archer. “That could provide
a huge tailwind for organisations in countries like
28 INTHEBLACK Sep/Oct 2025 SPECIAL EDITION
3. Collaborate across areas
like supply chain and legal,
draw on data analytics to
hone scenario planning,
and prioritise the use of
critical judgement.
Australia to diversify their exports and drive an
uptick in demand from different parts of the world.”
Digital transformation in finance functions may
also enhance the capacity of forward-looking
finance teams.
“We’ve seen significant investments in technology
like robotics over the past decade to make the
back office and middle office components of
finance more streamlined,” says Archer.
“We’re seeing a more integrated approach to
business planning, with finance leaders collaborating
with their counterparts across areas like supply chain,
pricing and legal. We’ve also seen a big uptick in
analytics techniques like scenario planning over the
past few months.”
As uncertainty continues to cloud the economic
outlook, CFOs are expected to blend financial foresight
and agile decision-making to steer the course.
“There’s a perception that artificial intelligence
and machine learning are going to replace finance
processes like forecasting — but the algorithms are
only as good as the datasets they receive,” says
Archer. “We’re moving into a world that’s largely
unknown, and we don’t have existing data points
about the impact of these new regulations.
“There’s no doubt that the impact of the tariffs
on the global economy will present challenges,
but there’s a great opportunity for finance teams
to move up the value curve in terms
of applying judgement, thinking
about scenarios and ultimately
bringing greater value through the
application of critical thinking.” ●
The information in this article was
accurate at the time of publication but
may be subject to change without notice.
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