Get the 2026 Manufacturer's Blind Spot Report
Why the gap between a forecast refresh and a decision is where margin risk lives.
As input costs shift and margins tighten, can your finance system catch risk early, or does it surface only at close? Benchmark your manufacturing finance function against 300 CFOs, controllers, and finance leaders. See how manufacturers compare on SKU-level cost visibility, repricing speed, reforecasting, and margin risk.
31% of manufacturing finance leaders name margin exposure as the biggest threat to profitable growth.
Margin risk builds quietly when pricing, costing, and forecasts rely on numbers that were right last week, but wrong today.
Download the report to see where visibility breaks down, how manufacturers with stronger finance infrastructure respond faster, and the three questions to ask before your next planning cycle.
The path forward: 5 strategic considerations for manufacturing finance leaders
Close the refresh-to-decision gap
Keep financial data current as operating conditions change.
Build SKU-level COGS visibility
Track product costs across materials, freight, packaging, and labor.
Accelerate pricing response
Respond faster when input costs move and margins come under pressure.
Build ahead of need
Put capabilities in place before growth forces an urgent reset.
Keep testing what comes next
Explore automation and AI that expands your visibility and capacity.
Where finance visibility starts to break down
70% lack a single, trusted view of the business.
Across the broader Intuit Future of Finance report, fragmented systems leave finance teams reconciling information that lives across multiple sources.
56% have already missed a time-sensitive action.
More than half of finance leaders in the broader study say financial visibility arrived too late to act on a strategic opportunity or decision in the past six months.
62% of manufacturers under $50 million faced an urgent reforecast.
Volatility reaches smaller manufacturers too. The report examines what happens next, including how quickly finance teams can turn changing conditions into an updated plan.
41% of manufacturing finance leaders report no current AI usage.
AI adoption varies widely across manufacturing finance teams, while manufacturers under $50 million show strong interest in automating cost and inventory reconciliation.
A connected, AI-native business platform can provide SKU-level cost visibility, landed cost tracking, multi-entity reporting, and standard-versus-actual cost reconciliation across the manufacturing lifecycle.
Get the free report
Inside the report, you'll get access to:
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SKU-level cost visibility benchmarks: See how manufacturers are building a clearer view of COGS across materials, freight, packaging, and labor.
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Pricing and reforecasting benchmarks: Explore how quickly finance teams respond when input costs and operating conditions change.
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Finance capacity insights: See where manual work consumes time across the finance function and where greater automation could create room for higher-value analysis.
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AI adoption trends: Explore how manufacturers are using AI and automation today, and where interest in expanding those capabilities is strongest.
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A 3-question margin visibility check: Use a practical diagnostic to assess data freshness, infrastructure timing, and readiness for what comes next.
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What better visibility looks like in practice
At PulseRoller, separating R&D spend from the company's core business gave finance a clearer view of where profitability was actually coming from.
"Ownership can see a better snapshot of how the company in total is doing, providing the visibility needed to see truly profitable primary business lines versus R&D expenditures."
Brandon Webster, CPA, CGMA
Director of Finance, PulseRoller
