Many CFOs responding to the survey say credit and collections has become a top-of-mind issue as well. Some 40% plan to monitor customer credit more closely even after an economic recovery. "We've become much more conservative in providing credit to our customer base, even to the point of losing sales because of our recently restricted credit-policy adjustments," says one respondent.

CFOs have also become more skeptical of client demand in forecasting. In August 2008, semiconductor maker Marvell Technology faced analyst scorn when CFO Hosein revised guidance downward despite reporting a better-than-expected fiscal second quarter, citing concerns about the economy and end-user demand for consumer electronics that its chips help power. Analysts pointed to the sales increases that Marvell's customers were forecasting and speculated that the issues were company-specific and not related to the economy. As it turned out, demand for Marvell and the industry dropped even more sharply than Marvell had forecast, making Hosein look good in retrospect. "Most people just look at customer orders," says Hosein, "but if that's all you do it's problematic, because you're trusting that clients know their demand."

Reengineer the Workforce
More than half of survey respondents say they expect to approach their staffing needs differently in the future. While that means a bit more outsourcing at some companies, or moving to a shared-services model at others, there are few wholesale shifts to report. Instead, what may persist is the relatively new notion of hiring people for a shorter workweek and less pay. Other CFOs say it's a prime time to reevaluate how many people they really need in a given function and how they might reshuffle assignments.

"I'm really looking at resource allocation in a way I hadn't been before," says Patricia Morris, CFO of SourceForge, owner of several technology media Websites. "It's a good time to ask, Do we have the right people in the right places? And do we move people around to get the benefit of their experience in other areas?"

Another way of lowering labor costs coming out of this recession is to shift operations permanently to lower-cost countries. After facing big severance expenses to cut staff in Europe this year, for example, Actuant is now looking to hire more assembly workers in countries with less-generous labor laws when volume comes back. "What we don't want to do is replace [the European] jobs in the exact same places when we see a rebound," says Lampereur. Instead, the company is looking to hire in lower-cost countries, "places where you can get out with 60-to-90 days' severance."

Ironically, the finance department is one of the few areas of the company that may not change much, with only 12% of respondents seeing big shifts ahead. Many do say their departments are being pulled in new directions. Finance staffers at satellite-network provider Hughes Communications, for instance, are now being asked to help think through sales strategies and customer-financing options, and even make presentations on sales calls, says CFO Grant Barber.

In fact, retaining talent may only have gotten harder. "As we meet the current economic challenges, the workforce of the organization, including the finance team, is being stretched greatly," says one survey respondent. "The biggest concern is retaining the best of the team as the economy recovers, as there is not much that can be done in the short term to reward these employees." Several CFOs who have made hires during this time find the job market for finance and accounting talent as competitive as ever. Ajilon reports that demand remains almost unchanged, as accounting jobs were cut only 2% between June 2008 and June 2009.

At Hughes Communications, Barber has even instituted a new rotational program, moving three key people around to different business units, in part to try to retain them. "I have been fortunate I haven't lost any of my direct reports for a year, but I know they are being recruited," he says. "I wanted to increase their knowledge and growth and development," in hopes that they will see a better career path at Hughes than elsewhere.

Finally, Don't Be Too Cautious
One lesson CFOs should be learning from this recession is how to survive a short-term plunge in demand while laying the groundwork to grab future market share. At Johnson Controls, Bruce McDonald currently faces a 40% reduction in demand for the company's automotive-interiors division, but believes that great opportunities lay ahead, as some major competitors have declared bankruptcy and others teeter. "The market is going to recover, but we don't know when," he says.

In the meantime, Johnson Controls leadership has tasked business-unit leaders with getting to a point where the company is not losing money on the division — but without "over-restructur[ing] so that when the market comes back we have to build new plants," says McDonald. Getting to breakeven allows him "to be patient with that business" as he awaits the chance to grab market share. The same holds true in the company's North American residential-air-conditioning business, which has been severely impacted by an 80% drop in home starts. "We continue to invest in the next generation of more-efficient products," says McDonald, noting that the unit is expected to be profitable this quarter.

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