“Financial business partnering essential to navigating uncertainty” says CIMA

22 July 2025, London – The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) has today launched its Business Resilience Toolkit. Designed to support finance professionals and business leaders in building resilience amid economic uncertainty and challenging conditions.

As economic uncertainty becomes a defining feature of the global business environment, resilience is no longer a luxury—it is a necessity. The most recent UK business statistics found that around 60% of start-up businesses will fail within the first three years of trading and earlier this year insolvency experts, Begbies Traynor, found that the number of UK businesses considered to be in significant financial distress rose by 3.5% on the quarter to 654,765.

Finance leaders are being called upon not just to manage risk, but to lead the strategic response.

To support this effort, CIMA have developed a Business Resilience Toolkit designed specifically for finance professionals and business leaders. This resource offers a range of financial tools, strategic frameworks, and thought-provoking prompts to help organisations:

• Scan the external environment with clarity

• Evaluate how economic shifts may impact different parts of the business

• Adapt strategies to not only weather uncertainty but identify new opportunities

The toolkit aims to encourage fresh thinking about how uncertainty and volatility interact with the different parts of an organisation and explores some key areas for businesses, including:

Understanding Economic and Policy Risks, Developing Integrated Thinking, Identifying and Monitoring Key Drivers, Enabling Proactive Response and Utilising Strategic Tools and Exploring Opportunities.

Aimed at accounting and finance professionals, it offers a set of prompts to help evaluate how shifting conditions could impact their business model, strategy, and operations.

Andrew Harding, FCMA, CGMA, Chief Executive at The Chartered Institute Management Accountants, said:

“With record numbers of businesses failing or under financial pressure, access to strong financial management expertise can make the difference between survival and failure.

“Financial business partnering is essential to navigating uncertainty. The release of Business Resilience Toolkit will assist accounting and finance professionals in playing a critical role and business partners and strategic advisors to organisations.

“Resilience is not a fixed state - it’s a capability. And with the right tools, finance can build it.”

While not exhaustive, the toolkit aims to encourage fresh thinking about how uncertainty and volatility interact with the different parts of an organisation. By combining insight with proactive planning, finance leaders can build a more resilient business—ready to respond, recover, and even thrive in times of change.

The AICPA & CIMA Business Resilience Toolkit is available here.