The Future of Life Sciences Finance

Finance is Becoming a Strategic Growth Function

Finance teams are increasingly moving beyond historical reporting and becoming active partners in business decision-making.

As biotech and pharmaceutical organizations face market uncertainty, leaders are relying on finance teams to provide strategic guidance around capital allocation, commercialization readiness, resource planning, and long-term growth opportunities.

Key Implications

Greater demand for real-time financial visibility
Increased involvement in corporate strategy
Expanded collaboration with commercial and operational teams
Higher expectations for forecasting accuracy

What Leaders Are Prioritizing

Scenario planning
Business partnering
Executive decision support
Financial modeling

From the Congress floor

44%

see finance & accounting shared services as "balanced between efficiency and value creation" — with only 13% yet viewing it as a clear strategic capability.

Source: Accounting & Reporting Congress 2026 attendee poll

Finance leaders are increasingly seeking practical strategies for building agile finance organizations capable of supporting growth while maintaining operational discipline.

AI is Transforming Financial Planning and Forecasting

Artificial intelligence is rapidly moving from experimentation to practical application across forecasting, planning, reporting, and analytics.

Organizations are exploring ways to improve forecasting accuracy, automate manual processes, and accelerate decision-making through predictive modeling and intelligent analytics.

Key Implications

Faster planning cycles
Improved forecast confidence
Greater automation
Increased demand for clean data

Areas of Investment

Predictive analytics
AI-assisted forecasting
Planning automation
Data management

From the Congress floor

87%

of finance professionals are already using AI tools in their role — 57% occasionally and 30% as part of their daily work.

Source: Accounting & Reporting Congress 2026 attendee poll

Revenue Visibility Has Become a Competitive Advantage

Revenue forecasting remains one of the most critical challenges facing life sciences organizations.

The ability to accurately project revenue across multiple channels, contracts, and markets has become essential for strategic planning and investor confidence.

Key Implications

Increased focus on data quality
Enhanced forecasting methodologies
Greater alignment across commercial and finance teams
Demand for integrated reporting

From the Congress floor

29%

name better forecasting and scenario planning as the #1 area finance must evolve over the next 12–18 months.

Source: Accounting & Reporting Congress 2026 attendee poll

Pricing and Contracting Complexity Continues to Grow

Government pricing initiatives, evolving reimbursement models, and increasingly complex commercial agreements are forcing organizations to rethink pricing and contracting strategies.

Finance leaders must balance compliance requirements with profitability objectives while maintaining visibility across the contract lifecycle.

Key Challenges

Contract complexity
Regulatory changes
Pricing pressure
Margin management

From the Congress floor

42%

rank drug pricing and revenue deductions as their team's single biggest accounting and finance challenge — the largest plurality across every challenge category.

Source: Accounting & Reporting Congress 2026 attendee poll

Revenue Leakage Remains a Major Concern

Even small inaccuracies in forecasting, rebate management, chargebacks, or contract administration can have significant financial consequences.

Organizations are investing in stronger controls, automation, and analytics to identify and reduce revenue leakage.

Areas of Focus

GTN optimization
Rebate management
Chargeback accuracy
Contract compliance

From the Congress floor

60%

cite accrual forecasting as their greatest gross-to-net challenge.

65%

of clinical trial accounting time is spent on accrual calculations and reconciliation.

Source: Accounting & Reporting Congress 2026 attendee poll

Commercialization Requires New Financial Models

As emerging biotech companies move from clinical development to commercialization, finance organizations must adapt quickly.

Scaling operations requires new planning processes, systems, controls, and forecasting methodologies.

Key Priorities

Commercial readiness
Resource planning
Infrastructure development
Investor reporting

From the Congress floor

51%

of attendees describe their organization as recently commercial — and 37% say scalable processes and systems are where finance must evolve most.

Source: Accounting & Reporting Congress 2026 attendee poll

Regulatory and Reporting Expectations Continue to Increase

Accounting and reporting teams face ongoing pressure to strengthen governance, improve controls, and ensure compliance with evolving standards.

At the same time, stakeholders expect faster reporting and greater transparency.

Areas of Focus

Internal controls
Financial reporting
Audit readiness
Compliance management

From the Congress floor

70%

say geopolitical disruption and tariffs are the supply chain factor most impacting their company today.

Source: Accounting & Reporting Congress 2026 attendee poll

Digital Transformation is Reshaping Finance Operations

Finance organizations continue to modernize legacy processes through automation, cloud platforms, and integrated technology ecosystems.

The goal is to reduce manual work while improving visibility and decision-making.

Technology Priorities

ERP modernization
Process automation
Financial analytics
Data integration

From the Congress floor

56%

say technology and data has changed their job more than any other factor in the last three years.

65%

name process automation and AI as the single greatest ERP opportunity over the next 2–3 years.

Source: Accounting & Reporting Congress 2026 attendee poll

Finance and Market Access Are Becoming More Connected

Pricing strategy, market access, contracting, and financial planning are increasingly interconnected.

Organizations are seeking greater alignment between commercial objectives and financial performance.

Key Areas of Collaboration

Pricing strategy
Contracting decisions
Market access planning
Revenue forecasting

From the Congress floor

62%

report license payments to IP holders as investing activity on the cash flow statement (vs. 38% as operating) — a sign of how tightly finance, deal structure and market access are now intertwined.

Source: Accounting & Reporting Congress 2026 attendee poll

Data Quality Has Become a Business Imperative

As organizations increase investments in analytics and AI, reliable data has become foundational to success.

Without strong data governance, forecasting, reporting, and decision-making become significantly more difficult.

Key Priorities

Data governance
Master data management
Reporting consistency
Analytics readiness

From the Congress floor

63%

select "all of the above" — data fluency, AI literacy, automation design, analytical acumen and technical rigor — as the skills finance professionals most need to develop over the next 3–5 years.

Source: Accounting & Reporting Congress 2026 attendee poll

What's shaping life sciences finance in 2027

Finance is Becoming a Strategic Growth Function

AI is Transforming Financial Planning and Forecasting

Revenue Visibility Has Become a Competitive Advantage

Pricing and Contracting Complexity Continues to Grow

Revenue Leakage Remains a Major Concern

Commercialization Requires New Financial Models

Regulatory and Reporting Expectations Continue to Increase

Digital Transformation is Reshaping Finance Operations

Finance and Market Access Are Becoming More Connected

Data Quality Has Become a Business Imperative

The solutions and services on the buying agenda

These trends are not theoretical. They're the work finance leaders are doing right now.

Where the leaders driving life sciences finance gather

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