Managing volatility can be a competitive advantage for CFOs

Jeremy Almond is the co-founder and CEO of Paystand, a blockchain-enabled B2B payments company transforming commercial finance through software and automation. 

Markets are blowing up over tariffs. But when you work at the heart of the real economy like we do, a bigger story emerges.

While headlines scream uncertainty, the industrial economy is quietly gearing up. U.S. businesses — especially in manufacturing, logistics, and supply chain — aren't sitting still. They're investing more, nearshoring production, and betting big on American capacity. They’re not reacting to a 24-hour news cycle, they’re making multi-year bets.

Despite the noise, many industrial leaders are charging forward — starting with modernizing their financial infrastructure.

Volatility isn't the end — it's the refactor

From conversations I've had with CEOs and CFOs across key industries, one thing is clear: volatility isn’t killing growth. It’s rewriting the rules of engagement. Forward-thinking leaders are using this period to "refactor" their businesses — upgrading operations, modernizing finance and retooling for long-term success.

Because in the real economy, resilience isn't just about survival. It’s about turning disruption into an advantage.

The CFO’s new mandate: Build for flexibility

I this era of economic flux, finance leaders must do more than crunch numbers. They need to lead transformation.

What’s one of the biggest variables they face? Rising or unpredictable costs and market movement. Tariffs, surcharges, and convenience fees, for example, are popping up across supply chains with dizzying speed, becoming focal points that can erode margins and cloud forecasts.

Historically, these fees were accepted as immovable realities. Now they are more fluid. Today’s digital tools give CFOs real-time control over how payments involving fees are structured, routed and recovered. Volatility is no longer something to brace for; it’s something to get ahead of.

Financial infrastructure: the new competitive edge

The real economy builders will be the ones who understand: you can’t compete using outdated, manual systems.

Just as production lines are automated, so too must financial workflows evolve. Companies that digitize and automate their receivables aren’t just surviving — they’re thriving. They’re transforming fixed costs into variable ones, adapting pricing strategies in real time, and protecting margins dynamically.

For example, with a digitally integrated payment platform, a finance team can instantly react to a new import duty: pass it through to the customer, split it, or absorb it strategically. It can automate decisions based on transaction size, customer type, or geography — without human bottlenecks.

This isn’t just automation — this is agency.

A quiet revolution beneath the headlines

From the outside, it might seem like industrial America is playing defense. But when I look more closely, I see customers whose factories are buzzing. Supply chains are getting shorter and smarter. Companies are reinvesting in ways that anticipate the next ten years, not the last ten.

Resilience today isn’t about austerity. It’s about better systems.

CFOs have the tools — and the mandate — to build financial systems that flex, adapt and optimize. With the right infrastructure, even tariffs become manageable variables in a dynamic, controlled growth strategy.

Because the real economy isn’t waiting around.

It’s building.