A few years ago, companies focused on scaling, entering new regions and accelerating sales. In 2026, priorities have changed. The business is still interested in development, but increasingly views it through the prism of sustainability, assessing how the company is protected from tax claims, accounting errors and dependence on key employees.
This is confirmed by the results of a study by the NAFI Analytical Center and FLC (Full Legal Consulting). The survey involved 87 owners, CEOs and CFOs of companies with a turnover of 20 million rubles and 11 employees from trade, financial sector, production, IT and logistics.
68% of respondents called improving financial security and reducing tax risks the main priority for 2026. Optimization of the staff and wage fund was noted by 49%, automation of business processes – by 44%, reduction of operating costs – by 41%.
Medium-sized businesses do not refuse to develop, but change the sequence of actions. First, companies seek to reduce vulnerability, make costs manageable, and eliminate critical errors. And only after that they are ready to invest in growth.
Why financial security came to the fore
Today it includes more than correctly submitted reports. For the manager, this is confidence that the company will be able to pass the audit, justify business operations and notice in time the risks that can lead to additional charges, fines or litigation.
Over the past two years, 40% of companies surveyed have faced tax audits, claims or litigation. And 89% consider protecting businesses from tax and legal risks the most important task to be solved before scaling. Indeed, during the growth period, new counterparties, contracts, employees and areas of activity appear. The number of operations increases, document flow becomes more complicated, and the burden on financial and legal services increases. If internal processes are not ready for changes, the number of errors will increase along with the turnover.
Most companies – 55% – keep records with full-time accountants and lawyers. Another 31% use a mixed model, combining an internal team with external experts. Only 10% completely outsourced accounting. At the same time, 94% of survey participants are satisfied with the current mixed model. Among the dissatisfied, 60% note a lack of expertise of full-time employees, and 40% each – the human factor and excessive involvement of the head.
When a business is ready to turn to external experts
An external partner is often required not to replace completely the internal function, but at a time of increased workload or changes, the growth of the company, when the owner wants to diversify risks and shift responsibility to the external partner for tax and accounting. Day-to-day accounting can be built well, but when launching a new direction or growing workflow, a company needs competence that is not inside or that is only required from time to time.
In the first place among such situations there is scaling or opening a new direction. This option was chosen by 43% of respondents. Growth complicates the financial and legal model: new settlement methods, obligations and control requirements appear. An error during the startup phase can remain invisible for a long time, and then lead to serious losses.
The second most important trigger is the departure of a key employee. It was named by 36% of the survey participants. The dismissal of the chief accountant, CFO or lawyer means not only the search for a replacement, but also the risk of losing part of the corporate memory, because some of the information remains in correspondence or personal files, and you have to restore processes urgently. If the procedures are not described, documents are stored haphazardly, and access to information is concentrated in one person, this can take a long time. External specialists help to transfer cases, check the status of accounting and reduce the risk of stopping work.
The increase in the number of transactions and documents becomes the reason for contacting external experts for 29% of companies. This usually happens when the previous system ceases to cope with the volume: approvals are delayed, documents are lost, period closing times increase, and management data arrives late.
Another 26% are ready to attract an external company if it is necessary to reduce costs. Proof of savings would be a weighty argument for 73% of respondents, but 16% directly indicated that it was not about money for them. Expertise, reliability and the willingness of partners to be responsible for the result come to the fore.
Mistrust remains the main obstacle to the transfer of functions to outsourcing. The lack of data confidentiality and real financial responsibility of the contractor are feared by 43 and 40% of respondents, respectively. The business wants to understand in advance who works with its data, how quality control works and what will happen in case of an error.
63% of respondents are ready to change the existing outsourcer to a company that assumes financial and legal responsibility for fines and errors. Among companies with a mixed model, this figure reaches 89%. The most popular format of the first contact turned out to be a pilot project or a test month – 43% of survey participants chose it. This format allows to check the expertise and quality of interaction before starting long-term cooperation.
Protection as a condition for growth
A pivot to financial security does not mean abandoning ambition. Companies have become more pragmatic about the price of growth. A new direction, expansion of staff or an increase in turnover make sense only when the financial and legal systems are able to withstand the additional burden.
Therefore, development increasingly begins not with the question “how to grow faster,” but with the question “what can prevent this growth.” Medium-sized businesses analyze dependence on individual employees, accounting quality, contractual work and tax risks. Protection becomes not an alternative to development, but its prerequisite. The more complex the structure of the company and the higher the volume of operations, the more important it is to build a system in advance that will support current activities and allow the business to grow without a sharp increase in risks.
By Svetlana Buravtsova, CEO of Full Legal Consulting (LLC)