As organizations accelerate investments in artificial intelligence (AI), boards are leaning in. “How much is this costing us?” they ask. “And what are we getting in return?” Boards and investors are thus demanding clear evidence that AI investments drive measurable financial outcomes.

The way to answer these questions is through key performance indicators (KPIs) designed specifically for finance AI. And the most effective way to demonstrate AI’s value? Tailoring KPIs to finance. Here are five that matter most.

(Explore advanced strategies in the Finance AI Academy.)

1. Forecast Cycle Time

The speed at which FP&A can generate and update forecasts is a direct measure of AI’s impact. According to recent research, only 7% of organizations can forecast on demand. Just 15% can produce a forecast in under two days. However, AI-driven automation compresses these cycles, enabling finance to shift from historian to navigator.

How to measure: Track the average time from data ingestion to forecast delivery before and after AI implementation. Reduced cycle time translates into faster board reporting and improved responsiveness to market volatility.

CFO Insight: SensibleAI™ Forecast can result in more than 85% average reduction in forecasting cycle times.

2. Scenario Planning Frequency and Speed

Boards want credible “what-if” scenarios on demand. Yet 19% of FP&A teams can’t run scenarios at all. Only half can do so within a week. With AI, FP&A can do rolling, real-time scenario planning, which is critical for mission-critical decisions.

How to measure: Track how often scenarios are generated and the time required to produce them. Frequent scenario updates help chief financial officers (CFOs) anticipate liquidity needs and protect margins.

CFO Insight: 97% of CFOs say their boards expect a readout on AI investment and progress, including scenario planning capabilities. Boards increasingly view scenario planning as a proxy for AI ROI.

3. Data Quality and Trust Metrics

AI amplifies data debt, and poor data quality undermines every AI initiative. Yet only 17% of FP&A teams report best-in-class data quality. While high-quality data teams spend 42% of their time on insights, low-quality teams spend just 19%.

How to measure: Use profiling, reconciliation, and threshold alerts tied to close/forecast go-no-go decisions. Monitor lineage (drill-back to source systems) and timeliness (refresh SLAs by domain). Track lineage and timeliness to ensure compliance with financial reporting standards

CFO Insight: Data quality and fragmentation are among the top barriers to scaling AI, cited by 34% of CFOs.

4. Productivity Gains

AI should free FP&A teams from keeping their noses too far into the data, allowing more time for analysis and business partnering. Yet almost half (46%) of FP&A’s time is still spent on data collection and validation — the highest in five years.

How to measure: Compare the percentage of time spent on manual tasks versus analysis and business partnering before and after AI adoption.

CFO Insight: 56% of CFOs report already seeing real productivity gains from AI, moving beyond theoretical projections.

5. ROI on Technology Investments

Boards expect recurring proof of cost savings and productivity from AI programs. While only 2% of FP&A teams consider themselves “fully optimized,” 83% of finance leaders plan to increase AI investment in 2026.

How to measure: Calculate the financial impact of AI-powered forecasting, automation, and reporting. Use cost/return metrics to show improvements in profitability, efficiency, and decision quality.

Here are two formulas to use:

Payback period = AI investment cost/annual savings/gains
Efficiency gain % = Manual hours reduced by AI/total FP&A hours x 100

The first formula shows how many years to pay back the investment, and the second formula shows the efficiency gain.

CFO Insight: The Forrester’s Total Economic Impact calculator shows how much OneStream can save your organization.

Final Thoughts

Proving AI ROI isn’t just about technology. While the technology matters, proving AI ROI is also about enabling faster decisions, mitigating risk, and driving organizational value.

Looking for deeper insights into what’s in store for FP&A this year? Read The Future of FP&A: Trends, Challenges, and the Rise of AI in 2026.

5 FP&A KPIs for Proving AI ROI (Even If You’re Just Starting)