A 2026 Research Study Conducted by the CEO Financial Intelligence Academy Publication: Q4 2026

The State of Financial Intelligence in the Mid-Market.

The first field study on how mid-market chief executives lead their companies' financial trajectory. A subject the mainstream research industry has never measured at scale.

How CEOs at $10M to $500M in revenue actually lead their companies' financial decisions: where the gap between strategic objective and financial execution is widest, what closes it, and what it costs the businesses that leave it open.

Participate in the Study →

8 minutes · Anonymous · Confidential peer benchmark returned to contributors

Founder & Author

Oana Labes, MBA, CPA

Conducted By

CEO Financial Intelligence Academy

Population

Mid-market chief executives, $10M to $500M

Publication

Q4 2026 · Public + contributor edition

The Hypothesis

Mid-market CEOs make the decisions and take the risk.

But most operate in a structural gap between strategy and execution. This study measures that gap with primary data from the executives who live in it.

Chief executives at mid-market operating companies command the outcome of every capital, cash flow, and enterprise value decision their businesses make. Yet the majority lack the financial infrastructure to anticipate the impact of those decisions before they commit. This study measures the size and cost of that infrastructure gap and defines what it takes to close it.

What the Study Will Publish

Eight chapters. One question: how are mid-market CEOs actually leading?

Findings will be released at report publication in Q4 2026. Below, the argument the report will make. These eight chapters are also the teaching spine of the live masterclass.

Chapter 01

The Decision Command Gap

Where CEO confidence in anticipating decision impact on cash flow, risk, and enterprise value diverges from what their infrastructure actually supports.

Chapter 02

The Missing Middle

The financial infrastructure that sits, or should sit, between strategic objective and operational execution, and how few companies actually have it.

Chapter 03

Retrospective Damage

The strategic decisions of the past 24 months that better financial intelligence would have materially improved, segmented by revenue band and industry.

Chapter 04

The Counterparty Compass

How often and how severely mid-market CEOs are surprised by shifts in banker, board, and investor posture their own analysis had not anticipated.

Chapter 05

Capital Capacity Blind Spots

How well CEOs understand what their balance sheet, cash flow, and counterparty relationships would actually allow them to do next.

Chapter 06

Enterprise Value Readiness

Whether CEOs can defend their company's enterprise value in front of an acquirer today, and what the top decile does differently.

Chapter 07

Priorities for the Next 12 Months

Where CEOs would invest to strengthen financial command, segmented by revenue band, industry, and growth stage.

Chapter 08

Closing the Gap

The frameworks and infrastructure that separate the top-decile CEOs from the rest, and how they built them.

Appendix

Methodology & Instrument

Full survey instrument, sample composition by revenue band and industry, anonymization protocol, and per-question response distributions.

Methodology

How the study is being conducted.

Transparency on sample, protocol, and analysis. The instrument is available in full as an appendix in the published report.

Population

Chief executives of mid-market operating companies at $10M to $500M in annual revenue, across all major industries. Related C-suite (CFO, COO, Founder) welcome when they hold financial decision authority.

Sample

Mid-market chief executives recruited across all major industries, with a segmentation floor of n=30 per published cut (revenue band × industry).

Instrument

31 questions across 8 sections, mixing Likert scales, matrix batteries, single- and multi-select, one open-ended qualitative item. Estimated completion time: 8 minutes.

Distribution

Editorial co-partner networks, industry association partners, the founder's owned audience (500K+ social, 40K newsletter subscribers), and outbound recruitment via LinkedIn.

Anonymization

Responses collected without identifying information. Contact details optional, used only to deliver contributor materials, and removed from the analytical dataset. Quotations published only with explicit permission, anonymized unless named attribution is separately approved.

Timeline

Field: August–September 2026. Analysis and peer review: October 2026. Live masterclass and publication: November–December 2026.

Editorial and Distribution Partners

Published in partnership with.

The study is co-published with a small number of editorial and distribution partners whose CEO networks anchor the study's sample. Partners are confirmed through the field period and named in the published report.

Editorial and distribution partnerships are open to mid-market publications, CEO peer networks, industry associations, and deal communities. Request the partner brief at [email protected].

About the Academy

Conducted by the CEO Financial Intelligence Academy.

The Academy is an executive education platform for chief executives of mid-market operating companies. It delivers live executive training, publishes original research, and maintains a global community of CEOs and C-suite leaders at $10M to $500M in revenue.

Oana Labes, MBA, CPA

Founder & Author

Oana spent 15 years in commercial banking leading over $350M+ in financing for 300+ small and mid-sized companies across several industries. During that time she watched a staggering number of organizations struggle to scale and miss critical growth opportunities.

She left banking to build what was missing: the curriculum, the system, and the community that turn financial intelligence from an accounting function into a CEO capability. She founded the CEO Financial Intelligence Academy and is the author of a forthcoming book on engineering cash flow in the mid-market.

500K+ Social media audience

160M+ Content views

20K+ Executives trained

Forbes Featured

Top 10 LinkedIn corporate finance creator

LinkedIn Learning instructor

What contributors receive

Three things you leave with.

One is exclusive to contributors. One reaches you at launch, ahead of the public wave. And one is a VIP seat other executives will pay for.

Your confidential peer benchmark

Exclusive to contributors. How you compare on every dimension of the study to other CEOs in your industry and revenue band. Where the top decile is ahead of you. Where you are already ahead. And where the gap is quietly costing you money every quarter.

The full report and frameworks, at launch

The complete findings and the frameworks behind them. Not a summary. The playbooks the top decile use to engineer cash flow, contain risk, and grow enterprise value. Delivered directly to contributors at launch.

VIP access to the live masterclass, free

A 120-minute live masterclass with Oana ahead of the public launch: the frameworks emerging from the research, taught live, with your questions answered in the session. The public seat is $397. Contributors who opt in attend free, invited before the public announcement. No contributor is ever named.

Participate

Add your voice.

Eight minutes. Anonymous. Thirty-one questions across eight sections designed for chief executives, not analysts. Your confidential peer benchmark, the full report and frameworks at launch, and a free VIP seat at the live masterclass are yours in return.

Publication Timeline

Field to publication in four stages.

July 2026

Partners confirmed

Editorial co-partner and distribution partners locked. Instrument finalized.

Aug–Sep 2026

Field open

Survey distributed through partner networks and the founder's owned audience.

October 2026

Analysis & peer review

Statistical analysis, segmentation, chapter drafting. External editorial review.

Nov–Dec 2026

Masterclass + publication

Contributors attend the live 120-minute masterclass with the founder free, ahead of the public launch. The report then releases to contributors first, then public. Public masterclass seats are paid.

Frequently Asked

Common questions.

Who is eligible to participate?

Chief executives, presidents, founders, chief financial officers, chief operating officers, and other C-suite executives leading operating companies at $10M to $500M in annual revenue across all major industries. Related roles are welcome when they hold financial decision authority.

Is participation really anonymous?

Yes. Survey responses are collected without identifying information. Contact details for the peer benchmark, report distribution, and masterclass invitation are used only to deliver those materials, are removed from the analytical dataset, and never appear in any published findings. Verbatim quotations are published only with explicit permission, anonymized unless named attribution is separately approved.

How much time does the survey take?

Approximately eight minutes for most respondents. The instrument comprises 31 questions across 8 sections. You can complete it on desktop or mobile.

How is the peer benchmark constructed?

Your responses are compared to the aggregate distribution of respondents in your revenue band and primary industry. The benchmark reports your position on every dimension of the survey relative to peer cohorts and the top-decile respondents. Benchmarks are delivered at report launch alongside the full report.

Who is conducting the research?

The CEO Financial Intelligence Academy conducts the research. Oana Labes, MBA, CPA, is the founder and author. Editorial co-partners and distribution partners are confirmed on a rolling basis and will be named in the published report.

When will the report be published?

Publication and the live masterclass are targeted for November–December 2026. Contributors attend the masterclass free ahead of the public launch, and receive the report and their personalized benchmark before the report becomes public. Masterclass seats are paid for non-contributors.

How can my organization become an editorial or distribution partner?

Editorial and distribution partnerships are open to CEO peer networks, industry associations, and mid-market publications through July 2026. Reach out to [email protected] for the partner brief.

Contribute

Add your voice. Change how you lead.

Chief executives at $10M to $500M in revenue lead companies that power a substantial share of US private-sector output and employ tens of millions. Yet they remain underserved by mainstream executive research. This study is the response. Add your data. Take home the frameworks the top decile use to command cash flow, contain risk, and grow enterprise value.

Participate in the Study →

8 minutes · Anonymous · Confidential peer benchmark returned to contributors