How to Strengthen Your Business for 2027

As 2026 draws to a close, business leaders are setting new goals, evaluating investments and preparing for emerging opportunities. Year-end planning is also a chance to assess whether the business is ready to respond when conditions change.

Looking ahead to 2027, three areas are worth pressure-testing: fraud controls, cash flow and liquidity visibility and access to capital. Each addresses a different need, but together they can help businesses protect what they’ve built while preserving options for what comes next.

Across industries, Western Alliance Bank works with businesses navigating these decisions. Strong controls, clear financial information and thoughtful capital planning can give leaders more options when timing matters.

As you prepare for 2027, consider how well your business is positioned across each area.

1. Review Your Business Fraud Controls

Cybersecurity isn't only an IT issue. Fraud can affect a company's finances, operations and business relationships.

Business Email Compromise, or BEC, can begin with what appears to be an ordinary email. Fraudsters impersonate executives, vendors or other trusted contacts to persuade employees to send funds, change payment information or disclose sensitive data.

The scale of the risk underscores why preparation matters. According to the AFP 2025 Payments Fraud & Control Survey, 63% of organizations reported payments fraud through BEC. The FBI's 2024 Internet Crime Report recorded $2.8 billion in reported losses from BEC crimes.

The impact can extend beyond financial loss, disrupting operations and business relationships. Technology is one layer of defense, but people and processes matter, too. Effective fraud prevention includes reviewing how your organization verifies requests, approves transactions and prepares employees to recognize suspicious activity.

Ask four questions:

1. Are payment and account changes independently verified?
2. Could employees confidently identify a suspicious request?
3. Do approval workflows help prevent a single point of failure?
4. Is fraud awareness reinforced regularly?

Cybersecurity Awareness Month is a timely opportunity to revisit these safeguards, but fraud prevention is a year-round priority.

The takeaway: Strong controls, verification practices and employee awareness can help reduce vulnerabilities before they become costly disruptions.

2. Improve Cash Flow and Liquidity Visibility

You can't prepare for every change, but knowing where your business stands financially gives you a stronger starting point for responding.

Most business plans focus on revenue targets, growth projections and investments. Strong financial planning should also answer:

What happens when the plan changes?

Costs may rise. Investments may be needed sooner than expected. An opportunity may require your business to move quickly.

Financial Planning Month is an opportunity to look beyond forecasts and consider whether your strategy provides enough visibility, liquidity and flexibility.

Ask:

• Do you understand future cash flow needs?
• Are potential liquidity gaps identified early?
• Does access to capital align with your growth plans?
• Could your business act quickly if an opportunity emerged?

These questions become particularly important during growth. Hiring, inventory, technology and facilities may require capital before the resulting revenue arrives. A business can be performing well while still facing cash flow pressure.

That's why growth and liquidity don't always move in lockstep.

As you plan for 2027, consider: What resources will we need? When will we need them? What options will we have?

Planning for growth and liquidity together can help identify pressure points earlier and give you more time to evaluate your options. Explore additional cash flow strategies for growing businesses.

The takeaway: Financial confidence isn't about knowing exactly what will happen next. It's about having the visibility and flexibility to make informed decisions when it does.

3. Preserve Financial Flexibility to Act

Preparation isn't only about protecting against what could go wrong. It's also about being ready when the right opportunity comes along.

For more than 40 years, La Purisima Bakery has served the Phoenix community. When the family-owned business identified an opportunity to purchase commercial property, financing and guidance from Western Alliance helped the family move forward.

CMG Financial faced a different need. Financing, mortgage industry expertise and responsive support from Western Alliance helped the company secure additional liquidity to support expansion of a key product.

Different circumstances reinforce the same principle: Preparation creates options, giving businesses greater flexibility to act when timing matters.

A Practical Business Planning Checklist for 2027

Year-end planning is an opportunity to look beyond where you want to grow and consider what needs to be strengthened to support that growth.

As you prepare for 2027:

• Protect what you’ve built. Review fraud controls, verification practices and employee awareness.
• Know where you stand. Improve visibility into cash flow, liquidity and future capital needs.
• Preserve your options. Build the flexibility to respond when conditions change or opportunities emerge.

The goal isn’t to predict every turn. It’s to build enough visibility, discipline and flexibility to make clearer decisions when the next one arrives.

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