As we turn the corner on 2018, most CFOs are simultaneously focused on helping their chief executives exploit the opportunities that come with a booming economy and buffering their organization from a handful of risks that loom on the horizon. These include the possibilities that 2019 will bring economic deceleration, increased currency and/or interest rate volatility, and an ever-growing regulatory and compliance burden.

If global economic decline settles in, as some experts predict, uncertainty will only increase in the new year. The party certainly isn't over yet for most businesses around the world, but economic indicators suggest some guests have already left. GDP growth in Europe is slowing, and some expect the world economy to follow suit. Global growth reached 3.1 percent in both 2017 and 2018, but the World Bank predicts that it will decelerate over the next two years due to the dissipation of global slack (unused economic resources) and tighter central bank monetary policies, among other constraints.