How CFOs can keep pace with accelerating demands, and why data discipline is becoming the new differentiator
LP scrutiny isn’t just increasing – it’s accelerating. According to the Private Funds CFO Insights 2026 report, nearly half of CFOs say LP scrutiny of their operating model has risen over the past three years. And the pressure is coming from all sides: deeper due diligence, more frequent questions, bespoke data cuts, cybersecurity inquiries, and a growing insistence on ILPA-aligned reporting.
In short, LPs want transparency, accuracy, and speed. And they want it every quarter, every month, and often, every week.
For CFOs already navigating elongated fundraising cycles, market uncertainty, and new fund structures, this surge in LP expectations is reshaping what operational excellence looks like. And it’s exposing the limits of fragmented systems, manual spreadsheets, and inconsistent data.
LP expectations are changing: More data, more context, more frequency
ALPs are digging deeper into the financial and operational engine behind every fund. The report shows:
- Fund performance and benchmarking are the #1 areas of LP inquiry.
- LPs expect clear, timely, accurate reporting above all other aspects of the investor experience.
- Due diligence questionnaires now probe valuation methods, operational controls, cybersecurity, governance, and data integrity at a far more granular level than ever before.
- ILPA-aligned reporting is no longer optional: 93% of CFOs report strong demand for standardized frameworks.
This isn’t just a request for more information. It’s a mandate for transparency. LPs want confidence that the numbers are right, that they’re consistent across the organization, and that they can trust the systems producing them.
What used to be a quarterly reporting rhythm is morphing into a near-continuous cycle of Q&A, validation, and custom requests.
Disconnected systems slower reporting and higher risk
Many firms still rely on a patchwork of systems – accounting here, asset models there, Excel everywhere. And when LP scrutiny increases, this model breaks quickly.
Common failure points include:
- Duplicated data with inconsistent definitions
- Slow reconciliation cycles when numbers don’t match across systems
- Manual reporting that must be rebuilt every cycle
- Unclear version control between teams
- Time-consuming LP request responses because the data must be reassembled each time
This is why CFOs in the report repeatedly pointed to data standardization and workflow automation as their top operational priorities. They know that the firms who modernize their reporting infrastructure will move faster, communicate more clearly, and build stronger LP relationships.
And the firms who don’t? They get left behind.
Data discipline is becoming a strategic advantage
The rise in LP scrutiny is pushing firms toward a more mature data posture – one built around accuracy, consistency, and accessibility.
This is the essence of data discipline:
- A single source of truth for all financial and operational data
- Standardized charts of accounts
- Common data definitions across functions
- Structured ingestion and categorization
- Automated reporting that pulls from verified, reconciled datasets
When the data is right, every downstream function benefits:
- Variance reporting becomes cleaner
- Benchmarking becomes defensible
- Valuation conversations become easier
- LP requests become faster to answer
Data discipline reduces operational friction and increases investor confidence.
The expanding role of reporting automation
One of the most meaningful trends in the CFO report is the shift toward reporting automation. CFOs understand that manual reporting cycles are no longer sustainable.
Automation delivers three immediate benefits:
1. Accuracy
Automated processes eliminate manually keyed errors and ensure consistent calculations.
2. Speed
Automated templates and workflows can generate recurring reports in minutes instead of days.
3. Scalability
As firms add funds, investors, or new strategies, reporting complexity grows. Automation absorbs that complexity without increasing headcount.
It’s no surprise the report highlights that CFOs who have invested in automated reporting are better equipped to respond to LPs and maintain trust, even during turbulent market conditions.
How Pereview helps firms keep pace with LP demands
Pereview was built for this moment. As LP scrutiny intensifies, firms need a system that consolidates data, standardizes it, and makes it instantly reportable.
A single source of truth across the entire investment lifecycle
Pereview unifies asset-level, debt-level, fund-level, and investor-level data so every report is grounded in one consistent dataset.
Automated ingestion and data standardization
Pereview’s AI-enabled ingestion engine reads, classifies, and maps files automatically – dramatically reducing manual cleanup.
Automated, ILPA-aligned reporting
Variance, fund performance, exposure, forecasting, and ILPA templates can be generated without re-building spreadsheet models every cycle.
Faster LP response times
Because the data is centralized, reconciled, and structured, responding to LP questions becomes quick and repeatable – not an all-hands scramble.
Auditability and transparency built in
Every number has lineage. Every report is reproducible. Every data point can be traced back to its source.
This is how firms build trust – and maintain it.
LP scrutiny isn’t going away, but the chaos can
The CFO Insights Report makes it clear that LPs expect more, faster, with higher precision than ever before.
Firms who modernize their reporting infrastructure – and commit to data discipline – will not only meet these expectations but turn transparency into a competitive advantage.
Pereview is the platform that makes this possible.
