Indeed, since there were , Deloitte's analysis suggests that CFOs are generally much more optimistic across a range of indicators: profits, capital expenditures, and hiring. "Only one sticking point remains -- sales," Deloitte says.

The accounting firm's quarterly CFO review, involving 94 finance chiefs who responded to questions, is designed to track the actions -- and the opinions -- of finance executives from larger firms, averaging more than $5 billion in annual revenue. It covers five areas: CFO career, finance organization, company, industry, and economy. More than three-quarters of the respondents were from companies with more than $1 billion in annual revenues, and more than 71% represented public companies.

The optimism is being felt in expectations for year-over-year earnings growth, among other areas. CFOs now see 12.8% growth for 2012, compared with the 10.1% they saw last quarter. Capital investment expectations show a rise to 12% from 9.6%, while there's a doubling in domestic hiring projections, to 2.1% from 1%.

"Overall, CFO expectations are mirroring some of the positive activity we are seeing in the U.S. economy," according to Sanford Cockrell III, Deloitte LLP's national managing partner, CFO Program, "including their prospects for increased investment, particularly in M&A." But he adds, in , that "CFOs remain concerned about economic uncertainty, particularly in Europe, and are keenly aware of how tensions in the Middle East as well as potential 'black swan' events could derail a fragile recovery."