CPA Australia has identified six essential skills for finance professionals in 2026.
What’s Happening: CPA Australia has identified six skills that accounting and finance professionals must master to thrive in 2026.
Why This Matters: Finance professionals who develop these six skills will advance careers and earning potential whilst helping organisations unlock opportunities and build resilience.
Technology is reshaping the accounting profession. Australian businesses are investing heavily in artificial intelligence and automation to simplify processes and reduce repetitive tasks. Yet most of those investments underperform.
According to Gavan Ord, Business Investment Lead at CPA Australia, the problem isn’t technology itself. It’s discipline.
“AI and automation are increasingly being adopted by Australian businesses, helping to simplify processes and reduce repetitive and time-consuming tasks,” Ord explains. “However, without a disciplined evaluation process, businesses risk over-investing in the technology.”
The evidence is stark. “CPA Australia members report that standard investment procedures are not always being followed when investing in AI, producing poor decisions and wasted spend,” Ord states. “Accountants that apply the same rigorous evaluation to potential AI investments as they would to any other asset are more likely to see their business realise its benefits and emerge as winners in 2026 and beyond.”
This insight reframes the AI conversation for finance leaders. The question isn’t whether to adopt AI. It’s whether to evaluate it properly. Accountants who treat AI investments with the same financial rigour they apply to capital expenditure or acquisitions will outperform those who treat them as tactical experiments.
Data becomes strategy through storytelling
Data is everywhere in modern organisations. Yet data alone creates no value. Insight does. Strategy does. Action does.
This is where data storytelling becomes critical. “Data is an increasingly critical business asset,” Ord says. “However, data only becomes valuable when it is translated into compelling narratives that inform decision-making. Data storytelling bridges the gap between analytics and action, turning insights into strategies that resonate with stakeholders at every level.”
The skill isn’t purely technical. Finance professionals need to understand data deeply, identify patterns, and communicate findings in ways that move decision-makers. Those who combine analytical rigour with narrative power become indispensable to their organisations.
For accounting and finance professionals, data storytelling creates a distinct career advantage. It transforms them from reporters of numbers into architects of strategy.
Sustainability expertise is now a career accelerator
Sustainability reporting presents a significant career opportunity for accounting professionals—but only if they prepare now.
“Sustainability reporting presents a career boost opportunity for many accounting and finance professionals, but only if they are prepared for the changes,” Ord notes. “With mandatory climate-related disclosures now in effect for larger businesses, accounting professionals should consider deepening their sustainability expertise.”
The regulatory landscape has shifted. Larger Australian organisations now face mandatory climate-related disclosure requirements. Organisations are actively seeking professionals who can interpret environmental data, assess risks, and translate these insights into actionable plans that drive long-term business value.
For early adopters, this represents a career advantage. Those who develop sustainability expertise now will be in high demand as regulatory requirements expand and stakeholder expectations intensify.
Critical thinking and communication: where analytics meet influence
Advanced analytics and artificial intelligence are powerful tools. They’re also useless without interpretation and communication.
“Critical thinking enables accounting and finance professionals to interpret data, identify trends, ask the right questions and draw meaningful conclusions that support business,” Ord explains. “Even the most advanced technologies are ineffective if professionals cannot interpret, verify and communicate the insights they produce.”
Critical thinking serves multiple purposes. It’s essential for evaluating risks, challenging assumptions, and making evidence-based decisions. It’s also the foundation for identifying where analytics might mislead or where data quality is poor.
Yet critical thinking alone isn’t sufficient. Communication completes the equation. “Equally important to accountants is communication skills,” Ord emphasises. “The ability to translate complex financial insights into clear actions is what turns data into strategy. Those who combine strong analytical skills with persuasive communication are invaluable for their organisations.”
Navigating complexity without slowing growth
The regulatory environment is becoming simultaneously more complex and more voluminous. Compliance obligations multiply. Reporting requirements expand. The risk landscape shifts constantly.
Professionals who master regulatory and reporting expertise become invaluable. “With the regulatory environment becoming more complex and voluminous, professionals must continuously update their knowledge of regulatory requirements, including reporting obligations,” Ord states. “This knowledge is critical for businesses operating in a connected economy.”
Organisations need professionals who can ensure transparency, build investor confidence, and navigate complex compliance landscapes without becoming bottlenecks to growth. “Businesses need professionals who can ensure transparency, build investor confidence and navigate often complex compliance landscapes without slowing growth. Those who master this skillset will always be in high demand among employers,” Ord confirms.
Ethics in an automated world
As technology adoption accelerates, ethical leadership becomes more complex and more important.
“Individuals must be equipped to deal with ethical dilemmas that arise in real-world environments,” Ord says. “Ethical considerations extend to technology adoption, sustainability and data governance. The rise of AI and automation presents further challenges as professionals must understand not only how to use these tools effectively but also how to use them responsibly.”
This goes beyond compliance. It requires asking difficult questions about how systems work, whether biases are embedded, and whether data governance respects confidentiality and regulatory requirements.
“Ethical leadership means asking the right questions,” Ord explains. “In AI, this means asking: How are algorithms making decisions? Are biases being mitigated? Is data being handled in ways that respects confidentiality and regulatory requirements?”
For accounting and finance professionals, developing this capability matters enormously. “Developing the ability to navigate complex ethical landscapes will be essential for long-term success,” Ord concludes.
The path forward
The six skills CPA Australia has identified represent a fundamental shift in what accounting and finance professionals must do to succeed. Technical expertise remains necessary. But it’s no longer sufficient.
Professionals who master AI evaluation, data storytelling, sustainability expertise, critical thinking, communication, regulatory knowledge, and ethical leadership will do more than keep pace with change. They will help drive it. They will help organisations unlock opportunities, build resilience, and maintain trust. And they will advance their own careers and earning potential in the process.
Keep up to date with our stories on LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
