Advancetrack MD Vipul Sheth takes us through two weeks of travel and great conversations as the team spent time talking with Australian and New Zealand accounting practitioners.
It’s been a busy and exciting time for the Advancetrack team – involving some serious air miles to Australia and back.
First up was me. I had the honour of travelling to Brisbane, Cairns and then Townsville as Advancetrack representative at a series of CA ANZ forums. I also got to present on the findings of the Accounting Talent Index 2025 – which led to some really interesting conversations with practitioners.
Then the rest of the team arrived, and we got to spend a lovely Sunday at picturesque Byron Bay. But after that it was back to work.
gbX, Xerocon and GAP Reunion
Brisbane again hosted Advancetrack; this time for our second Australian gbX conference. Despite many other pre-Xerocon events taking place, we had a great crowd of delegates, who stuck with us the whole afternoon.
Xerocon had been sold out for months in advance, so it won’t surprise you to hear that it was jam-packed with attendees across both days.
These shows gave us the chance to explain the way in which Advancetrack works. And, as importantly we got to hear from practice leaders about the challenges and opportunities they face.
Finally, Advancetrack exhibited at The Gap Reunion in Auckland, New Zealand on 11 and 12 September. This was two days of high-level learning and connecting for accountants and bookkeepers; focusing on driving growth.
Talking talent
Unsurprisingly, having seen the stats from our last two Talent Indexes, a lack of availability of talent was discussed often across the events.
It was also interesting to hear views on AI. While a few see it as the silver bullet to resourcing issues, many others were concerned that it would be another tech-led false dawn. Efficiencies are possible, many said, but they see it as a mix of tech, workflow and people.
There also appears to have been attrition taking place as the war for offshore talent hotted up. We certainly hope at Advancetrack that our multi-model approach to resourcing services will help more Australian and New Zealand firms going forward.
So, while we’re taking a moment to debrief on our two weeks in Australia, it’s fair to say that Advancetrack is here to stay. While I will be leading developments in ANZ, I see that as a short-term deployment… so watch this space!
