2026 has been a challenging year for Australian accountants across the board. The beginning of the year saw recruitment within the industry dip to a low point that hasn’t seemed to let up. As the year progressed, the regulatory landscape changed from July 1st, a pivot in compliance that needed to be swiftly adapted to without much leeway. Business advisory services have well and truly taken centre stage as a strong option for firms looking to broaden their horizons in 2027. Flexibility and adaptability have become traits that have allowed firms to rise to the challenge and face these pain points head-on. 

Jump to:

• The talent gap
• 2026 budget reforms create compliance challenges
• PayDay super changed payroll overnight
• ATO crackdown on compliance

Naming them is the first step to identifying how to fix these if your firm has felt left behind. The next steps are planning around these common pain points, being able to meet client demand within reasonable timeframes, fostering a healthy work/life balance for your team, and working together to absorb pressure without it spilling into burnout. We’re here to help you identify which pain points your firm has faced and how to fix these so your firm can work toward handling the next year with success.

The talent gap

Independent research from Oxford Economics Australia has found that the Australian accounting industry will be short 18,000 recruits by 2035. The shortage will be almost entirely concentrated to junior accountants where projected supply will meet half of expected demand. Two forces are driving this projected shortage. Accounting course completion has fallen 61% since 2018 while growing regulatory complexity and changing technology are creating a demand bottleneck for accounting expertise.

The most efficient fix to implement in 2026 is to reach out to a talent pool that is already trained in industry requirements and is ready to take on your compliance work as soon as needed. Many Australian firms are seeking help from outsourcing companies who can become a valuable member of their team, even from afar. It presents an option that has minimal overhead costs, the ability to choose which tasks are completed and when, and creates space for the in-house team to progress their career. The key is to reduce impacts for the talent already within the firm, create capacity for client management, and improve flexibility for senior staff to take on lucrative services that improve the longevity of the firm.

2026 budget reforms create compliance challenges

A survey of accounting practitioners run by AuditCover in mid-2026 found that nine in ten respondents were concerned or extremely concerned about the compliance complexity the year’s federal budget reforms would create for clients, with more than half saying they expected at least a fifth of their clients to be materially affected. Some changes that have created compliance bottlenecks are:

• Capital Gains Tax (CGT) was at the top of the list of concerns for those surveyed with a 30% minimum tax rate applied to all CGT, alongside the 50% CGT discount which will be replaced with cost-base indexation. Additionally, blanket exemptions for assets held before September 1985 were set to end, causing further anxiety.
• The proposed discretionary trust reforms will see a 30% tax that trustees will pay on income, while beneficiaries under 30% marginal rates will lose excess credits
• Negative gearing will see the Federal Budget shift their approach to investments who can claim the benefit which could see lending applications drop, CGT move to an indexation model, and clients looking to invest into their superannuation instead.

The changes naturally create more compliance work for accountants across the board. The easiest and most proactive fix is to get ahead of client communication before issues arise. Informing your clients about upcoming changes and how they can work with the changes using your firm as their guide. A simple explainer that goes out to all clients shows that your firm is on top of the changes, and provides an added level of trust when their investments eventually shift to comply with regulatory bodies.

PayDay Super changed payroll overnight

From the 1st July 2026, employers have been required to pay superannuation guarantee at the same time as wages, rather than quarterly. While the policy itself may not be overly complicated, this can produce more work for firms in a relatively short space of time. Accountants across the country have had to engage client management skills to explain to their clients how this will impact them and how to implement the changes to avoid penalties. 

The best way to fix this particular pain point (beyond communicating with your clients in a clear and efficient manner) is to make sure your payroll requirements are handled by software that is updated to manage the change. If you have an off-shore team handling your payroll, ensure they are also well-versed in regulatory adjustments and engage proactively in the review process so your clients are covered.

ATO crackdown on compliance

The Australian Taxation Office received stronger Government funding this year with $999 million allocated to the body which will be funnelled into compliance activity over the next four years. Some ways this has created pain points for accountants in 2026 have been:

• This has created a spike in audits, especially for small-medium businesses within the country. The review and response workload for accountants and their clients has increased the overall workload for all firms. This impacts record-keeping, financial history reconstruction, and an uptick in managing clients who may be unfamiliar with the process
• Data-matching against bank and payment records must be of the highest-quality. Managing errors that were once invisible means firms are addressing issues retroactively which creates bottlenecks
• More time is being spent on educating clients on how to effectively manage their books, new algorithms that the ATO have in place to spot discrepancies, and explaining what audits can mean for their business
• The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) is separately tightening their scrutiny of auditing quality controls with firms meaning documentation processes need to be iron-clad to avoid penalty.

There are a few fixes that can help. Build audit-readiness into the standard practice of your firm making it a process that can be relied upon, rather than a crisis response. Push clients toward separating PAYG and GST funds early so that when audited, withheld tax cannot be treated as undeclared cashflow. Finally, plan for the workload spike. Work on increasing capacity for your team so that any overflow doesn’t have to become overtime. Cover your compliance work, encourage delegation within the team, and upskill your staff during quieter periods to educate them on how regulatory changes can impact their clients.