What will the accounting profession look like in 2040? While we can’t answer that question on June 8, 2026, with absolute certainty, a new report launched on Monday explains how the profession’s future can begin to be shaped today.
Developed through a structured global dialogue spanning more than 25 countries and 6,000 accounting and finance professionals participating in multiple global forums, regional workshops, and surveys, the Rise2040 initiative is described as “a living program of insights which are being combined to deliver a shared vision of how the profession will evolve in an era defined by technological advancement (artificial intelligence), data expansion, and increasing complexity.”
“Rise2040 is not about predicting a single future, it’s about equipping the profession to actively shape it,” Mark Koziel, CEO of the American Institute of CPAs and CIMA, said in a statement. “We are at a defining moment. As AI reshapes how work gets done, our value will increasingly be defined by human judgment, trust, and the ability to lead in complexity. The future of the profession will not be determined by what happens to us, by the forces shaping it, but by how we choose to respond.”
The report, Rise2040: Shaping the Future of Finance and Accounting, released by the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA and CIMA) Monday during the first day of AICPA ENGAGE 2026, notes that the accounting profession’s transformation is already underway.
As automation reshapes routine work, the profession is rapidly shifting from a focus on historical reporting to delivering insight, foresight, and strategic guidance—a shift to “anticipatory advisor.”
At the same time, trust remains the profession’s enduring core. The report states:
Imagine an early-career CPA in Canada sitting in a virtual breakout room with a senior-leader CGMA professional in Malaysia. They have never met. They work on different continents, in different regulatory environments, at different stages of their careers. And yet, within 20 minutes, they are finishing each other’s sentences about what the profession will become by 2040. The more senior participant speaks about flat organizations, about how “so much of what we older folks would have contributed at a higher level is now redundant.” The early career participant speaks about AI coworkers and real-time data translation. They disagree on timelines. They agree on direction. And when they are asked what will not change, they say the same word at the same time: “trust.”
Trust is increasing in value, the report states, because in a world saturated with AI and data, human judgment, ethics, and accountability are becoming even more critical differentiators.
“What emerged from this global effort is a profession that is not retreating from change but rising to meet it with humans in the lead,” Tom Hood, executive vice president of business engagement and growth at the AICPA and CIMA, said in a statement. “Professionals are already moving beyond compliance to become strategic advisors, data translators, and trust architects. The opportunity now is to accelerate that shift and building the capabilities, talent models, and leadership mindset needed to deliver value and trust in entirely new ways.”
5 drivers shaping the profession’s future
The report identifies five interconnected drivers shaping the accounting profession’s future:
- Technology and data infrastructure;
- Value model transformation;
- Talent and workforce dynamics;
- Regulatory and trust architecture; and
- Market and societal expectations.
Together, these forces are transforming how work is performed, how value is created, and how professionals lead, the report says.
Notably, participants in the global forums, workshops, and surveys emphasized that technology isn’t replacing the profession, it’s amplifying it, freeing professionals to focus on higher-value activities, such as advisory, scenario planning, strategy, and decision-making enablement.
What accounting could be like in 2040
Imagine a world where routine compliance work is handled by automation and AI agents in the background, while “humans in the lead” carry accountability for outcomes and final approvals. That’s what many global forum participants believe the accounting profession will look like in 2040, according to the report.
“Participants talked about sitting with leaders or clients in moments of uncertainty to help them see clearly. Examples surfaced of guiding families through complex transitions with steadiness and care and helping entrepreneurs take calculated risks. The participants saw themselves translating overwhelming streams of data into grounded decisions,” the report says.
The report also outlines the type of work that might be on an accountant’s plate in 2040:
- Strategic guidance: Business modeling, anticipatory planning and multi-scenario planning, and resilient stress testing.
- AI oversight: Supervising teams of AI agents, auditing algorithmic systems, and setting ethical guidelines for autonomous processes. Even entry-level accountants of 2040 will lead AI bots capable of superhuman processing.
- Data translation: Using advanced analytics and predictive insights to find and tell the story in the data.
- Human-centric advisory: Providing the emotional intelligence, context, and trust that technology alone can’t deliver. AI handles the data and analysis. Humans provide the judgment, the interpretation, the relationship, and the trust.
Participants often envisioned “flat organizations” where AI levels the playing field, the report states. This is the previously predicted structural shift of moving “from a pyramid to a pentagon, a diamond middle.” The experience of working in this profession will also transform, reflecting greater emphasis on “job satisfaction,” “creative human leadership,” and “quality of life,” with those who make up the profession feeling “appreciated for its value and for the impact that it is making.”
The transformation of the accounting profession can be best understood as a series of fundamental shifts in three areas: identity, activity, and value proposition, the report says.
From: Historian (Recording and reporting on past events)
To: Strategist (Shaping future outcomes)From: Compliance enforcer (Checking boxes)
To: Anticipatory advisor (Identifying opportunities and pre-solving problems with stakeholders)From: Information reporter (Delivering data)
To: Insight and trust leader (Ensuring data integrity, interpreting data’s meaning, and enabling confident decision-making)From: Siloed technician (Focused on accounting rules)
To: The dot connector (Integrating finance with strategy, operations, and technology)From: Reactive service provider (Responding to requests)
To: Indispensable insights (Proactively offering perspectives)
A key takeaway from Rise2040 is that disruption alone isn’t the greatest threat, resistance to change is, Hood said.
“Across global discussions, participants emphasized institutional inertia as a more immediate risk than AI itself, underscoring the need for focused and intentional action,” he added.
The insights position this moment as an inflection point requiring leaders to move from reactive adaptation to proactive, anticipatory leadership, according to the report.
Unlike prior visioning efforts, like the CPA Vision Project and CPA Horizons, Rise2040 is designed as an ongoing platform, not a one-time report. Built on structured foresight methodologies and AI-enabled analysis, it’s a continuous system for capturing insights and translating them into action across the global profession, the AICPA says.
The initiative will continue to evolve through expanded engagement, deeper analysis, and practical tools to help firms, organizations, and professionals access and apply insights in real time.
“Rise2040 ultimately reinforces a shared responsibility,” Koziel said. “The future of the profession is not predetermined. It will be shaped by the choices made today.”
Photo caption: American Institute of CPAs CEO Mark Koziel
Sign in to get access to this free resource, and all of our whitepapers and reports.
Download this content today!
Register Now Already registered? Click here to Log In
