Data-driven insights revealing why high-skilled talent, precision matching, and AI proficiency are transforming finance team building in 2026
The finance and accounting staffing landscape is experiencing a fundamental shift. With 85% of CFOs reporting talent shortages and annual job openings exceeding 115,000 through 2035, companies can no longer rely on traditional hiring approaches. At the same time, AI is automating transactional work while increasing demand for professionals who can apply judgment, handle exceptions, and own results. For US companies looking to build strong in-house finance teams, understanding these trends isn't optional.
Platforms like MAVI's finance talent platform are helping companies navigate this new reality by connecting them with rigorously vetted, experienced global finance professionals who work as embedded members of their teams.
The numbers paint a clear picture of why finance leaders rank talent acquisition as a top challenge. This isn't a temporary market fluctuation. It's a structural imbalance between constrained supply and sustained demand.
The talent crisis has reached widespread proportions. Deloitte's first-quarter 2025 CFO Signals survey found that 85% of CFOs were experiencing shortages of accountants or other finance talent. The survey covered 200 CFOs at North American organizations with at least $1 billion in revenue. This highlights the scale of a problem affecting finance departments across major businesses.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 115,300 annual openings for accountants and auditors over the next decade. This sustained demand creates ongoing competition for qualified candidates, making speed and precision in hiring essential.
Many of these openings are expected to result from professionals retiring, changing occupations, or otherwise leaving the workforce.
The education pipeline continues shrinking. Accounting degrees awarded fell 6.6% to just 55,152 in the 2023–2024 academic year. Master's degrees in accounting or taxation dropped approximately 15%. Fewer graduates entering the profession means fewer new candidates available to hire, although recent enrollment growth offers encouraging signs for the future.
When Deloitte surveyed CFOs, only 15% said their organizations were NOT experiencing a finance talent shortage. The remaining 85% reported shortages that can affect everything from month-end close to strategic planning.
The AICPA reports that new CPA exam candidates declined from 42,626 in 2023 to 28,082 in 2024. The decline followed unusually high participation in 2023 ahead of changes to the examination. Initial 2025 data showed renewed growth, so the decrease should not be interpreted as a continuing annual trend.
For companies struggling to find qualified finance professionals through traditional channels, MAVI's rigorous vetting process evaluates candidates on work experience, credentials, technical capabilities, and communication ability to identify the top 2% of global finance talent, according to MAVI's screening criteria.
Extended hiring timelines create real business consequences. Every week a critical finance role remains unfilled increases the burden on existing team members and delays important work.
Finance talent shortages place additional pressure on existing employees. Deloitte found that 44% of CFOs identified increased workloads for current employees as their leading concern about accounting talent pipeline shortages. This pressure can become especially significant during reporting deadlines, audits, and month-end close.
The consequences of finance staffing shortages can extend beyond internal operations. Deloitte found that 42% of CFOs identified the potential loss of credibility with institutional and private investors as a concern related to accounting talent pipeline shortages.
This highlights the importance of maintaining finance teams capable of meeting reporting and financial oversight requirements.
The challenge isn't just finding candidates. It's finding qualified candidates. 45% of CFOs surveyed by Deloitte identified a lack of skilled talent as one of the biggest workforce challenges facing their finance departments.
The talent crunch can also affect confidence in financial leadership. 41% of CFOs surveyed by Deloitte identified erosion of board confidence in finance as a concern related to accounting talent pipeline shortages.
Companies that need to fill finance roles faster can explore how MAVI's matching process helps introduce qualified candidates within days rather than relying entirely on lengthy sourcing and screening processes.
AI isn't replacing the need for strong finance professionals. It's changing what those professionals do and raising the bar for who companies need to hire.
A Deloitte CFO Signals survey found 79% of CFOs said they're likely to use generative AI in the following 24 months to help with skills gaps. But AI creates as many questions as it answers about who reviews the output.
When companies face workforce and productivity challenges, they turn to technology. The World Economic Forum found that 73% of employers plan to accelerate process and task automation through 2030. However, automation without oversight creates risk.
This is a cross-industry statistic, but it highlights a trend relevant to finance teams adopting new technology.
The World Economic Forum found that 63% of employers intend to complement and augment their workforce with new technologies. This integration requires finance professionals who understand both the technology and its limitations.
Despite widespread interest, 48% of CFOs surveyed by Deloitte identified employee resistance to new technology as a major workforce challenge in meeting C-suite expectations of finance. Implementing AI without the right skills and workforce readiness can create difficulties.
The gap between AI adoption and workforce readiness creates demand for AI-proficient finance professionals who can review outputs, apply judgment, and take responsibility for the final work.
Finance teams are adapting their hiring strategies to match current realities. The data shows clear shifts in how companies approach building their teams.
Flexibility is becoming a priority. 35% of CFOs surveyed by Deloitte are increasing their use of external human resourcing firms to identify qualified candidates, reflecting the need to expand recruitment capabilities when internal talent pipelines are insufficient.
Finance leaders are becoming more directly involved in recruitment. Deloitte found that 34% of CFOs were taking a larger role in their finance departments' hiring processes.
This reflects the importance of identifying candidates with the right technical qualifications, business experience, and ability to contribute to finance operations.
Hiring intent remains strong. 75% of public accounting firms that hired in 2024 expected to hire the same number or more employees in 2025, indicating sustained demand across the profession at the time of the survey.
Talent isn't just an HR issue. 50% of CFOs surveyed by Deloitte identified employee engagement as one of the biggest workforce challenges in meeting C-suite expectations for finance, putting it alongside talent availability and technology adoption.
Workforce strategies are evolving. The World Economic Forum found that 51% of employers plan to transition employees from declining roles into growing positions through 2030.
For finance teams, this could involve shifting experienced professionals toward financial analysis, planning, and business support as routine activities become more automated.
Where and how finance professionals work has changed. Companies that adapt their models gain access to broader talent pools.
Remote work remains an important consideration. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 68.4% of accountants and auditors held jobs where telework was routinely allowed in 2025.
This figure measures whether telework is permitted, rather than the share of employees working remotely full-time.
Flexible work structures are common across accounting roles. The Bureau of Labor Statistics found that 73.5% of accountants and auditors had self-paced work in 2025.
This suggests many accounting professionals have some flexibility in organizing their responsibilities, although deadlines, reporting requirements, and collaboration remain essential.
Finance workloads change throughout the year. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 34.9% of accountants and auditors held jobs with variable work schedules in 2025.
This can reflect changing demands during audits, reporting periods, and other business activities.
Companies building hybrid finance functions can combine US-based leadership with high-skilled global professionals who work as embedded team members. MAVI's matching intelligence helps identify professionals whose experience and capabilities align with specific role requirements.
Salaries are rising, but money alone isn't solving the talent problem. The data reveals a market where qualified candidates have significant leverage.
Compensation continues climbing. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports a median annual wage of $83,680 for accountants and auditors, with top earners exceeding $144,000.
Benefits remain important in attracting and retaining finance professionals. Deloitte found that 44% of CFOs identified retirement plans, including 401(k) plans and pensions, as the benefits they believed prospective hires valued most.
Keeping existing talent has become as important as finding new hires.
Compensation varies significantly across industries. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that accountants and auditors employed in finance and insurance earned a median annual wage of $93,290 in May 2025.
This demonstrates how industry experience and specialized requirements can influence compensation.
The focus on qualified finance professionals remains strong. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, accountants and auditors employed in management of companies and enterprises earned a median annual wage of $91,940 in May 2025.
This reflects the value of accounting expertise within corporate environments, where professionals may support reporting, reconciliations, budgeting, and forecasting.
The data points to several clear conclusions for CFOs, Controllers, and finance leaders building teams in 2026:
For finance leaders ready to build stronger teams, MAVI's approach combines rigorous vetting with precision matching to identify professionals who can take ownership of critical finance responsibilities.
The finance staffing trends shaping 2026 reinforce the importance of finding experienced professionals who can contribute to existing teams without adding unnecessary recruitment complexity.
MAVI helps US companies hire rigorously vetted global finance and accounting professionals through AI-powered matching and human expertise.
MAVI enables finance leaders to:
By combining talent quality, matching technology, and human expertise, MAVI helps companies build finance teams equipped for changing business requirements.
Explore MAVI's talent platform to hire experienced global finance professionals and build a stronger, more flexible team.
The biggest challenges include a structural shortage of qualified candidates, with 85% of surveyed CFOs reporting a talent gap and 45% identifying a lack of skilled finance professionals as a major workforce challenge. Meanwhile, the education pipeline has experienced pressure, with accounting degrees down 6.6% year-over-year in 2023–2024. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects 115,300 annual openings for accountants and auditors through 2035.
AI is automating transactional finance work while increasing the importance of professionals who can apply judgment, review AI outputs, handle exceptions, and take accountability for results. While 79% of surveyed CFOs plan to use GenAI to address skills gaps, 48% identify employee resistance to new technology as a major challenge. This creates demand for AI-proficient finance professionals who understand both the technology and its limitations.
Modern finance talent engines like MAVI focus on precision matching based on deep candidate evaluation rather than simply providing access to a large candidate pool. This includes assessing work experience, work samples, credentials, technical capabilities, and communication ability to identify professionals who can work as embedded members of the customer's finance team. The goal is helping companies build their own in-house teams rather than providing outsourced services.
Yes. High-skilled finance professionals with strong credentials, US GAAP knowledge, and relevant systems experience exist in many markets. The key is rigorous vetting that evaluates candidates consistently regardless of geography. Companies that access global talent through precision-matching platforms can apply the same quality standards as domestic hiring while expanding access to qualified professionals.
Platforms designed for speed can surface qualified candidates in days rather than months. MAVI, for example, states that companies can interview pre-vetted candidates within days and onboard talent in as fast as five days from initial inquiry. These are accelerated scenarios rather than guaranteed timelines. Actual hiring and onboarding depend on role requirements, candidate availability, interviews, and administrative arrangements.
