Market data and workforce trends showing how US companies are building stronger finance teams by accessing high-skilled global professionals
US employers are projected to have approximately 115,300 annual openings for accountants and auditors from 2025 to 2035, but the real story isn't about outsourcing at all. It's about a fundamental shift in how US companies build their finance teams. With sustained demand for accounting professionals and changing workforce requirements, forward-thinking CFOs are expanding their talent search globally to access high-quality finance professionals who work as dedicated, embedded members of their in-house teams.
This isn't about shipping work offshore. It's about building stronger finance functions by accessing skilled professionals wherever they exist.
The finance and accounting talent market has undergone a fundamental transformation. What started as cost arbitrage has evolved into a strategic approach to building resilient, high-quality finance teams that aren't constrained by geography.
Employment of accountants and auditors is projected to grow 5% between 2025 and 2035, faster than the average for all occupations. This growth reflects continuing demand from US companies seeking skilled finance professionals to support financial reporting, auditing, compliance, and business operations.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects approximately 115,300 annual openings for accountants and auditors between 2025 and 2035. Many of these openings will result from professionals changing occupations or leaving the workforce, including retirement. This trajectory signals sustained demand for qualified finance talent.
The World Economic Forum projects that changes in technology, demographics, and economic conditions could create 170 million jobs globally by 2030. While this projection covers all industries rather than accounting specifically, it highlights the scale of workforce transformation influencing how companies recruit professionals.
The same World Economic Forum research projects that 92 million jobs could be displaced globally by 2030, resulting in a net increase of 78 million jobs when projected new positions are considered. These changes reinforce the importance of adaptable recruitment and workforce development strategies.
According to the AICPA's 2025 Trends report, 75% of accounting firms that recruited new staff in 2024 expected to maintain or increase their hiring levels in 2025. This outlook demonstrates sustained demand among accounting firms seeking to maintain and expand their professional capacity.
For finance leaders evaluating their talent strategy, these workforce trends point toward a clear conclusion: global talent solutions aren't a temporary fix but an increasingly relevant feature of modern finance team design.
While cost efficiency matters, the strongest case for global finance talent centers on quality, access, and operational resilience. The best global professionals bring experience, credentials, and capabilities that strengthen your finance function.
The median annual wage for accountants and auditors reached $83,680 in May 2025. Compensation varies by experience, specialization, industry, and location. For companies exploring global finance hiring, these benchmarks provide a useful starting point for comparing total employment costs while maintaining expectations for talent quality.
The highest-paid 10% of US accountants and auditors earned more than $144,090 annually in May 2025. These compensation levels illustrate the financial investment required to recruit highly experienced accounting professionals. Accessing qualified global candidates can expand the available talent pool while allowing companies to evaluate compensation alongside experience and technical capability.
The median annual wage for financial and investment analysts was $102,740 in May 2025. These professionals support investment decisions, analyze financial performance, and evaluate economic conditions. For companies seeking experienced analytical talent, global recruitment offers additional access to candidates with relevant financial modeling, forecasting, and reporting capabilities.
Financial risk specialists earned a median annual wage of $117,330 in May 2025. Their work involves evaluating financial exposures, analyzing uncertainty, and supporting risk-related decisions. These compensation benchmarks demonstrate the value of specialized financial expertise and the importance of matching candidates to clearly defined role requirements.
The strategic advantage isn't just about spending less. It's about accessing high-skilled professionals who take ownership of critical finance responsibilities and operate as true members of your team.
The US accounting talent shortage isn't a temporary hiring challenge. It's a structural workforce issue influenced by demographic shifts, changing education trends, and evolving professional requirements. Global talent provides an additional scalable solution.
The number of US accounting graduates totaled 55,152 during the 2023–2024 academic year, according to the AICPA. While these graduates contribute to the future accounting workforce, companies seeking experienced professionals still face competition for candidates with established technical and managerial capabilities.
The AICPA reported that accounting degree completions declined 6.6% during the 2023–2024 academic year. This decline demonstrates continued pressure on the profession's education pipeline, even as more recent enrollment trends indicate renewed student interest.
Accounting degree completions had declined 9.6% during the 2022–2023 academic year. Although the rate of decline moderated in the following year, these trends highlight the need for finance leaders to develop recruitment strategies that can adapt to changing domestic talent availability.
The AICPA reported 40,817 accounting bachelor's degrees awarded during the 2023–2024 academic year, representing a 3.3% decline from the previous year. Changes in the pipeline of new accountants can influence long-term competition for qualified candidates, particularly in specialized finance roles.
The number of accounting and taxation master's degrees awarded fell to 14,335 during the 2023–2024 academic year, a decline of approximately 15%. These figures reinforce the importance of recruiting professionals with demonstrated experience rather than relying solely on the future supply of accounting graduates.
When domestic hiring can't fill critical finance and accounting roles, global talent becomes not just an option but an important alternative for maintaining business continuity.
The key to successful global hiring isn't finding the cheapest option. It's finding professionals with the right experience, credentials, and capabilities who can operate as embedded members of your team. Rigorous vetting makes the difference.
US undergraduate accounting enrollment increased 7.3% in fall 2025, according to National Student Clearinghouse data reported by the AICPA. This growth indicates renewed interest in accounting careers, although students entering the profession still require time to develop the experience needed for senior finance responsibilities.
Undergraduate accounting enrollment increased 11.3% in fall 2024. This increase preceded another year of enrollment growth, suggesting that the accounting education pipeline is showing signs of recovery. For companies hiring experienced finance professionals, however, evaluating practical experience remains essential.
Accounting enrollment at four-year undergraduate institutions increased 8.9% in spring 2026 compared with the previous year. This growth reflects improving interest in accounting education but does not immediately resolve the need for experienced professionals capable of managing complex financial responsibilities.
US four-year undergraduate accounting programs enrolled 205,180 students in spring 2026. This substantial educational pipeline demonstrates continued investment in accounting careers. However, companies must still distinguish between academic qualifications and the practical capabilities required for experienced finance roles.
The difference between success and failure in global hiring comes down to vetting rigor. Companies that evaluate candidates based on work samples, technical assessments, credentials, and structured interviews are better positioned to identify professionals who meet their requirements.
AI is transforming finance work, but not in the way many expected. Rather than replacing accountants, automation is raising the bar for the professionals companies need. The future belongs to AI-proficient talent who can apply human judgment to machine outputs.
By 2030, activities accounting for 30% of US work hours could be automated, according to McKinsey. This projection covers the broader economy rather than accounting alone. The shift doesn't eliminate the need for skilled professionals. It increases the importance of people who can review outputs, handle exceptions, and make judgment calls.
The World Economic Forum projects that approximately 40% of existing skills could change or become outdated by 2030. This transformation reflects the increasing integration of AI and other technologies into business workflows, making adaptability and technical proficiency important considerations when hiring finance professionals.
The World Economic Forum reports that 77% of employers plan to upskill their employees in response to AI. This investment reflects the importance of professionals who can combine existing expertise with new technological capabilities. For accounting teams, upskilling can strengthen automation oversight, reporting, and financial analysis.
According to the World Economic Forum, 63% of employers identify skills gaps as a major barrier to business transformation. Although this finding covers multiple industries, it reinforces the importance of recruiting finance professionals with relevant capabilities and the adaptability to work with changing technologies.
The finance teams that thrive will combine AI tools with AI-proficient professionals who know how to direct technology rather than just execute tasks underneath it.
Effective global talent strategies require more than finding skilled professionals. They require operational infrastructure that enables seamless integration into existing workflows, systems, and processes.
According to Pew Research Center, 35% of US workers with jobs that can be performed remotely worked from home all the time in its 2023 survey. This shift in work arrangements demonstrates how distributed working models have become established across many professional occupations.
Pew Research Center found that 41% of workers with remote-capable jobs followed hybrid work arrangements in 2023. These arrangements combine remote and in-person work, demonstrating how organizations can coordinate employees across different working environments.
For finance teams, established remote collaboration practices can support the integration of global professionals working within existing systems and reporting structures.
Employment of financial analysts is projected to grow 7% from 2025 to 2035, faster than the average for all occupations. This anticipated growth demonstrates sustained demand for professionals who can analyze financial information, assess performance, and support business decision-making.
For companies building their global talent strategy, the operational layer matters as much as the talent itself. Solutions that handle contracts, payments, and compliance remove friction and let finance leaders focus on building their teams.
The most successful global talent strategies treat professionals as dedicated members of the in-house team, not as external resources completing assigned tasks. This embedded model can support stronger collaboration, working relationships, and continuity.
The distinction between outsourcing and embedded team building matters enormously. When global professionals work inside your:
They become true extensions of your finance function, not external service providers.
The relationship shouldn't end after hiring. Companies that maintain ongoing support and partnership for their global talent can support retention, professional development, and smoother transitions when needs evolve.
MAVI's approach exemplifies this model, remaining involved as a continuous partner after matching so finance teams receive ongoing support as their talent needs evolve.
The changing accounting talent market makes it increasingly important for US companies to expand their recruitment strategies. Rather than relying exclusively on local hiring or traditional outsourcing, finance leaders can access experienced global professionals who work as dedicated members of their teams.
MAVI helps companies hire rigorously vetted global finance and accounting talent through an AI-powered platform that combines intelligent matching with human expertise.
Its approach focuses on:
For CFOs and finance leaders, MAVI offers a flexible way to strengthen internal teams while retaining oversight of financial operations.
Hire vetted finance talent and build a stronger finance team with less recruitment complexity.
The primary benefits extend beyond cost savings to include access to a larger pool of qualified professionals, faster hiring timelines, and operational resilience against domestic talent shortages. Companies can build stronger in-house finance teams by accessing high-skilled professionals globally rather than competing for an increasingly limited domestic talent pool. When properly vetted and matched, global professionals bring strong credentials, relevant experience, and the ability to take ownership of critical finance responsibilities.
Traditional outsourcing involves sending work to an external provider who completes tasks and returns deliverables. Building an in-house team with global talent means hiring dedicated professionals who work inside your existing systems, tools, and workflows as true members of your organization. They attend your meetings, use your software, follow your processes, and develop institutional knowledge over time. The distinction matters for quality, continuity, and professional development.
AI automates transactional work like data entry, basic reconciliations, and routine processing. However, this automation increases the importance of professionals who can review AI outputs, handle exceptions, apply judgment, and ensure accuracy. The most effective finance teams combine AI tools with AI-proficient professionals who understand how to direct technology rather than simply execute tasks. Global talent strategies should prioritize professionals capable of this higher-level work.
With the right partner, companies can receive curated candidate matches within days. MAVI states that companies can onboard qualified talent in as fast as five days from initial inquiry, although actual timelines depend on candidate availability and role requirements. The key factors enabling fast hiring include pre-vetted talent networks, precision matching based on specific requirements, and operational infrastructure that handles administrative overhead efficiently.
Quality assurance starts with rigorous vetting that goes beyond resume review. The best approaches evaluate candidates based on work samples, technical assessments, credentials verification, systems proficiency, communication ability, and structured interviews. Only a small percentage of candidates should pass this evaluation. Additionally, matching precision matters: candidates should be evaluated for fit with specific role requirements, not just general qualifications.
Experienced global finance professionals often have proficiency with major accounting platforms including NetSuite, QuickBooks, Sage Intacct, and various ERP systems. Many have worked with US companies and understand GAAP requirements. When evaluating candidates, specific systems experience should be matched to your environment rather than assumed. The strongest talent partners assess systems proficiency as part of their vetting process and match candidates to roles based on relevant experience.
