Why accounting may look completely different by 2040
· Fortune
Good morning. The accounting profession has spent decades looking backward. By 2040, it may be defined by how well it looks ahead.
That’s the core message behind Rise2040: Shaping the Future of Finance and Accounting, a global initiative led by the AICPA and CIMA. Based on input from roughly 6,000 professionals across 25 countries, the report frames a profession at an inflection point—one shaped by AI shifting demographics, and an expanding mandate inside the enterprise.
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“We’re no longer just closing the books,” Tom Hood, EVP of business growth and engagement at the AICPA and CIMA told me. “Finance is being asked to forecast in an increasingly volatile environment.”
That shift—from historian to futurist—is already underway, but unevenly. Early adopters and “visionaries,” as Hood described them, are embedding AI into workflows and elevating controllership into strategic advisory. Others risk falling behind. The report outlines a “transformation curve,” where laggards face what Hood bluntly called “a long decline into obsolescence.”
Forces that underpin this transformation include technology—particularly generative AI—which is accelerating change at an exponential rate. Another is regulation, a steady, linear force that continues to expand alongside innovation. A third is demographics, where the profession faces a looming “silver tsunami.” By 2030, the last baby boomers will turn 65, triggering a wave of retirements from the largest cohort in the workforce.
The result: a talent crunch that is forcing firms and companies to rethink both recruitment and development.
“This is about attracting, retaining, and growing talent,” Hood said. “And the future professional will look very different.”
That includes not only traditional accountants but also data scientists and technologists embedded within finance teams. It also requires a fundamental rethink of training. The AICPA and CIMA are investing in simulation-based learning where early-career professionals can build judgment and decision-making skills in controlled environments rather than through repetitive transaction work that AI will increasingly handle.
In the near term, employers will bear much of the burden. Academic curricula are slow to adapt, leaving CFOs and firm leaders to upskill talent in real time. Initiatives like the organization’s AI Accelerator and Profession Ready initiative aim to close that gap, combining technical training with what Hood calls “success skills,” such as strategic thinking.
The urgency is clear—and internal. One of the report’s key findings is this: “What many of us have known for the last 20 years is that the biggest barrier to our success is not an external force, it’s ourselves,” Hood said.
Still, there is optimism. Roughly 80% of respondents said they feel positive about the future, reflecting a growing recognition that disruption brings opportunity. Increasingly, finance leaders are being positioned as stewards of trust, not just over financial statements, but over data, models, and AI-driven insights.
To support that shift, the AICPA and CIMA have launched the Rise Navigator, an AI chatbot that is now taking the pulse of the global accounting profession and projecting where it needs to be by 2040. The Rise2040 report is based on data from onsite polling at global workshops and early use of the Rise Navigator. All of that input was then run through the tool to rapidly assess the findings. The goal is not just to identify trends, but to translate them into action, whether for a CFO at a multinational or a partner at a small firm.
I haven’t personally been able to try the chatbot yet. But let me know what you’d like me to ask it when I do and I’ll report back.
Sheryl Estrada
[email protected]
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com