Roles within the world of finance and accounting are changing, and reports suggest that in just 10 years, the sector will be unrecognisable from what it is today.

With technology and innovation driving a shift from routine jobs to more highly skilled, digital-first jobs, skills shortages have been emerging for some time across a variety of sectors and specialisms.

In fact, a PwC survey found that 83% of CEOs were concerned about their ability to find the talent that’s going to push their businesses forward.

For those working within finance and accounting, the adoption of technology is having a profound effect on their day-to-day ability to perform their tasks. From automated processes to gleaning more data for analysis, traditional roles are changing, and businesses are on the hunt for professionals who can demonstrate the skills of the future today.

So, as technology becomes more embedded within finance teams, and the need to automate, streamline and speed up processes increases, what skills can you focus on developing to futureproof your finance career?

Data Analytics

With businesses having access to more data than ever before, having the ability to critically analyse and draw insight and recommendations from the information at your fingertips will become critical.

In fact, according to a World Economic Forum report, forward-looking decision-making skills will replace traditional backwards-looking report ones, as business look to use the data early to make important decisions.

Finance teams will be looking for individuals with these skills, and specific tools such as PowerBI and Tableau, to build the analysis needed to make well-informed, lower-risk decisions.

AI & Machine Learning

Large scale adoption of AI technologies will have a big impact across several areas within finance and accounting in the future.

These technologies have already begun to permeate many finance roles and process, helping companies detect fraud, automate trading activities and increase the reliability and accuracy of market forecasting.

As businesses and finance team start to invest in AI, they’ll need specialists with the skills and technical know-how to develop AI models and strategies.

Finance Transformation

The rise of automation, adoption of technologies and future change, brings with it instability. This is where transformation specialists come in.

Finance teams will start to look to these Finance Transformation specialists to guide them through future technological and process changes and automating processes such as budgeting, report and data processing.

However, it’s not just technical skills that will be sought after in the years to come. For finance and accounting professionals, understanding the soft skills needed now, and in the future, will be critical for success.

With automated systems and AI able to handle more of the technical tasks, many financial professionals are spending more time working with other human beings and customers. This makes it crucial to have the right interpersonal abilities.

Communication, collaboration, problem-solving, adaptability, flexibility… these are some of the core soft skills professionals will need to be able to develop demonstrate if they are to futureproof their finance careers.