It’s all about the people.
The skills that employers want in accounting and finance professionals are changing faster than at any point in the profession's history. While technical accounting knowledge remains essential, the roles that attract the best salaries and the most interesting opportunities are increasingly going to candidates who combine financial expertise with commercial acumen, data literacy, and strong communication skills.
Across my years recruiting senior finance professionals in Australia, the gap between what employers want and what candidates offer has never been more visible. Here is a clear picture of the skills that are consistently in demand right now and why they matter.
At the foundation of any finance career is strong technical knowledge. Employers expect candidates to have a solid grasp of Australian Accounting Standards (AASB), which are largely aligned with IFRS, as well as the practical ability to prepare financial statements, manage reconciliations, and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.
For tax-focused roles, up-to-date knowledge of Australian tax legislation, GST, FBT, and transfer pricing rules is essential. For audit and assurance roles, understanding of risk frameworks and internal control environments is critical. These technical foundations are non-negotiable and remain the baseline that every other skill is built on.
Excel remains the most widely used tool in finance, and advanced proficiency continues to be one of the most requested skills across all levels of the profession. Employers are specifically looking for candidates who can build dynamic financial models, use pivot tables, Power Query, and complex formulas to analyse large datasets, and present findings clearly.
Beyond Excel, Power BI is rapidly becoming a must-have skill in larger organisations. The ability to create dashboards, automate reporting, and visualise financial data in a way that business leaders can act on is genuinely differentiating. Candidates who can bridge the gap between the numbers and the story the numbers tell are in very high demand.
System proficiency is consistently cited by employers as a key selection criterion. In medium to large organisations, SAP and Oracle are the dominant ERP platforms, and experience with these systems significantly improves a candidate's competitiveness. NetSuite is increasingly common in tech-enabled and high-growth businesses, while Xero and MYOB remain prevalent in the SME market.
Employers are not just looking for people who have used these systems, but for candidates who understand how to extract value from them, optimise processes, and drive efficiency through better use of technology. Experience with system implementations or upgrades is particularly valuable at senior levels.
Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) capabilities are among the most sought-after skills in the current market. Organisations want finance professionals who can do more than report the past. They want people who can forecast accurately, model scenarios, challenge assumptions, and provide insight that drives better business decisions.
Business partnering is closely linked to FP&A and refers to the ability to work closely with operational teams to translate financial data into actionable commercial strategy. A Finance Business Partner who can sit in a room with a sales director, understand the commercial drivers, and explain the financial implications in plain language is worth significantly more than someone who can only produce reports.
Commercial acumen is one of those skills that is hard to define but immediately recognisable when you encounter it. It is the ability to understand how a business makes money, where value is created or destroyed, and how financial decisions affect the broader organisation. Employers consistently flag this as a differentiating factor at senior levels.
Candidates who have worked in commercially complex environments, managed multiple business units, or had exposure to M&A, pricing strategy, or capital allocation decisions tend to demonstrate strong commercial acumen. For those who have spent most of their career in compliance or reporting roles, actively seeking exposure to commercial projects is one of the most valuable investments you can make.
Finance professionals who cannot communicate clearly will always hit a ceiling. The higher you go in any organisation, the more time you spend explaining financial concepts to non-financial stakeholders, presenting to boards, and influencing decisions without direct authority. Strong written and verbal communication skills are essential.
Presentation skills matter too. Being able to distil a complex financial position into a clear, concise narrative for the executive team or board is a skill that distinguishes good Finance Managers from great ones. Candidates who invest in developing this capability consistently advance faster and earn more.
With increasing regulatory scrutiny across Australian industries, employers want finance professionals who understand the risk and compliance landscape. This is particularly true in financial services, where APRA and ASIC requirements are demanding, but it applies across all sectors as governance expectations rise.
Candidates with experience in risk frameworks, internal audit, SOX compliance, or treasury risk management are well positioned in the current environment. An understanding of cyber risk and its financial implications is also becoming relevant as boards increasingly treat this as a financial, not just a technical, issue.
The most in-demand accounting and finance professionals in Australia are those who combine deep technical knowledge with commercial insight, strong systems proficiency, and the ability to communicate clearly. If you are looking to sharpen your competitive edge, focus on data analytics, ERP proficiency, and business partnering skills. These are the capabilities that consistently command the highest salaries and the best career opportunities in the current market.
