iscover Survey reveals nationwide accountant, auditor shortages
BusinessCA ANZ has found evidence of a national shortage of general accountants, tax accountants and external auditors in a survey of vacancy fill rates.
A recent survey by CA ANZ has revealed a high likelihood of Australia-wide occupational shortages of internal auditors, external auditors, general accountants and tax accountants.
As a contribution to Jobs and Skills Australia’s consultation for its 2026 Occupation Shortage List, CA ANZ conducted a survey of 159 of its members who had advertised vacancies in Australia from January to December 2025.
CA ANZ’s survey found evidence of Australia-wide shortages of internal auditors, external auditors, general accountants and taxation accountants. These professions had vacancy fill rates of 40 per cent, 49 per cent, 49 per cent, and 55 per cent, respectively, with a fill rate below 67 per cent indicating a high likelihood of talent shortages.
In contrast, a higher proportion of vacancies were filled for finance managers (85 per cent) and management accountants (75 per cent), CA ANZ found.
Based on their survey findings, CA ANZ recommended that Jobs and Skills Australia include general accountants, taxation accountants, and external auditors on the 2026 Occupation Shortage List.
External auditor roles took the longest average time to fill, CA ANZ found, at an average of 113 days. Finance manager vacancies were the quickest to fill, at 32 days.
Internal auditor roles took an estimated 83 days to fill, followed by general accountants at 79 days, tax accountants at 77 days, and management accountants at 57 days.
“The main reason advertised vacancies were not filled was the lack of experienced professionals,” CA ANZ noted in its submission.
Survey respondents also observed a dearth of specialised skills in key areas such as tax. The declining number of accounting graduates entering the profession was also highlighted as a key concern within the industry.
The largest proportion of respondents (41 per cent) said that demand for accountants and related professionals was the same in 2025 as in 2024, while 35 per cent said it was higher or much higher. Seven per cent said there was lower demand.
Broken down by states and territories, CA ANZ found that NSW and Victoria were likely experiencing shortages of general accountants, external auditors, internal auditors, tax accountants and management accountants. Victoria was also short on financial advisers.
The survey also indicated that ACT had a shortage of tax accountants, South Australia of general accountants and internal auditors, and Queensland of general accountants, external auditors and tax accountants. The Northern Territory was low on external auditors and tax accountants.
Jobs and Skills Australia is expected to release its 2026 Occupation Shortage List in October.
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Emma Partis
Emma Partis is a journalist at Accountants Daily and Accounting Times, the leading sources of news, insight, and educational content for professionals in the accounting sector. Previously, Emma worked as a News Intern with Bloomberg News' economics and government team in Sydney. She studied econometrics and psychology at UNSW.
