A recent Chartered Accountants ANZ survey has identified a national skills shortage among the occupations of finance manager, management accountant, and taxation accountant.

Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CA ANZ) is advocating for more government action on the skills shortage in the accounting profession, following the results of its survey into occupation shortages.

As part of a recent survey, the professional body surveyed 395 members who advertised vacancies in Australia between January and December 2024 to identify accounting, audit and finance-related occupations that might be in shortage across the Australian labour market.

The survey found that taxation accountant was the occupation at highest risk of a national shortage, accounting for 29 per cent of the total advertised roles and experiencing the second-highest level of demand.

The national vacancy fill rates were lowest for the roles of financial investment advisers at only 29 per cent, finance managers at 37 per cent, management accountants at 45 per cent, and taxation accountants at 59 per cent.

They survey adopted the same methodology as Jobs and Skills Australia, where an estimated fill rate below 67 per cent indicates a high likelihood of an occupation shortage.

Demand was typically found to be the same in 2024 compared to 2023 for 73 per cent of the occupations surveyed. Around a quarter or 26 per cent of respondents said there was higher or much more demand than in 2023, and only 1 per cent said there was lower demand.

“Almost half of respondents said there was higher or much higher demand in 2024 than 2023 for internal auditors at 46 per cent, financial investment advisers at 43 per cent, external auditors at 40 per cent, and management accountants at 40 per cent,” said CA ANZ.

Vacancy fill rates were the worst in regional areas across all occupations surveyed and lowest for management accountants, financial investment advisers, finance managers and external auditors.

“External auditors in regional South Australia are at greatest risk of a regional shortage as respondents said that no advertised vacancies were filled in occupations in this area, there is a severe undersupply and much higher demand in 2024 than 2023,” said CA ANZ.

The main reasons respondents gave for not filling vacancies was a lack of suitable applicants.

The main challenge survey respondents found with job applicants across all eight occupations was a lack of experience in the occupation, followed by a lack of technical skills and a lack of required qualification or registration.

Other key challenges respondents identified with job applicants for each occupation surveyed were remuneration expectations, poor application or interview, and applicants who were overseas and did not have Australian working rights.

“Other reasons respondents said vacancies were not filled include the length of time taken to fill positions, difficulty attracting workers to regional areas, the declining talent pipeline entering the profession, and retention challenges due to increased competition in a difficult economic environment and escalating regulatory burden.”

In a recent submission to Jobs and Skills Australia, CA ANZ said the government must address the primary occupation shortage driver for accounting, the long training gap, by refocusing Australia’s migration system on skills and migrant quality rather than quantity to tackle skill shortages.

The professional body said the government should also feature accountants, auditors and finance-related occupations prominently on Australia’s skilled migration lists, including retaining these occupations on the Core Skills Occupation List.

It also called for support for schools to offer accounting subjects and for the introduction of a robust national senior secondary accounting curriculum lowering student loan repayments through changes to HECS-HELPS and replacing the Job-Ready Graduates Package to make course fees fairer.

Moreover, submission called for accounting, audit and finance-related occupations to be included on the 2025 Occupation Shortage List.

The government should be targeting investments in accounting, financial capability, digital, Al, and sustainability education and skills to build Australia’s workforce, it added.

CA ANZ also called for more government support for work readiness programs and pre-employment services to improve employment and migration outcomes for international accounting graduates and migrant accountants and make best use of their skills.