Financial Professionals’ Role Expands Toward Social Impact and Climate Issues
ACCA’s latest Global Talent Trends Survey shows that the role of accounting and finance professionals is increasingly being linked with social impact, environmental challenges, and technological change. In the survey, which included more than 11,000 accounting and finance professionals from 160 countries, more than one-third said their work is helping employers address environmental and climate issues. Similarly, 45 percent said they are supporting social impact-related matters.
According to the survey, professionals’ interest in purpose-driven finance roles is expected to increase further in the future. Sixty-three percent of respondents expressed a desire for their next finance role to contribute to environmental and climate challenges, while 69 percent said they wanted a meaningful role in social impact.
According to ACCA, business success is no longer limited to profit alone but is also becoming connected with ethics, environmental and social sustainability, the use of technology, and the capacity to deal with economic instability. Along with this shift, the scope of the accounting profession appears to have expanded beyond financial reporting to institutional value creation and sustainability-related decision-making.
The survey also highlighted challenges related to technology and the workplace. Forty-eight percent of respondents are concerned about the use of AI algorithms in recruitment processes. However, 82 percent expressed confidence that they can develop AI-related skills. Fifty-four percent said work pressure had affected their mental health, while 55 percent expressed dissatisfaction with their current pay.
ACCA Global Head of Skills, Sectors and Technology Jamie Lyon FCCA said accountants want to contribute to social impact-related issues and that many are already making such contributions through their current roles. According to him, this shows that the accounting profession and career pathways are continuously changing and expanding.
In the Nepal context, ACCA Nepal Head Rabin Katwal FCCA said the skills of young financial professionals should be used within the country itself for corporate governance, financial transparency, and economic stability. According to him, opportunities for financial leadership within Nepal are increasing in banking, insurance, multinational companies, and the development sector.
