Current Challenges And Changes In The Accounting Function

Inspired by the numerous changes, roadblocks and problems facing the accounting profession as part of Industry 4.0 (and beyond), this paper aims to discuss three current challenges which will continue to impact the profession in the foreseeable future. Strategic documents, such as the World Economic Forum’s 2023 report on the future of jobs, the ACCA’s 2023 Annual Report, and other relevant documents, are used as a frame of reference. This paper outlines the three challenges that need to be understood both in terms of the future of jobs in general and the future of accounting in particular. These challenges are: 1) the capacity of accounting to attract graduates into the profession; 2) the relevance of the profession in terms of the ongoing digital transformation; and 3) the challenge of change, which this paper explicitly links to and examines by using VUCA framework – a well-known tool for identifying, quantifying and mitigating the risks associated with a specific situation. The articulation of the challenges seeks to indicate the necessary steps to a more sustainable accounting profession.