The start of a new year has a way of sharpening focus. Fresh goals, new budgets, new priorities, and for many accounting professionals, a quiet question that keeps coming up:
Am I still growing here, or am I just comfortable?
In an industry where skill shortages continue and firms are competing hard for the right people, staying put does not automatically equal stability or success. Even with a solid employer, remaining in the same seat too long can limit your earning potential, progression, and long term satisfaction.
At the same time, moving firms should be strategic, not reactive. The best career moves happen when you are clear on what you want next and you are choosing a role that builds your value for the future.
This guide will help you assess whether 2026 is the right time to stay, step up, or move on.
The Accounting Job Market Heading Into 2026
The market remains strongly candidate led, especially for professionals who can combine technical capability with commercial thinking and client confidence.
Across public practice, firms are actively hiring people who can:
Deliver strong compliance outcomes efficiently
Step into advisory and value add conversations
Manage and mentor teams
Build and maintain trusted client relationships
Work confidently with modern systems, automation, and data tools
Firms are also responding to retention pressure by lifting offers around flexibility, progression clarity, and total package, not just base salary.
But the bar is rising too. Many employers are increasingly selective and prioritising candidates who can contribute quickly, particularly those with CA or CPA credentials, or clearly on track, proven client exposure, and specialised technical strengths.
Bottom line, opportunity is strong if you are positioned well.
Stay or Go? A 3 Step Decision Framework
A career move is rarely just about money. The best decisions balance growth, lifestyle, culture, learning, and long term trajectory.
Step 1: Get honest about your current situation
Ask yourself:
Do I feel aligned with the firm’s values and direction?
Am I engaged, or just getting through the week?
Is there a genuine path forward, promotion, new responsibilities, succession plans?
Do I feel supported with development, mentoring, and feedback?
Am I paid fairly for my capability and output, not just my tenure?
Also consider utilisation. If you have built capability in areas like tax advisory, business services, virtual CFO, corporate finance, or SMSF strategy but you are mostly stuck in production work, that is a sign your growth may be capped where you are.
Step 2: Clarify what matters most in 2026
New year means new priorities. Decide your non negotiables and your nice to haves.
Key areas to evaluate:
Salary and Benefits: Are you being rewarded at market level, and is there appetite to review it?
Career Development: Is there structured progression, CPD support, real mentorship?
Work life balance: Is flexibility real, or just talked about?
Technology: Are you working with modern systems, automation and good processes, or drowning in manual workarounds?
Culture and leadership: Do you trust leadership? Do you feel respected? Is the environment sustainable?
If you are unclear, a useful test is:
If nothing changed for the next 12 months, would I be okay with that?
Step 3: Sense check timing and risk
Before moving, look at the practical realities:
Is your firm stable, clients, leadership, team turnover?
Is your niche expanding, or tightening?
Are you immediately competitive for the roles you want, or is there a gap to close first?
Would a short term upskill, for example finishing CA or CPA, or deepening advisory exposure, unlock a better move in 3 to 6 months?
Sometimes go is right now. Sometimes the smartest play is to stay briefly, skill up deliberately, then move up, not sideways.
If You’re Moving in 2026, Here’s a Simple Action Plan
1) Run a quick skills gap check
Review a handful of job ads for your ideal next role and note repeated requirements. Then choose one or two focus areas to build over the next quarter, technical, advisory, leadership, or systems.
2) Use your network properly
Do not wait until you are desperate. Start conversations early. Reconnect with former colleagues, mentors, and trusted recruiters. Stay close to professional bodies and events such as CPA Australia, CA ANZ, and specialist groups.
3) Refresh your resume and LinkedIn, with outcomes
Lead with impact, not duties. Include metrics, client outcomes, complexity handled, process improvements, advisory wins, and leadership examples.
4) Apply selectively and interview with intent
Target firms that match your priorities, not just the biggest brand or quickest offer. In interviews, ask better questions about team structure, progression expectations, workflow quality, advisory mix, tech stack, and flexibility in practice.
5) Negotiate the whole package
Base salary matters, but so do bonus structures, CPD funding, flexibility, workload expectations, and promotion timeframes. Know your value and benchmark properly.
Final Thoughts: Make 2026 a career compounding year
A move can be a powerful lever, higher income, better culture, stronger development, bigger client exposure. But the best outcomes come from clarity and timing, not impulse.
If you are weighing up your options for 2026, a quick conversation can help you map what is realistic, what is available, and what your best next step looks like.
Ready to explore new accounting opportunities in 2026?
Book a complimentary career discovery call here.