AICPA and CIMA have launched Rise2040: Shaping the Future of Finance and Accounting, an initiative that draws on input from 6,000 professionals across more than 25 countries.

The project sets out a long-term view of how finance and accounting are changing as artificial intelligence, expanding data use and growing business complexity reshape the profession’s role. It describes a shift away from retrospective reporting towards advisory work focused on insight, forecasting and decision support.

Rise2040 is designed as an ongoing platform rather than a one-off study. It combines a flagship report with an AI-based system designed to gather additional input and translate it into practical guidance for organisations and finance professionals.

Its findings are based on a global consultation across multiple markets. The work identified five linked forces shaping the sector: technology and data infrastructure, changing value models, workforce and talent trends, regulation and trust, and wider market and social expectations.

Role shift

A central theme is the changing nature of finance work. As automation takes on more routine tasks, accountants and finance teams are expected to spend more time on strategic analysis, scenario planning and advising management, rather than mainly recording and validating past performance.

The report argues that this transition increases the value of human judgement even as AI becomes more embedded in day-to-day processes. Ethics, accountability and trust remain essential in a business environment where leaders have access to larger volumes of data and more automated tools.

Mark Koziel, Chief Executive Officer of AICPA and CIMA, described the initiative as a response to a period of structural change for the profession.

“Rise2040 is not about predicting a single future, it’s about equipping the profession to actively shape it. We are at a defining moment. As AI reshapes how work gets done, our value will increasingly be defined by human judgment, trust, and the ability to lead in complexity. At the initiative’s core sits the Rise2040 AI platform and flagship report; both reinforce a defining insight … the future of the profession will not be determined by what happens to us, by the forces shaping it, but by how we choose to respond,” Koziel said.

The message comes as accounting firms, corporate finance departments, and professional bodies assess how generative AI and other digital tools will alter workflows, staffing needs and training requirements. The debate has increasingly focused not only on productivity, but also on how to preserve oversight and professional standards as more tasks are supported by software.

Trust and skills

Tom Hood, Executive Vice President, Business Engagement & Growth, said that participants in the global discussions described a profession already changing in both substance and method.

“What emerged from this global effort is a profession that is not retreating from change but rising to meet it with humans in the lead. Professionals are already moving beyond compliance to become strategic advisers, data translators, and trust architects. The opportunity now is to accelerate that shift and build the capabilities, talent models, and leadership mindset needed to deliver value and trust in entirely new ways,” Hood said.

He added that, according to the consultation, resistance to change posed a bigger near-term risk than AI itself. That suggests pressure on employers will centre on organisational culture and training as well as on technology spending.

“A key takeaway from Rise2040 is that disruption alone isn’t the greatest threat, resistance to change is. Across global discussionsemphasisedants emphasised institutional inertia as a more immediate risk than AI itself, underscoring the need for focused and intentional action,” Hood said.

For UK businesses, the initiative places finance teams at the centre of several simultaneous shifts, including digital adoption, tighter scrutiny of governance and reporting, and changing expectations of what finance leaders should contribute to commercial decision-making.

Andrew Harding, Chief Executive – Management Accounting, said the pace of change in the UK was already reshaping established ways of working.

“Across the UK, the transformation of the profession is moving at both scale and pace, driven by rapid digital adoption alongside regulatory change, redefining traditional practices. Working with members, employers, government and the wider profession, we’re committed to shaping that transition and Rise2040 sets out some key drivers,” Harding said.

He said the profession now had an opportunity to move more people into roles where judgement and leadership carry greater weight than routine processing.

“The opportunity isn’t simply to keep up; it’s to lead the shift, moving talent into higher-value roles where trust, judgment and human leadership are the true differentiators. That is what we mean by Human in the Lead. Technology will continue to advance. Data will continue to expand. But the profession’s relevance will be determined by something far more enduring: the ability for its people to think critically, act ethically, and lead decisively,” Harding said.

The initiative reflects a view shared across the consultation that the profession is moving from a historical record-keeping function towards a forward-looking role in business decision-making, with trust and human judgement remaining central.

“Rise2040 ultimately reinforces a shared responsibility. The future of the profession is not predetermined. It will be shaped by the choices made today,” Koziel said.