AI in Finance: 7 Trends CFOs Need to Watch for 2026

The finance and accounting landscape is undergoing a monumental shift. Today’s finance leaders face mounting pressure to deliver more value while managing tighter budgets and a shrinking talent pool.

Consero and CPA.com experts discuss how AI, automation, and new operating models are helping finance teams rise to meet these challenges. Here’s what every finance leader needs to know about what thriving accounting departments will look like in 2026 and beyond.

1. The Finance Function is Moving from Reporting to Value Creation

The traditional “scorekeeper” model of finance focused solely on recording, controlling, and reporting is rapidly becoming obsolete. As automation handles the routine “what” and “when,” finance professionals are being freed to focus on the “why” and “how.”

Modern finance teams are now expected to be storytellers who interpret data to influence business strategy and drive measurable value creation across the organization.

“The evolution of the finance function is really moving from that transactional control-based role to one that’s really centered more around insight, influence, and impact.” — Kimberly Blascoe, Senior Director, CAS Professional Services, CPA.com

• Transactional Focus: Data entry, reconciliations, and basic compliance.
• Strategic Focus: Management accounting, decision support, and growth innovation.
• The Result: Finance collaborates across the organization to shape outcomes rather than just reporting on them.

2. Industry Consolidation Raises the Bar

The accounting ecosystem is consolidating, capacity models are evolving, and client expectations are becoming more global. These shifts raise the bar for speed, breadth, and advisory capability.

“We’re in a major consolidation phase…maybe we’re going to have a big six or big eight.” — Kimberly Blascoe

Key trends:

• Consolidation and PE-backed firm rollups
• New hiring models (offshore, fractional, seasonal)
• Growing demand for global support (payroll, compliance, cross-border needs)

3. The CFO Role is Changing While the “Chief Accounting Officer” Era Fades

Finance leaders are caught between competing demands. They’re being asked to deliver better quality, faster results, and lower costs, all at once.

“I really think the Chief Accounting Officer is dead now…You can’t come in and just do recordkeeping anymore, you have to offer more.” — Ashley Honeyman, CFO/COO, Consero

New expectations CFOs are absorbing:

• Operational fluency across the business
• Board/investor readiness and narrative leadership
• Faster decisions with less tolerance for delays or ambiguity
• Strategic advisor to the CEO and board
• Relationship builder with investors, clients, and teams
• Technology champion driving automation and efficiency

4. The Biggest Friction: Talent, Capacity, and Time-to-fill

Finance leaders are being asked to provide higher-quality insights faster than ever, yet they are struggling to find the talent to do it.

CFOs must now navigate rising operational costs and a 4-to-6-month lag in hiring while simultaneously keeping the company’s financial house in order and managing one-time curveballs like acquisitions or new regulations.

Several factors are driving this crisis:

• Fewer students pursuing accounting degrees
• Misconceptions that AI will make accountants obsolete
• Company growth outpacing hiring capacity
• Four to six month average time-to-fill for finance roles

This talent shortage is forcing organizations to rethink their operating models. Many are turning to outsourced partners and AI tools to bridge the gap.

5. 96% of Finance Leaders Use Outsourced Partners

Outsourcing has become the norm rather than the exception in finance. According to recent survey data, nearly all finance leaders work with external partners in some capacity, not just for one-off projects, but as a flexible lever for scaling.

“96% of finance leaders work with outsourced accounting partners…a lot of times you can flex up, flex down as needed. It gives you another lever in that budget to pull.” — Ashley Honeyman

Common outsourced functions include:

• Financial due diligence
• General ledger cleanup
• FP&A reporting and budgeting
• Bookkeeping and transaction processing
• Restatements and special projects

The benefits extend beyond cost savings. Outsourced partners offer flexibility, specialized expertise, and faster time-to-value than building capabilities in-house.

Where outsourcing helps most:

• Rapid capacity without 4–6 month hiring cycles
• Project-based spikes (M&A, cleanup, diligence, system changes)
• Consistent cadence and faster time-to-value

6. AI is Already Delivering Results in Finance

AI is an immediate efficiency and quality play. While some fear that AI will replace accountants, the reality is that it replaces the manual tasks that lead to human error.

By utilizing AI-driven tools for AP automation and data processing, firms can achieve a faster month-end close and redirected human focus toward operational excellence.

“We talk about AI as an efficiency play, but AI is a quality play as well…Embracing AI where it makes sense [allows us] to stop spending time analyzing the data and start spending time with the why and the knowhow.” — Ashley Honeyman

High-impact use cases:

• AP coding and invoice intake automation
• Cash application and real-time cash balance accuracy
• Anomaly detection and “copilot” experiences inside ERPs
• Emerging AI-native general ledgers and natural-language reporting
• Automated OCR and coding eliminate common manual inversion errors.
• Rapid month-end closes, sometimes in as little as 5 days.

7. AI Won’t Replace Accountants, But Will Change Their Role

There’s a common fear that AI will eliminate accounting jobs. The reality is more nuanced. AI without context is limited in what it can accomplish.

“I don’t think AI is going to replace accountants. I think AI lives next to accountants.” — Ashley Honeyman

The accountants of tomorrow will need a different skill set:

• Deep understanding of accounting standards and policy
• Strong business acumen and operational knowledge
• Proficiency with AI tools and automation platforms
• Ability to provide context that makes AI useful

The winning formula is pairing domain experts with AI capabilities. When someone who understands the business works alongside AI tools, that’s where the real magic happens.

Where to Start Implementing AI in Finance

For finance leaders wondering where to begin, identify your most manual, time-consuming processes.

“What’s the most manual thing you’re doing? What’s the thing that’s taking time that is just zero value add? And that’s how we should always think about it.” — Ashley Honeyman

A practical approach to AI rollout:

1. Audit your processes: Find tasks that are manual and prone to error
2. Evaluate available tools: Look at both legacy systems and new AI solutions
3. Pair expertise with technology: Pair your finance experts and process owners with AI and automation expertise
4. Start small: Tackle one high-impact area before expanding
5. Measure results: Track improvements in quality, speed, and cost

The AP function is often a good starting point. Invoice coding, approval workflows, and vendor management all benefit significantly from automation.

Managing Change: The Human Side of Transformation

Successful technology adoption requires strategic change management.

“Transparency and training are really important when you’re doing change inside of your finance teams.” — Kimberly Blascoe

Key principles for managing the transition:

• Be transparent: Keep your team informed about what’s changing and why
• Invest in training: Help people develop new skills and adapt to new tools
• Identify growth opportunities: Some team members will thrive with upskilling
• Have honest conversations: Not every role will exist in the same form

The goal is to elevate your team’s capabilities, allowing them to focus on work that truly adds value rather than repetitive manual tasks.

Leveraging Finance as a Service (FaaS)

To bridge the gap between limited talent and growing demands, Consero’s Finance as a Service (FaaS) model offers a turnkey solution that provides the people, process, and technology in one package.

This approach allows companies to “flex” their finance function up or down based on current needs, whether that is a one-time audit cleanup or a fully managed back-office department.

“What if finance worked more like a product than a patchwork of hires and systems?…FaaS serves as an elastic finance function that can scale up and scale down.” — Todd Brengel, Consero

• Flexibility: Plug in specific talent (Controller, FP&A) to fill immediate gaps without long-term overhead.
• Scalability: Rapidly scale the department to support serial acquisitions or hypergrowth.
• Turnkey Integration: Access enterprise-grade technology (like the SIMPL® platform) without the implementation headache.

A Proven Pathfinder to Transform Your Finance Function

The future of finance belongs to those who embrace technology to unlock strategic value. If your finance function is struggling with slow closes, messy data, or a lack of actionable insight, it’s time to modernize your approach.

Consero provides the financial backbone and AI expertise that high-growth organizations need to thrive. From fully managed FaaS to flexible Advisory support, we give you the clarity to move forward with confidence.

Ready to modernize your finance operations? Request a consultation with Consero today to receive a tailored roadmap for your business.