Finance Hiring Market Update, October 2026: A Late Start, a Better Finish

How’s the market?

I said previously that August and September would be the real test of where the hiring market is heading. With the quarter now closed, my verdict is that it found momentum. Just later than usual.

July was subdued. Unusually so. The real push didn’t arrive until mid-to-late August, well behind what I’d normally expect. But it came, and it’s stayed, which is encouraging. In my experience, good market or bad, the September quarter is usually Australia’s strongest hiring period. A flat finish would have raised concerns.

SEEK job ads rose 0.5% in August, their first monthly increase in over a year, with NSW recording its biggest lift since mid-2022. Accounting ads, meanwhile, fell 1.5%.

That fits my read of the finance market: it’s moving in pockets. A replacement that can’t be put off. A capability gap becoming expensive. A project that finally needs someone to own it.

Applications per ad also reached peak levels in SEEK’s latest report. More choice on paper, but more work separating real experience from a convincing application. In the era of AI, 100, 200, 300+ polished applications will become standard, but there might not be a shortlist amongst them.

What’s moving?

Commercial Finance & FP&A. Still the most consistent demand in my patch. The emphasis is on people who can get close to operations, understand what’s driving performance and help the business make decisions. Clients increasingly want to hear how candidates communicate insights to different audiences, from the boardroom to operational teams. As reporting becomes easier to produce, the ability to explain, influence and turn information into action becomes more valuable.

AI & Finance Transformation. A clear thread is the adoption of AI into finance processes, even if some businesses are still working out how to articulate what they need. Yes, there’s plenty of noise around it. But there’s also a risk of falling behind without noticing. Your finance function might work perfectly well today without AI, but competitors adopting it effectively are finding efficiencies that free up teams and create capacity. Those gains compound. Clients are increasingly asking for candidates who can identify practical opportunities and drive adoption, with the accounting knowledge and judgement to get it right.

Contract & Interim. One area I don’t expect to slow down. Briefs I’d expect to be permanent in another market keep hitting my desk as contracts and temp-to-perm opportunities. Christmas coverage is also coming into view, alongside the annual migration of working holiday makers arriving for the summer months. That pool can include excellent, qualified accounting talent. So if you’re anticipating a need, now’s a good time to get in early.

Industry news

Inflation is back in the salary conversation

Annual inflation reached 4.0% in August, and the RBA just lifted the cash rate to 4.60%, so cost-of-living pressure remains part of the backdrop to hiring and retention. Don’t assume that means your preferred candidate will accept last year’s salary band, or your existing team is more likely to stay. If pay increases have been modest this year, development, flexibility and meaningful progression become even more important, though they won’t remove pay concerns entirely. Better to have those conversations before a resignation puts them on the agenda.

The ATO has cancelled my boarding pass

The ATO will stop accepting credit card payments after 30 November 2026, following changes to card payment costs and surcharging. For small businesses using a credit card to bridge the timing of tax payments, that changes the cash-flow equation. If your smaller suppliers depend on that buffer, it’s also worth considering what the change could mean for them.

Personally, I’m treating it as an attack on my points holidays. The only silver lining of those BAS payments was that they got me to Hawaii.

As always, if you’ve got a finance hire on the horizon, want to pressure-test a brief or just need a straight read on salary and candidate availability, feel free to get in touch.