From his vantage point as a fractional CFO and scale-up expert, Matthew Grimsdale FCA stresses that the finance team is no longer a support function, but a “decision engine” – one with some important challenges to tackle.

“Alongside political volatility, we’ve got persistent cost pressures, leading to margin compression,” he says. “Helpfully, though, artificial intelligence is everywhere. As well as accelerating the pace of innovation, it’s taking the heat off transactional finance, so teams aren’t just sitting there processing reams of data.”

Meanwhile, there is growing demand from boards and investor management teams for real-time insights to drive actionable strategy. So, when it comes to hiring, training and upskilling, Grimsdale says: “It’s not really a technical-accounting, knowledge-based problem anymore. It’s about commercial judgement, data fluency and strategic influence.”

As such, Grimsdale’s seven essential skills and roles for business-based accountants in 2026 are:

1. Strategic acumen

Under this umbrella, one particularly critical area is capital allocation.

“There’s an opportunity cost with every aspect of the capital we have at our disposal,” says Grimsdale. “So, the question is, if we have, £500,000 in the bank, how is that best deployed for the quickest path to revenue?”

For Grimsdale, that ties into key tasks, such as building an investment case through scenario modelling, which will ensure that an ambitious, growth-first mindset is rooted in reality.

2. Commercial ownership

“This is all about finance coming out of the silo,” Grimsdale says.

In his own work, finance staff now meet twice each week with commercial and sales teams, as well as business founders and chief revenue officers.

“Sales cycles are lengthening,” he says, “and there are so many decision-makers involved that clear articulation of the finances behind any given deal in a collaborative atmosphere is key to getting it over the line.”

3. The AI pioneer and enabler

By spearheading an AI-first approach to enhancing workflows in finance, accountants can exert an influence on other areas of the business – for example, sales and operations – and help to build their confidence with AI adoption.

“In terms of our overall skillset,” Grimsdale says, “accountants are actually in the perfect position to understand whether the output of the AI tools we deploy is fair and reasonable, rather than just delivering hallucinations.”

4. Pricing expertise

“In light of lengthening sales cycles, one area I’m seeing finance get involved with at a much earlier stage now is pricing strategy and margin optimisation,” Grimsdale points out.

Three or four years ago, he says, sales and pricing decisions were typically the preserve of two or three senior individuals. Now it is more like six people, with greater input from the finance team. “With budgets being squeezed across the board, you really need those minds in the room,” he says.

5. The transformation and change guru

This role is a vital asset for dealing with political sources of volatility, such as business rate hikes, Grimsdale notes.

“If you’re the owner of a chain of 15 local coffee shops,” he says, “you’ve most likely gone from being a tight, but still profitable, business to, ‘Gosh – rates have increased by X amount – we’re in trouble.’

“This is where finance staff become the firefighters, leading the path to safety and coming up with ways to overhaul operations and restore profitability.”

6. Credibility

In Grimsdale’s assessment, this is a critical tool for supporting investor outreach.

“Looking at my clients that have taken on bank debt, banks now seem to prefer engaging with the CFO and other finance team members, rather than the CEO,” he says.

“That stems from the current, tough trading environment, where investors want data-driven insights on what’s happening in the business and whether to adjust the investment strategy. Finance staff must be trusted voices in those conversations.”

7. Leadership

In a volatile world, finance must be not just a technical, but a leadership-oriented function, providing elements of stability and security for other parts of the business.

“That applies to how the team communicates quarterly or provides annual updates – or even how it carries out more informal discussions,” Grimsdale says. “Just being available for five-minute chats with key people in other departments can make a huge difference.”