2026 Audit Profession Outlook | A Post-Disruption Era: Trust, Transparency, and the Audit Profession

Dear Readers,

Each year, I assess where the public company audit profession stands and where it must go next, because market confidence depends on the quality and reliability of corporate reporting and our profession plays a critical role in delivering that assurance to investors, board leaders, and policymakers. The past few years brought significant developments on two fronts: a rapid evolution in technology that enables auditors to examine financial information with greater depth and precision, and concerted efforts to modernize regulatory oversight of public company audits after more than two decades under the Sarbanes-Oxley framework. As we look ahead to 2026, we remain anchored in our purpose. While change continues to accelerate, the purpose of the audit as a source of trust remains constant.

In markets characterized by speed, complexity, and information abundance, quality assurance ensures that numbers, narratives, and risk assessments can be relied upon, underscoring the importance of the profession remaining engaged and at the table when policy affecting our capital markets is made. The audit and other forms of assurance are not a formality. They create the trust infrastructure that keeps U.S. capital markets the most resilient and most relied upon in the world.

The Audit Effect: An Enduring Foundation in Uncertain Times

The core value of a public company audit becomes most apparent during periods of market volatility. Quality audits provide reassurance precisely because they are consistent and comparable, offering investors and market stakeholders a guiding light when conditions shift. Last year I wrote that audits matter because they create trust, which enables stability and instills confidence. In 2026, that chain matters not only for financial statements, but also for how investors assess the reliability of new forms of company data that increasingly influence valuation and risk.

“Some of the most careful readers of our audits are our competitors, and the purpose of the assurance process is to make sure they’re relying on information that is as accurate as possible. It’s also to make sure that ill-intentioned people don’t put out bad information, and to ensure that well-intentioned people haven’t made a well-intentioned mistake that changes the way the consumer of that audit would think about the company.”

– Board Member, CAQ In-depth Interview, Fall 2025

The Regulatory Landscape: Collaborating for Stronger Outcomes

The regulatory environment will continue to evolve, and the goal for 2026 should not be change for its own sake, but change that improves outcomes for investors and strengthens market integrity. A responsive regulatory approach recognizes that audit needs and complexity vary significantly: what works for a mega-cap company and large audit firm may not fit a small-cap issuer with a mid-market audit firm, and auditing standards must be adaptable to both auditing firms and issuer realities. Effective regulation also requires robust stakeholder engagement to understand practical implementation realities, rigorous economic analyses that weigh costs against benefits, and timelines supported by adequate resources so firms can implement new requirements effectively. In 2026, we must focus on finding a balance between standards that are both rigorous and implementable, grounded in evidence and informed by the professionals who conduct audits in the field.

Emerging Technologies: From Invention to Integration

The conversation on emerging technologies has moved beyond whether generative artificial intelligence (genAI) belongs in audit work to how firms deploy it with appropriate controls, capabilities, and transparency. In last year’s outlook, we noted $6.4 billion in announced AI investments by leading firms, and our analysis of AI-related information in S&P 500 companies’ 10-Ks found that 90% mentioned AI in their most recent filings. What has become clear is that automation enables auditors to focus more intensively on areas requiring professional judgment, independence, and experience, in turn making audits more rigorous, not more mechanical.

As genAI becomes embedded in business processes across industries, auditors face expanding expectations around assurance over technology-related disclosures, including information about genAI use and, where frameworks emerge, digital assets. This evolution places two responsibilities on assurance providers: first, implement technology that demonstrably improves audit quality; second, communicate that use clearly so investors and other stakeholders understand how audit conclusions were reached. Transparency about methodology is as essential as the methodology itself, and critical to investor confidence.

The Talent Pipeline

Auditing is, at its core, a people profession. While emerging technologies may create some efficiencies, it is without question the need for accountants and auditors will continue. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that employment of accountants and auditors is projected to grow five percent from 2024 to 2034, faster than the average of all occupations, and that approximately 124,200 openings each year, on average, are projected for accountants and auditors over this timeframe. At the same time, stereotypes of what accountants and auditors actually do and where their careers can lead remain a challenge, among other challenges, to attracting students to these fields.

The CAQ has responded to this challenge with Accounting+, which has made significant strides in shifting student attitudes and enhancing interest in the career. Based on ongoing CAQ research, for the first time in 4 years, high school students indicated a decline in perceived barriers to pursuing accounting, including a lack of interest in the field, which has historically been the strongest barrier. Compared to 2022 research, students report an 8-point lift in awareness/familiarity of accounting, and an 18-point lift in interest in accounting. Further, over the course of our strategic partnership with EVERFI, we’ve embedded accounting awareness curricula in over 12,000 schools nationwide. During the 2024-2025 school year, 80% of students said this course showed them accounting careers they did not know about before, and 88% agreed accounting skills are useful to reaching their goals.

The campaign’s success demonstrates that when the profession articulates its value proposition – early, clearly and at scale – by emphasizing problem-solving, technology integration, and impact, it resonates with the next generation of accountants and auditors. While this awareness and interest needs to be further translated into actual pipeline growth, Accounting+ has over 70 partners (including over 35 state CPA societies) working together, utilizing Accounting+ messaging, to ensure the widest net is cast in raising awareness and debunking misperceptions about accounting and auditing, We are proud to spotlight this profession and the vital role it plays in every business, in every industry, and our capital markets.

What This Means in Practice

Advancing the profession in 2026 requires us to lead, not follow. Auditors must take a seat at the table with standard setters and investors alike, demonstrating value and shaping how new technologies strengthen markets and instill confidence in financial reporting and corporate disclosures. Looking beyond the headlines, investors and audit committees will continue to press company leadership and auditors on how companies validate AI outputs that affect financial reporting and what assurance exists over the data driving performance narratives. Regulators can support better outcomes through broad stakeholder engagement and by testing whether proposed requirements are practical across different company – and audit firm – sizes and industries. When the profession and oversight bodies operate from shared facts and clear goals, standards become implementable and effective. That is how trust is earned and sustained.

The profession stands ready for what comes next because its mission remains constant: strengthening trust in capital markets. This requires steady collaboration across the corporate reporting ecosystem, and success can only be achieved with companies, investors, auditors, and regulators working together. The profession’s track record of independence, reliability, and transparency provides the foundation. The commitment to stay engaged, to lead on emerging challenges, and to protect the public interest provides the path forward.

Thank you for engaging with the Center for Audit Quality and for supporting public company auditors. To stay up to date on our work, visit theccaq.org or follow us on LinkedIn.

Julie Bell Lindsay,
Chief Executive Officer, CAQ