Hiring in Accounting and Finance (Contract): Guide and Trends in 2026

Growing reliance on contract talent

Cost concerns set the tone for the Accounting & Finance job market in 2025, stymying headcount growth. Hiring was largely limited largely to replacement of critical roles.

However, Greg Cazalis, Principal Consultant at Robert Walters Singapore, has also seen companies turn more to contractors as a way to manage costs. While many back office and repetitive accounting roles, such as accounts payable and accounts receivable (AP/AR), were offshored to lower cost jurisdictions, some of these positions were filled by local contract talent.

More companies continued with their digital transformation efforts, integrating automation and AI into workflows. While this has impacted transactional roles, demand for tech-savvy and data-fluent candidates who can improve automated processes has risen year-on-year. These positions are expected to stay in Singapore due to a shortage of relevant talent in other locations.

Read on to find out more about the labour market and hiring trends for Singapore’s Accounting & Finance professionals in 2026, with a focus on contract positions.

More contract positions, but stricter hiring

As macroeconomic uncertainties and cost pressures persist, Greg anticipates an increase in contract hiring for both transactional and non-transactional roles in 2026.

“As companies strategise on what to do with non-transactional roles, workloads remain unchanged. With roles like finance analyst or FP&A, hiring managers might not get approval to increase headcount, but business needs will force organisations to try out contractors for specific roles,” he explains.

Hiring processes have lengthened across the board, though especially so for contract openings that may be converted to a permanent position down the line. Interviews now include case studies, cultural assessments or additional roles, even for 6-month contracts.

Demand for “hybrid” talent who can match domain know-how with tech competencies will also go up as automation and AI does away with transactional work. Job listings will likely specify competencies in data visualisation or tools like Power BI and SQL.

Upskilling a must in the age of AI

Task-heavy and transactional roles – such as junior accountant, accounts executive, and AP/AR – are most prone to automation via AI, Robotic Process Automation (RPA), and intelligent document processing tools. To stay relevant in today’s market, job seekers in these roles can consider career pathways in finance analyst, FP&A, or business partnering. They can also upskill themselves with technical skillsets in data, ERP, Power BI, or consider obtaining finance certifications such as ACCA or CPA.

“To that end, contract positions are an excellent way to grow in these areas,” advises Greg.

Meanwhile, professionals in less transactional roles will be expected to hone their soft skills – data storytelling, presenting findings and collaborating with other business units.

Top roles and skills in demand

Strong demand is expected for commercial FP&A roles such as finance analysts and FP&A analysts. With these positions, hiring teams will focus on the ability to automate processes and results through data skills such as Excel, financial modelling, Power BI, Tableau and SQL. These talents will also be required to interact with other business units.

Finance transformation roles will also be sought after as organisations upgrade systems and simplify processes for automation.

To keep up with changing regulatory requirements, companies will double down on hiring for internal audit and internal controls. Job scopes are expected to include real-time analytics and internal controls transformation.

More firms now expect talent to go beyond number-crunching and technical analysis to present a cohesive narrative around the data. Therefore, across the Accounting & Finance sector, professionals with data interpretation and storytelling skills will have a distinct advantage.

Candidates eye growth prospects

Current economic trends are pushing professionals to be more strategic and less opportunistic in their job hunt. In evaluating contract positions, candidates tend to seek out roles where they can gain new experience, skills, or exposure to bigger portfolios and projects.

Considerations around growth are particularly relevant for candidates in transactional roles. Greg suggests that companies struggling to find the right talent provide a longer contract duration.

At times, the plan for the role and where the candidate can go from there is more important than the money itself.

Hiring teams should also consider shortening or condensing interview processes to prevent interview fatigue. They will also do well to define the most important skillset in a given role, as the Singapore market continues to struggle with a shortage of technical skills.

Stable, but small wage growth

Salaries are expected to increase at a stable rate of 2 – 5% for candidates remaining in the same company and role. While companies may fork out a little more for in-demand candidates with strong technical capabilities, most job seekers can expect salary increments of up to 10%.

Find out more

Request access to our 2026 Salary Survey to benchmark salaries and to find out more about key hiring trends for Accounting & Finance contract professionals in Singapore.