The accounting field has undergone significant transformation in recent years due to new regulations, business practices and regulatory entities, making adaptability a key success factor for practitioners. Accountants who stay attuned to change and build their knowledge in emerging areas will be in the best position for career growth.

Our company recently completed Next Generation Accountant: A New Outlook on a Timeless Profession, a research initiative to help identify the major tends affecting accounting and finance. Following are some of the issues for which you should be preparing, if you're not already:

Heightened competition for accountants — Hiring skilled accounting and finance professionals will be increasingly challenging in the coming years. Existing business demand, combined with the expected retirement of millions of baby boomers, will shrink the pool of available talent. Many employers have already started enhancing their succession planning programs, increasing recruitment and retention efforts, and offering employees greater professional development opportunities in response to this shift.

Tech-savvy graduates — The next generation of accountants will enter the job market adept at working with the latest technology. Managers will need to help these employees recognize when technology should be used for productivity advantages and when face-to-face communication would be a better option.

Globalization of business — As companies around the world adopt International Financial Reporting Standards, industry observers speculate there may be growing pressure on the United States to embrace international conventions. Accountants also will need to understand other cultures and have a global mindset to work effectively with colleagues and business contacts worldwide.

Enterprise risk management &mdash Firms will turn to accounting and finance professionals to help them identify and manage risks. Those familiar with the Enterprise Risk Management - Integrated Framework from the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) will be at an advantage.

Focus on ethics and fraud control — Accountants are becoming key players in company efforts to maintain high ethical standards and need to be proactive about reporting questionable or troublesome situations at work. Individuals who are skilled in detecting and preventing fraud and have earned the certified fraud examiner (CFE) designation will be in particular demand.

Fair value accounting — Fair value accounting, which recognizes the current worth of assets, not the cost of acquiring them, will become more prevalent. Next generation accountants will need to apply new rules aimed at improving the accuracy of fair value measurements.

For more insights into trends in accounting and finance, request a free copy of the Next Generation Accountant: A New Outlook on a Timeless Profession research guide by calling 866-328-0577 or visiting www.roberthalf.com.