Malaysia urges accountants to broaden their skills as AI's impact grows

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Malaysia urges accountants to broaden their AI skills

Highlights

Liew said AI would take over routine accounting tasks, creating new roles that rely on values-based judgment and human skills by 2026.
Malaysia, ASEAN and Australia are urged to strengthen economic and technological cooperation to boost their competitiveness in dealing with major powers such as the U.S., China and Russia.
Amendments to the Accountants Act 1967 are expected to be expedited, highlighting the need to update legislation to align the industry with the current technological and economic landscape.

This article was translated from the original. Read the original version by our correspondent here.

New demands on the accounting profession

As reported by The Edge Malaysia, Liew said accountants and finance professionals need to become more multidisciplinary as the positive and negative effects of AI continue to emerge and are expected to remain a focus for finance leaders in the years ahead.

He said AI would replace some less complex accounting jobs, but could also create new roles requiring deeper human judgment, fewer technical skills and more values-based decision-making.

In his keynote address at the Certified Practising Accountant (CPA) Congress 2026 on Thursday, Liew said that in 2026, an accountant or finance leader would be almost neglecting their responsibilities if they did not pay attention to geopolitics and geoeconomics, supply chain resilience, critical materials and minerals, technology and AI, as well as carbon emissions and climate change.

He also outlined Malaysia's position in an increasingly complex era through a “three middles” approach: strengthening Malaysia's role as a key link in supply chains and technology, maintaining a non-aligned geopolitical stance, and building a strong middle class.

Regional implications and Malaysia's policy agenda

Liew said Malaysia, ASEAN and Australia should see themselves as middle powers, adding that closer alignment among these countries would strengthen their ability to engage with major powers such as the U.S., China and Russia from a more balanced position.

He said the shrinking middle class in the U.S. meant the country would not be able to absorb the world's entire manufacturing capacity. ASEAN countries therefore needed to build a middle class large and prosperous enough to consume output from the region's productive capacity.

According to him, building and sustaining a middle class requires Southeast Asian countries to move away from a competitive mindset that drives costs to the lowest possible levels, work together to establish stronger minimum wages, develop more local technology companies and increase local ownership of technology.

Liew also urged accountants and finance leaders to reject unhealthy competition involving excessive tax incentives, the suppression of wages or workers' rights, and the loosening of environmental laws and compliance requirements.

Separately, he said he had visited the Malaysian Institute of Accountants last week to discuss the long-awaited amendments to the Accountants Act 1967, which will mark its 60th anniversary in 2027. He hoped the legislative amendment agenda could be advanced as soon as possible, while encouraging discussion on six decades of the current legislation in practice.

In our earlier coverage of Malaysia's market resilience and foreign investment inflows, we highlighted how the stability of local stocks continues to attract global investor interest amid international uncertainty. The article also explained that the technology and financial sectors are seen as key drivers of capital inflows, supported by investment in digital infrastructure and innovation to strengthen long-term growth prospects.

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