Firm leaders have a strong instinct for how their practice is tracking. Put that instinct next to the actual FY26 numbers and the picture gets sharper still. That’s exactly what Dashboard Insights set out to explore in its latest FY27 pulse check, run across firm leaders in Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Adelaide, Brisbane and Hobart, alongside the FY26 industry figures.
This blog deep dives into the pulse check survey answers: the actual numbers behind the mood in the room, how the staffing and compliance conversation differs city to city, and what firm leaders are actually planning to do differently in FY27.
The FY26 Numbers Behind the FY27 Pulse Check
First, let’s explore the FY26 data and the story its telling:
Put together, that’s a firm working harder and smarter with fewer people, not a firm charging more for the same work. Revenue growth came from getting more out of existing staff and converting more of that time into billed revenue, not from lifting rates.
That combination explains a lot of what came up when firm leaders were asked directly what’s on their mind. Growth without a corresponding lift in billing rates puts real pressure on margin and firm leaders know it.
What’s Top of Mind, the Biggest Challenge and the Biggest Opportunity for FY27
Alongside the FY26 numbers, the FY27 pulse check asked firm leaders three direct questions: what’s top of mind, what’s the biggest challenge, and what’s the biggest opportunity. The answers, ranked by how often they came up, give a clear read on where firm leaders are actually spending their attention.
Top of Mind: AI and Efficiency Lead, Compliance Sits Close Behind
When asked what’s top of mind right now, firm leaders ranked the themes in this order:
AI and software adoption came out clearly on top, tied to growth, efficiency and broader operational improvement rather than treated as a separate initiative. Workflow management and automation followed as a close extension of that same theme. Compliance also carries real weight here: it makes up roughly 67% of firm revenue, so any regulatory change lands directly on the core income stream.
Biggest Challenge: People and Staff Management, By a Wide Margin
Firm leaders ranked their biggest challenges as:
People and staff management topped this list by a clear margin over every other theme. The consistent thread is that firms aren’t just chasing more people but they want the right people, and they’re increasingly comfortable solving capacity through tech adoption while investing in training and capability for existing staff.
Biggest Opportunity: AI and Automation, Followed by Growth and Advisory
On opportunity, the ranking was:
Firm leaders see AI and automation less as a threat and more as a genuine opportunity, freeing up capacity so existing staff can absorb more work and creating room to move into higher-value advisory. Advisory surfaced as a natural next step for firms already investing in tech adoption, alongside deepening existing client relationships rather than only chasing new ones.
Staffing Is the Top Challenge Everywhere, But the Story Changes by City
Staffing came up as the leading challenge in every city surveyed. What’s new this round is how differently that pressure showed up depending on where the conversation happened.
Melbourne firms tied staffing directly to AI adoption and succession planning, describing generational differences in the workforce and treating AI adoption as a people issue rather than a technology one.
Perth focused on training and workflow, with firms weighing up hiring from parallel industries against upskilling existing staff.
Sydney leaned into outsourcing within the finance and accounting team structure as a genuine option, not a last resort.
Adelaide firms were already scaling through automation rather than headcount.
Brisbane and Hobart both flagged recruitment and retention directly, with Hobart pairing that with a willingness to adopt AI in workflows.
The obvious is that firms, while short on people, are now being deliberate about whether the fix for stagging is a new hire, a training investment or a process change, and that decision looks different depending on the firm and the city.
Compliance Still Drives the Majority of Firm Revenue
Compliance and AML obligations came up in every city, almost always paired with something else rather than standing alone.
Across every city, regulatory change was described more as a disruption risk to manage than an opportunity to chase. Given that compliance work still makes up roughly two-thirds of firm revenue, that caution makes sense. Firms spending energy on advisory expansion and AI adoption are still, in revenue terms, predominantly compliance businesses. Regulatory change isn’t a background risk. It’s a direct hit to the majority of the top line.
Key Takeaways for FY27
Pulling the pulse check and the FY26 numbers together, four things stand out for the year ahead.
- AI is a constant theme, but the focus still needs to be on business improvement. AI dominates the conversation in every city, but firm leaders aren’t treating it as a separate project. It’s showing up as part of solving real problems in workflow, capacity and client service.
- Solve staffing issues with a plan and with purpose, not just tech. Staffing is the top challenge everywhere, but the right fix looks different city to city and firm to firm. Tech can ease the load, but it doesn’t replace a deliberate strategy on succession, retention and upskilling.
- Price and cost for compliance properly. Compliance still makes up roughly two-thirds of firm revenue, so undercharging here does more damage to margin than undercharging anywhere else. Regularly reviewing pricing against the true cost of delivery is key.
- Growth is shifting from headcount to margin. Ninety percent of firms are targeting revenue growth in FY27, and 68% want that growth paired with a better margin rather than just a bigger top line. Sixty percent plan to grow mainly by upselling existing clients, 62% plan to raise prices, and 23% of those firms point to undercharging as their biggest obstacle. Only 59% are planning to grow headcount, with the rest backing efficiency and AI to absorb more work with the team they already have.
FY27 Starts With Knowing Where You Stand
The pulse check and the FY26 numbers tell the same story from two different angles. Firms grew revenue in FY26 through productivity and recoverability, not pricing. Staffing is the top challenge everywhere, but the right fix is different for every firm. Compliance still carries most of the revenue, so pricing it properly protects margin more than any advisory upsell can. And FY27 growth, for most firms, will come from margin discipline and existing clients rather than new headcount or new clients.
The firms acting on this fastest are the ones with real-time visibility into their own WIP, recoverability and billing performance, rather than waiting for a year-end review to find out where they stand.
If you want to see how your firm’s own numbers compare to these FY27 plans, book a strategy session. We’ll walk through your data together and map out where the opportunity sits for your firm specifically.
