Accountants love certainty. 2026 is not bringing much of it. Between ESG disclosures that suddenly matter and cyber threats that refuse to stay in the IT department, number crunchers are being asked to track more than just the numbers. Carbon footprints, data footprints, reputational risk—welcome to the new balance sheet, where what you don’t measure (or protect) can hurt you fastest.
Accountants need to explain how they can handle all this.
However I point out in my blog last year, accountants often struggle to do this themselves. They need a copywriter to do it for them. Most accountants are exceptional at numbers, compliance, and client care — but when it comes to marketing themselves, they hit that wall.
That why they need a copywriter.
Here are the 7 ways a copywriter can help accountants manage ESG and cyber security:
- Master the “Green Ledger”: ESG Reporting Becomes Non-Optional
2026 is the year sustainability reporting stops being theoretical.
For a huge cohort of businesses, ESG disclosure is no longer a “nice to have” or a PR exercise—it’s mandatory, auditable, and enforceable.
Globally, the ISSB standards (IFRS S1 & S2) are becoming the baseline. IFRS S1 provides a set of disclosure requirements designed to enable companies to communicate to investors about the sustainability-related risks and opportunities they face over the short, medium and long term. IFRS S2 sets out specific climate-related disclosures and is designed to be used with IFRS S1.
Both fully incorporate the recommendations of the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD).
Locally, jurisdictions like Australia are rolling out their own frameworks (e.g. AASB S2 and ASRS) pulling thousands of previously unregulated entities into formal sustainability reporting for the first time. AASB S2 provides an internationally aligned basis for disclosing climate- ASRS align with the IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards, IFRS S1 and IFRS S2, enabling Australia to follow the IFRS global baseline for sustainability and climate reporting. The IFRS Sustainability Disclosure Standards are issued by the International Sustainability Standards Board (ISSB). The global baseline provides a common language for sustainability information, enabling comparable and consistent disclosures across global capital markets.
The result?
Clients are sitting on mountains of ESG data—energy usage, suppliers, logistics, workforce metrics—without knowing:
- what’s material,
- what’s required, or
- what will stand up to assurance.
The Opportunity: ESG Is the New Tax
This is where accountants win.
Consistent, meaningful and timely transparency and disclosures are key elements that facilitate the integration of ESG in business. Tax transparency is a key strategy in driving improvements in tax performance and underpins the integrity of the Australian tax and super systems. Tax transparency can help to promote social responsibility by ensuring that companies fairly contribute to the communities in which they operate. Importantly, it can also provide the community with confidence that large companies are appropriately contributing to the ‘S’
Just as tax evolved from basic compliance into advisory and planning, ESG reporting is becoming an assurance-driven discipline. A well-structured corporate governance framework ensures ESG objectives align with business strategy. Companies should integrate sustainability into board oversight, ensuring that ESG risks and opportunities receive the same level of scrutiny as financial performance.
Boards want reports that are:
- defensible,
- consistent with financial disclosures, and
- ready for external review.
Accountants are uniquely positioned to own this space because ESG:
- relies on controls, not vibes,
- requires judgement around materiality, and
- must reconcile to financial and operational data
- Cyber-Hygiene Is Now a Fiduciary Duty
Cybersecurity has officially moved out of the IT department.
In 2026, protecting client data is no longer a technical preference — it is a professional obligation. Regulators, professional bodies, insurers, and courts are increasingly treating weak cyber controls as a governance failure, not a technology mishap. Reporting shows increases in hotline calls to the Australian Cyber Security Hotline, incident responses, and threat notifications, reinforcing the need for vigilance and uplift across sectors. Digitisation, legacy systems, reliance on third parties, and evolving threat actor capability continue to elevate cyber risk in ASIC’s view. ASIC is urging directors and financial services license holders to maintain robust risk management frameworks, test their operational resilience and crisis responses, and address vulnerabilities with their third-party service providers.
For accounting firms, this marks a fundamental shift. Data protection is now inseparable from fiduciary responsibility. Failure to implement basic cyber safeguards can expose firms not only to breaches, but to regulatory action, insurance denial, and reputational damage.
At a minimum, firms should already have:
- Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) across all systems, including email, portals, and cloud software
- Encrypted client portals for document exchange (standard email is no longer defensible for sensitive data)
- Documented incident response plans outlining roles, timelines, and reporting obligations
- Regular staff training on phishing, social engineering, and secure data handling
The key question has changed.
It is no longer:
“Were you hacked?”
It is now:
“Did you take reasonable steps to prevent it?”
In 2026, firms that cannot demonstrate basic cyber-hygiene may find themselves unable to defend that answer. 2026 is a pivotal juncture for cybersecurity. What was once considered an operational safety net and a business cost item is now a determinant of long-term competitiveness, market confidence, and organizational resilience. The data unequivocally indicates that cyber danger is systemic rather than episodic.
The Bottom Line
The Problem for accountants: 2026 brings mandatory ESG and systemic cyber risk. The Risk: Inability to communicate your value leads to “brand breach.” The Solution: A copywriter who speaks the language of compliance. Contact: Leon Gettler Phone: 0411 745 193 email: leon@leongettler.com
