Adelaide Public Practice Industry Insights: Q2 2026
Adelaide’s public practice market in Q2 2026 presents a study in balance — steady overall size paired with visible movement beneath the surface. While the headline numbers suggest stability, the underlying data reveals a market where firms, sectors, and experience levels are quietly shifting shape.
Rather than large-scale expansion or contraction, Adelaide’s figures point to adjustment. Some firms are growing, others are contracting, and changes across experience levels indicate reallocation rather than uniform growth. The result is a market that appears settled at first glance, but shows meaningful internal movement when examined closely.
This report analyses every data point shown in the Adelaide Public Practice Industry Insights for Q2 2026. All observations are drawn directly from the image provided, with explanations grounded solely in the data presented.
Market Demand and Workforce Stability
Greater Adelaide currently employs 1,688 public accountants. Over the past 12 months, 192 public accountants changed jobs, indicating ongoing workforce movement within the local market.
The median tenure of 1.6 years reflects relatively frequent role changes, while the very high hiring demand indicator suggests continued recruitment activity across public practice firms.
The location data shows a –1% change in the number of public accountants in Adelaide over the past year, pointing to a slight overall contraction in headcount during the period measured.
Skilled Labour Movement: Firm-Level Changes
Firm-level movement over the last 12 months shows a mix of growth and decline.
Firms Recording Net Gains
- AFM Services: +13 accountants (+63%)
- BDO in Australia: +13 accountants (+44%)
These increases represent strong percentage growth, particularly for AFM Services, indicating notable expansion within a relatively small market.
Firms Recording Net Losses
- HLB Mann Judd: –13 accountants (–24%)
- PKF Australia: –12 accountants (–14%)
The declines shown demonstrate that headcount reduction is occurring alongside growth elsewhere, reinforcing the uneven nature of firm-level movement in Adelaide.
Largest Public Accounting Employers in Adelaide
The largest public accounting employers shown in the data display mixed outcomes:
- William Buck: 41 accountants (–2%)
- Bentleys: 34 accountants (+26%)
- Perks: 32 accountants (0%)
- Brentnalls SA: 32 accountants (0%)
This data shows expansion at Bentleys, stability at Perks and Brentnalls SA, and a slight contraction at William Buck, highlighting varied trajectories among Adelaide’s largest firms.
Flow of Talent Between Sectors
The sector movement chart shows differing levels of inflow and outflow:
- Financial Services: net outflow in one segment and net inflow in another
- Banking: net outflow
- Food & Beverage Services: net inflow
These movements indicate that while some sectors are losing public accounting talent, others are attracting it, resulting in a rebalancing of accountants across sector lines over the past 12 months.
Talent Pool Experience: Shifts Across Levels
Adelaide’s experience-level data shows changes across nearly all segments.
Declines
- Accountants: 1,066 (–1%)
- Assistant Accountants: 87 (–7%)
- Junior Accountants: 45 (–20%)
Growth
- Senior Accountants: 256 (+2%)
- Graduate Accountants: 84 (+6%)
- Intermediate Accountants: 33 (+10%)
The most pronounced decline appears at the Junior Accountant level, while growth is visible across intermediate, graduate, and senior roles, indicating a shift in the experience composition of Adelaide’s talent pool.
Geographic Data (Adelaide)
The location data confirms 1,688 public accountants currently based in Adelaide, reflecting a –1% change from the previous 12 months. This indicates a slight reduction in the size of the Adelaide public practice workforce during the period measured.
The Q2 2026 data presents an Adelaide public practice market defined less by scale and more by redistribution. Overall workforce numbers have edged down slightly, yet movement across firms, sectors, and experience levels remains clearly visible.
Firm-level data shows that growth and contraction are occurring simultaneously, while experience-level shifts suggest changes in how the workforce is structured rather than a uniform expansion or decline. Sector movement further reinforces this picture of internal adjustment.
Taken together, the data points to a market that is recalibrating rather than accelerating. For those operating within Adelaide’s public practice environment, understanding where these shifts are occurring provides valuable context for navigating current conditions as the market continues to evolve through 2026.
