Outlook 2026 | Finance and accounting outsourcing to see strong momentum in 2026

Authored by Swatantra Bhatia, Partner, Accounting and Outsourcing, Forvis Mazars in India

As we stand at the threshold of 2026, India’s business environment presents an extraordinary confluence of opportunity and evolution. The finance and outsourcing sectors, which have been long considered the backbone of India’s services economy, are in the midst of fundamental transformation-majorly driven by regulatory simplification, technological acceleration, and an unequivocal commitment toward ease of doing business.

The shifting paradigm of finance and outsourcing
India remains on track to emerge as a powerhouse for global outsourcing, with the growth of business process outsourcing exports outpacing that of traditional IT services. It houses almost half of the Global Capability Centres in the world and is expected to see an increase from 1,800 to 5,000 by 2030. This is not just cost arbitrage but the evolution of India into a strategic innovation hub for multinational corporations.

The landscape of finance and accounting outsourcing is experiencing a remarkable shift toward value creation and not just transactional support. Foreign firms are increasingly setting up captive offshore finance operations in the country, embracing automation, AI, and cloud-based systems to drive decisions in real time. With AI increasingly embedded into the accounting processes, firms today are automating more than half of their regular routines, from invoice processing and reconciliations to data insight. This is offering professionals more time to focus on strategic advisory and insights on client projects.

From the perspective of offering the ease of doing business, several factors have collectively made India a destination for foreign companies in 2026: A strong pipeline of accounting professionals, deep expertise in international accounting standards, and an acute ability to address global talent shortages make it conducive for all. India produces approximately 40,000 new chartered accountants per year, but the supply continues to be outweighed by domestic demand combined with offshore requirements. More significantly, the CPA talent pool has grown extraordinarily between 2020 and 2024. This growth shows India's strategic positioning to serve the shortage of accountants worldwide.

Evolving regulatory reforms
This ease of doing business by the government has been more by way of actual reforms and less by rhetoric. The GST 2.0 framework-one that reduced the number of tax slabs to essentially two key rates of 5% and 18%-was arguably the biggest indirect tax reform since GST implementation in 2017.

With the simplification effective from September 2025, the compliance has drastically reduced, more so for MSMEs. Registration for low-risk businesses now completes within three working days, and exporters receive refunds much faster as compared to refunds in months previously.

The Income Tax Bill, 2025 represents a major modernization of India’s tax framework by replacing the six-decade-old Income Tax Act, 1961 with a clearer, reorganized, and more streamlined structure. It reduces the number of sections, removes obsolete provisions, clarifies several long-standing ambiguities, and strengthens digital administration through faceless assessments and fully electronic processes to make compliance more efficient and transparent. While it is part of a broader national effort aimed at simplifying outdated regulations and compliance requirements, the Bill itself focuses on improving predictability, reducing litigation, and creating a more contemporary and investor-friendly tax environment.

FDI norms have been liberalized substantially in recent times: Up to 100% FDI is allowed under specified conditions in the insurance sector, and telecom is fully open to 100% FDI through the automatic route. Defence has been eased to 74% under the automatic route, with higher investment requiring government approval, while the space sector has opened substantial segments-such as components and certain satellite activities-to automatic-route FDI. In manufacturing, too, long-term FDI inflows have increased, while the Production Linked Incentive schemes catalysed more than ₹1.7 lakh crore in committed investments and over ₹16.5 lakh crore in incremental production across sectors.

Challenges on the Horizon

Despite this promising landscape, there are headwinds that foreign companies have to negotiate. About 80% of the employers are finding it difficult to get the right professionals, especially in niche areas such as cybersecurity, data analytics, and AI-is a major constraint. Although India churns out a large number of graduates, the employability gap-only 42.6% being work-ready-requires heavy investment in training and upskilling.

Geopolitical uncertainties include trade relationships, especially with the US, which need close monitoring. With tariff tensions arising in 2025, some resilience could be drawn from India's already displayed resilience in diversifying export destinations, hence maintaining domestic consumption-driven growth. The GDP of India is expected to reach 6.5 to 6.8% through 2027, higher than that of major economies, despite global turbulence.

While narrowing, infrastructure gaps in Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities still need attention. However, the Government of India's allocation for capital expenditure at USD 111.1 billion (Rs. 11.11 lakh crore) in Budget 2024-25 is systematically addressing these bottlenecks through industrial corridors, digital connectivity, and urban development initiatives.

Reflections and the Way Forward

2025 will be remembered as the year India's business reforms reached critical mass. The combination of GST simplification, FDI liberalization, and digital infrastructure maturation has fundamentally altered the value proposition for foreign investors. What began as cost-saving outsourcing has evolved into strategic partnerships where Indian operations drive innovation, own end-to-end value chains, and function as genuine capability centres rather than back offices.

For 2026, three trends will define success: First, companies integrating AI-enabled automation into their Indian operations and investing in continuous upskilling will capture disproportionate value. Second, organizations moving beyond merely transactional outsourcing toward establishing comprehensive finance transformation hubs gain competitive advantages of agility and insight generation. Third, businesses leveraging India's state-specific incentives and sectoral strengths-be it in fintech, pharmaceuticals, electronics, or renewable energy-will see sustainable growth.

The journey towards a USD5 trillion economy by the year 2027 is well on track, undergirded by structural reforms that stressed transparency, predictability, and partnership with global capital. For foreign companies, the question is no longer whether to establish operations in India but how fast they can capitalize on this extraordinary window of opportunity. The reforms of 2025 laid the foundation; 2026 will be the year of execution and expansion.

The ease of doing business in India has transformed aspiration into reality. Far-sighted organizations that grasp this inflection point and take timely decisive action will put themselves at the heart of one of the most dynamic growth stories in the world.