South Africa’s accountants gathered at the Sage Accountants Roadshow 2026 across Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town. SNG Grant Thornton’s Business Process Solutions team was there, listening, contributing and helping to shape the conversation.
Ryan Smit, Director and Head of Business Process Solutions, joined the panel discussion to share SNG Grant Thornton’s perspective on where the profession is heading and what it increasingly demands of the firms that serve it.
His participation reflects a wider commitment to staying close to the issues shaping our clients’ businesses. By engaging with the forces reshaping the profession, we strengthen our ability to anticipate change, respond to emerging challenges and create greater value for the organisations we serve.
Three things stood out.
- Technology is no longer the story. What we do with it is. AI and automation are becoming the baseline. Competitive advantage will belong to firms that can translate these capabilities into better decisions, greater efficiency and stronger client outcomes.
- The regulatory environment is tightening. Emerging compliance requirements are not simply a burden to manage, but an opportunity to earn deeper trust. Firms that embed compliance into the way they operate, rather than treating it as an obligation around the edges, will be better positioned to lead what comes next.
- The trusted business advisor is not a rebrand. It is a redesign. Accountants are being asked to sit closer to the strategic conversations shaping the businesses they serve. That shift requires new capabilities, new tools and a different mindset. It is a shift we are already investing in.
For our teams in Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town, the roadshow was an opportunity to connect with peers, sharpen our thinking and bring back insights that can create meaningful value for our clients.
This is what our commitment to being digitally led looks like in practice: staying close to the forces shaping our clients and markets, anticipating what comes next and turning insight into greater value.
Together, we turn growth into shared progress.