FORTY Under 40: Matthew Finney

Looking back at your journey over the past year, what accomplishment are you most proud of, and how has becoming a FORTY Under 40 finalist influenced your perspective on that achievement?

I am most proud of the time and effort I have invested in recruiting and developing new professionals. Beyond delivering for clients, I believe one of the most meaningful contributions I can make is building strong teams and helping early-career auditors grow into confident, capable professionals.

Being named a FORTY Under 40 finalist has reinforced my belief that leadership is measured not only by personal accomplishments, but by the impact you have on others. It has motivated me to be even more intentional about mentoring and creating opportunities for new professionals to succeed. I am especially proud to play a role in helping shape the next generation of leaders – and I hope some of those individuals will one day earn recognition like this themselves.

What key challenge did you face in your work this year? How did you overcome it and what did it teach you about leadership at this stage of your career?

One of the biggest challenges was navigating an especially demanding workload while maintaining the high standards our clients expect. It can be easy to focus solely on output, but I have learned that sustainable leadership requires more than just personal effort.

I focused on maintaining clear communication, empowering my team to take ownership of their responsibilities and ensuring we remained aligned on expectations and quality despite tight deadlines. I worked to delegate intentionally and support others in stepping up. By reinforcing a calm and solutions-oriented approach, we were able to meet key deadlines without compromising the standard of our work.

This experience reinforced that leadership at this stage of my career is less about how much I can personally accomplish and more about how effectively I can guide a team through pressure. Resilience, clarity, and trust have become just as important as technical skill.

In what ways have you tried to push innovation or rethink traditional approaches within your sector, and what impact has that had on your team or organisation?

Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to serve as chair of our internal AI advisory board, where my focus has been on exploring practical ways emerging technology can enhance how we work. Rather than treating innovation as a buzzword, I believe it’s about identifying smarter approaches, improving processes and building efficiencies that allow our teams to focus more on high-value work.

This role has encouraged collaboration across departments to rethink traditional workflows and responsibly integrate new tools in ways that support both quality and consistency. As a result, our teams are working to become more adaptable, more efficient and better positioned to evolve alongside a rapidly changing professional landscape.

“I’m excited to keep investing in recruiting and mentoring the next generation of professionals.”

How do you see your role evolving over the next three to five years, and what initiatives are you most excited to pursue as you continue to grow professionally?

Over this period, I see my role continuing to evolve around two areas I care deeply about: developing people and driving thoughtful innovation. I’m excited to keep investing in recruiting and mentoring the next generation of professionals, helping them build confidence, technical strength, and meaningful career paths.

At the same time, I look forward to expanding my work in advancing practical innovation through emerging technologies and process improvements that help teams work more efficiently and effectively. As I grow professionally, my goal is to strengthen both the people and the systems that allow organisations to perform at a high level and adapt to what’s ahead.

Many of the FORTY Under 40 winners are recognised for both business success and broader impact – how do you balance professional excellence with contributions to your community or industry landscape?

Not to sound like a broken record, but I think a lot of my contribution comes through investing time in developing people, strengthening teams and helping new professionals build successful careers. Recruiting, mentoring, and creating growth opportunities allows me to make an impact that extends well beyond my individual work.

I also look for ways to contribute through leadership initiatives that improve how we operate and adapt. By focusing on both people development and thoughtful innovation, I’m able to support not just organisational success, but the long-term strength of the profession as a whole.

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