How Blockchain Technology is Shaping the Future of Accounting Practices

Most finance professionals have read something about blockchain over the last five years. Very few have had to apply it in practice. That gap is closing faster than most FC briefs anticipated — because the regulatory framework around cryptoassets is moving from theoretical to operational in 2026, and the finance teams that are unprepared for it are already finding it expensive.

This guide is written for Financial Controllers and Finance Directors at UK businesses that hold, have received, or are considering accepting cryptoassets, and for finance professionals who want to understand what blockchain means for the FC role specifically — not as a technology concept, but as an accounting, tax reporting and regulatory compliance matter.

What Has Changed in 2026: CARF

The most significant development in the cryptoasset accounting and reporting landscape for 2026 is the coming into force of the Cryptoasset Reporting Framework (CARF), enacted through The Reporting Cryptoasset Service Providers Regulations 2025. From 1 January 2026, UK-based cryptoasset service providers — exchanges, custodial wallet providers and certain brokers — are required to collect and report information on transactions by UK-resident users to HMRC. First reports are due by 31 May 2027. Full details are set out in HMRC’s CARF guidance.

The practical implication for in-house finance teams is that the cryptoasset transactions your business has been conducting — whether treasury holdings, customer payments in crypto, or DeFi yield positions — will increasingly be visible to HMRC through the data reported by the service providers you use. Finance teams that have been managing cryptoasset positions informally, without a documented accounting policy or a clear tax treatment, are now operating in an environment where HMRC will have transaction-level data to compare against the tax return. The FC who has not built a proper cryptoasset accounting process by 2026 is the FC who will be managing an HMRC query in 2027.

Accounting for Cryptoassets Under UK GAAP and IFRS

The accounting treatment for cryptoassets is one of the most technically contested areas in UK financial reporting, because neither UK GAAP (FRS 102) nor IFRS has a specific cryptoasset standard. The treatment depends on the nature of the cryptoasset and how it is held.

Under FRS 102 as revised (effective for periods beginning on or after 1 January 2026), cryptoassets held as investments are typically accounted for either as intangible assets at cost less impairment, or at fair value through profit or loss where there is an active market. The FC needs to determine the accounting policy, apply it consistently, and disclose it in the notes to the financial statements. Neither treatment is straightforward: cost less impairment requires an impairment assessment at each reporting date (and cryptoasset values are volatile); fair value through profit or loss requires a defensible fair value source and the ability to obtain a reliable market price at the balance sheet date.

Under IFRS, the IASB issued an agenda decision in 2023 confirming that holdings of cryptocurrencies should generally be accounted for under IAS 38 (Intangible Assets) or, where held for sale in the ordinary course of business as a commodity broker-trader, under IAS 2 (Inventories). The FC must establish and document the accounting policy, apply it consistently and ensure the disclosures are adequate.

Tax Treatment: What the FC Needs to Know

HMRC’s position on the tax treatment of cryptoassets is set out in its cryptoassets guidance for businesses. The key points for FCs at UK companies:

Corporation tax on gains and income. Cryptoassets held as investments are subject to corporation tax on chargeable gains when disposed of. Cryptoassets received as payment for goods or services are taxed as income at the sterling value at the date of receipt. Mining and staking rewards are generally treated as trading income where carried out as a business activity.

VAT treatment. The exchange of cryptoassets for fiat currency is exempt from VAT. However, goods and services sold in exchange for cryptoassets are subject to VAT in the normal way, calculated on the sterling value of the cryptoassets received at the time of supply. The FC managing a business that accepts crypto payments needs a process for calculating and recording the sterling equivalent at each transaction — a data volume challenge that manual processes handle poorly.

CARF reporting. UK businesses using cryptoasset service providers should expect that HMRC will receive transaction-level data from those providers from 2027. Ensuring that the business’s own records are consistent with what will be reported by the service providers is an immediate compliance priority.

Blockchain in FCA-Regulated Firms: Additional Considerations

For FCs at FCA-regulated firms — payment institutions, e-money institutions, investment firms and wealth managers — cryptoassets create regulatory compliance obligations that sit on top of the accounting and tax considerations.

The FCA regulates cryptoasset businesses in the UK under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Financial Promotion) (Amendment) Order 2023 and the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds Regulations 2017. Payment institutions and e-money institutions that process payments in cryptoassets must assess whether those cryptoassets fall within the scope of the Payment Services Regulations 2017 or constitute e-money under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011.

For wealth managers and DFMs that hold cryptoassets on behalf of clients, the CASS client money rules apply where the cryptoassets are held in segregated arrangements on the client’s behalf. The CASS framework was designed for traditional financial assets and its application to cryptoassets is an area of ongoing regulatory development — FCs at CASS-regulated firms holding client cryptoassets should seek specific legal advice on the custody arrangements and ensure the position is reviewed as the regulatory framework develops.

See FC at FCA-Regulated Firms, Fintech FC Recruitment and CASS Accountant Recruitment for the full FCA-regulated firm FC recruitment context.

What This Means for FC Briefs and Hiring

Over the last eighteen months, Accountancy Capital has seen a gradual increase in the number of FC briefs from businesses in the fintech, digital assets and Web3 sectors that specifically require cryptoasset accounting experience. The most in-demand combination is an FC who can manage the standard month-end close and board pack alongside a documented cryptoasset accounting policy, a CARF-ready transaction log, and the regulatory awareness to identify when a new cryptoasset activity requires legal or tax advice before it is adopted.

This profile is in short supply. Most qualified FCs who have cryptoasset accounting experience developed it incidentally — a business they were already working at began accepting crypto payments or holding bitcoin as a treasury asset, and they worked out the accounting treatment as they went. Very few FCs have been specifically recruited into a cryptoasset-aware finance function from the outset. The candidates who can demonstrate a documented accounting policy, a tax-defensible position paper and a CARF-ready data process are significantly more valuable than those who can only demonstrate that they were present when the question arose.

For employers building out their finance function’s cryptoasset capability: the FC brief should specify exactly which cryptoasset accounting challenges are in scope — treasury holdings, customer payments, DeFi positions, NFT royalties — because the accounting and tax treatment differs between them and a candidate who has managed one may not have managed the others.

AI, Blockchain and the Evolving FC Role

Blockchain and AI are frequently mentioned in the same breath in discussions about the future of the finance function. In practice their impact on the day-to-day FC role is different in character: AI is already changing how FCs do their existing jobs — automating reconciliations, drafting variance commentary, building cash flow models — while blockchain is creating new accounting and compliance obligations that require the FC to develop new technical knowledge.

The FC who is developing both — using AI tools to increase efficiency in the core finance function while building the technical knowledge to manage cryptoasset accounting and CARF compliance — is ahead of most peers and well-positioned for the next generation of senior finance leadership roles.

See AI in Finance Hub, AI in Finance: What’s Real vs Hype, Claude vs Copilot vs ChatGPT and Hiring AI-Capable Finance Professionals for the AI dimension of the same story.

Building a Cryptoasset Accounting Process: What Good Looks Like

The finance teams managing cryptoasset positions effectively in 2026 typically have four things in place that their less-prepared peers do not.

A documented accounting policy. A written policy specifying how the business accounts for each class of cryptoasset it holds — the measurement basis (cost less impairment or fair value), the fair value source (which exchange price, at what time), the impairment trigger and the disposal gain/loss calculation methodology. This policy should be board-approved and reviewed at least annually as the accounting standards framework develops.

A transaction log that is CARF-ready. A complete record of every cryptoasset transaction — acquisition, disposal, payment received, payment made — with the sterling equivalent at the transaction date, the basis for that sterling equivalent, and the tax treatment applied. HMRC will receive similar data from cryptoasset service providers from 2027; the business’s own records should be capable of reconciling to what the service providers will report.

A tax position paper. A written technical analysis of the tax treatment the business has adopted for each class of cryptoasset activity, signed off by a qualified tax adviser. Where HMRC’s guidance does not address a specific scenario — and there are several where it does not — the tax position paper documents the interpretation the business has adopted and the reasoning behind it.

A protocol for new cryptoasset activities. A clear process for assessing the accounting, tax and regulatory implications of any new cryptoasset activity before it is adopted, rather than after. The most common and most expensive finance function failure in this space is discovering the accounting and tax treatment of a new activity after the transactions have already been processed.

The FC who can build and maintain all four of these elements — or who joins a business and rapidly identifies which are missing — is providing genuine risk management value that extends well beyond the standard FC scope. This is why cryptoasset accounting experience commands a salary premium in the current market and why briefs specifying it consistently attract fewer qualified candidates than briefs for equivalent commercial FC roles.

See FC for Investor Reporting Governance, FC at FCA-Regulated Firms and Senior Corporate Tax Manager Recruitment for related Accountancy Capital resources. Call 0204 553 8893 to brief a search.