Starting FY26 strong: A strategic playbook for construction leaders

The pressure never really lets up in construction, but the start of a new financial year is one of the few chances leaders get to take a breath, zoom out, and ask: are we set up for what’s coming?

FY26 is already shaping up to be another challenging year. Costs remain unpredictable, compliance demands are growing, and winning the right work has never been more competitive. But it’s also a chance to move proactively, to fix what’s slowing you down, double down on what’s working, and build smarter foundations for the future.

Welcome to your FY26 reset: a focused playbook for construction leaders ready to lead with clarity, resilience, and intent.

1. Set a focused FY26 strategy, not a laundry list of goals

Ambition is important, but clarity is what delivers results. Construction businesses heading into the new year with ten different priorities will likely end up with zero that actually stick.

The most resilient firms are narrowing their focus to the two or three strategic moves that matter most, whether that’s strengthening margin control, expanding into new markets, or improving compliance and sustainability reporting.

Right now, the economic landscape remains unpredictable. Insurance premiums are increasing, compliance risk is growing, and project pipelines are shifting across regions. That’s why early alignment across teams, budgets, and resources is critical. The earlier you define your strategic lens, the sooner everyone can start pulling in the same direction.

2. Lock in margin protection now, before volatility bites

Subcontractor costs remain volatile. Material prices are still impacted by global instability. Waiting for the market to stabilise before getting serious about margin protection is a risky game.

FY26 is the year to get proactive. That starts with giving your teams real time visibility into where margin leakage is occurring, whether that’s unbilled variations, last minute procurement, or equipment downtime.

Dynamic cost forecasting, project level profitability tracking, and automated reporting are no longer nice to have. They are essential tools for keeping projects on track and protecting your bottom line. A connected ERP platform like MYOB Acumatica Construction gives you that visibility, so you can spot issues early and act quickly.

3. Build a smarter, more resilient project pipeline

FY26 will reward construction leaders who know what to say no to.

After years of chasing volume, smart businesses are taking a closer look at their ideal project profile. Which types of work are the most profitable? Which align with your workforce, your risk appetite, and your reputation?

This is also the time to explore opportunities to differentiate. Could this be the year you move into modular construction or grow your footprint in public infrastructure? Tech-led players are starting to leverage predictive bidding models and real time cost data to evaluate projects more accurately and build healthier pipelines.

If you’re not already reviewing your project mix against profitability, risk and resource fit, FY26 is the time to start.

For more on construction tech trends reshaping the industry, check out this related blog.

4. Operationalise sustainability and make it a revenue driver, not a compliance burden

Environmental compliance is not going away. It is expanding, and increasingly tied to tender success.

The pressure to prove environmental performance is growing, especially across government funded projects. FY26 is the year to move sustainability tracking out of the spreadsheet and into your daily workflows.

With a cloud ERP platform like MYOB Acumatica Construction, you can:

• Centralise all environmental compliance documentation
• Automate alerts and approvals tied to green milestones
• Define and monitor custom KPIs like waste reduction or hours of energy efficient equipment use
• Integrate sustainability metrics into project dashboards, not buried in separate reports
• Improve forecasting and reduce over ordering that leads to waste

That is what it looks like when sustainability becomes part of your delivery model, not just a line in your tender response. Upskilling your site teams in this area will only strengthen your position for what is to come.

5. Invest with clarity, not just capital

A new financial year often triggers big investment decisions. New equipment. New hires. New software.

But FY26 demands a smarter approach. Every dollar of capital investment should be tied to strategic capability uplift. That means focusing on technology, plant and systems that will drive performance improvements, not just replace what is wearing out.

This is also the right moment to review your digital maturity. Are your systems truly integrated? Can finance, site ops, and procurement access the same real time data? If not, your next investment might need to be in the systems that bring those pieces together.

Cloud ERP is not just a finance tool. It is the operational backbone that connects decisions across your business. And in FY26, those connections will be your competitive advantage.

Bringing it all together

Whilst FY25 was about staying afloat, our prediction is that FY26 will be about getting ahead.

Construction leaders who want to future proof their operations are putting tech at the centre of their strategy, from cost tracking to sustainability reporting to smarter project selection.

The firms that integrate systems early will move faster, forecast more accurately, and respond to change with confidence. Whether that means navigating another price spike or taking on a new type of project, they’ll be ready.

If you are looking for a smarter way to plan, track, and deliver this financial year, now is the time to rethink what’s powering your business.

Explore how MYOB Acumatica Construction can help you lay the digital foundations for smarter growth in FY26.