staffing & recruiting
how to solve the big disconnect in talent management
can you articulate your firm’s employee value proposition?
by marc rosenberg in collaboration with jeremy wortman, ph.d., owner of hrd initiatives
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset
“executives spend more time on managing people and making people decisions than on anything else – and they should. no other decisions are so long-lasting in their consequences or so difficult to unmake. and yet, by and large, executives make poor promotion and staffing decisions. at most, one-third of such decisions turn out right, one-third are minimally effective and a third are outright failures. in no other area of management would we put up with such miserable performance.” – peter drucker
more: what relevance means for staffing in accounting | how accounting staffing has changed
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what is talent management?
talent management is an umbrella term for how firms acquire talent, engage people in their firms, develop their skills and retain them. among many things, it addresses
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three ways to thrive with limited capacity
turn the staffing shortage into a new opportunity.
by frank stiteley
the relentless cpa
charles dickens had to be writing about the accounting profession when he wrote, “it was the best of times, it was the worst of times.”
clients are plentiful. i met a new client coming out of the restroom at our office complex. we get four to five inquiries a day – out of tax season. during tax season, we turned down four out of five prospective clients.
more on staffing: tax and accounting jobs and salaries show strength | olympics of outsourcing and offshoring for accountants | new study: strong and steady growth for accountant jobs and salaries | can’t recruit? retain! | is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries? | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | to replenish the talent pipeline, go back to the classroom | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | employee retention is easier than attraction | let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | firms culling clients as staffing woes persist
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staff are not plentiful – at least not good ones. i’m getting two or three resumes a day, but they’re the warm body sort most of us learned the hard way not to hire during the pandemic. you’ve seen these resumes too. they are people with six employers in eight years. you are certain to be number seven in nine years. they claim eight years of experience, but you can see from their job history that it’s really two years of experience repeated four times. and – they want $100k for those two years of real experience.
tax and accounting jobs and salaries show strength
hourly earnings fluctuate.
by beth bellor
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
despite a slowing increase in employment for the u.s. economy in general, the nation’s tax and accounting sector is improving on most fronts, marking more than four years of solid year-over-year gains.
more: new study: strong and steady growth for accountant jobs and salaries | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | payroll leads job gains in tax & accounting sector
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to be sure, tax and accounting employment nudged slightly down in july, according to the latest data available to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research. but it remains ahead of last year’s figures. and record highs are popping in key hiring segments, including staff, cpa firms and payroll services. is talk of staffing shortages overblown, or would growth be even stronger if more qualified candidates were available? read more →
what relevance means for staffing in accounting
seventeen ways to improve.
by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset
the business graveyard is littered with major organizations that missed the boat by failing to see cataclysmic game changers happening right before their eyes.
- ice companies failed to get into refrigeration because they saw themselves in the ice business.
- railroads missed out on autos and aerospace because they didn’t see themselves in the transportation business.
- a ceo of digital equipment corporation said he couldn’t imagine why people would want a computer in their own house.
- it took the wright brothers five years to get the u.s. government to even talk to them about their invention.
more: how accounting staffing has changed
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in all fairness it’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, to anticipate and accept massive changes like these.
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how we solve the accounting talent pipeline problem | accounting influencers
“it’s not just debits and credits.”
accounting influencers
with rob brown
look into potential solutions for the alarming talent shortage with sue coffey, ceo of public accounting at the aicpa, and lexy kessler, partner at aprio and chair of the aicpa’s national pipeline advisory group, in this episode of accounting influencers, hosted by rob brown.
coffey and kessler discuss the overwhelming evidence pointing to a significant talent pipeline issue in accounting, including declining enrolment in accounting programs, fewer students pursuing the cpa credential, and challenges in retaining young professionals in their first five years of employment. but can the profession overcome this challenge?
olympics of outsourcing and offshoring for accountants
the only difference is it’s not a once in four years event.
by hitendra patil
the olympic games are the epitome of human achievement. the best athletes in the world come together to compete for the ultimate coveted glory. the accounting profession is no different in its competitive spirit and quest for excellence.
take action now: take this 2-minute quick quiz to evaluate if your firm needs outsourcing.
you will instantly get your score and what that score means.
outsourcing and offshoring have emerged as a necessary remedy to overcome the challenges of the accounting talent shortage. accounting firms leveraging outsourcing and offshoring are like the athletes excelling at the olympics. like the olympics, accounting firms need rigorous preparation, strategic planning, and meticulous execution to succeed with outsourcing and offshoring. let us dive into the comparison between the olympics and outsourcing/offshoring strategies. let us see how accounting firms can assure gold-medalist performance in the olympics of outsourcing and offshoring.
how accounting staffing has changed
and two major drivers of that change.
by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset
“treat people as they are and they will remain as they are. treat people as they can be and should be and they will become as they can and should be.” – goethe
“you see, really and truly, apart from the things anyone can pick up, such as dressing and the proper way of speaking and so on, the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she’s treated. i shall always be a flower girl to professor higgins, because he always treats me as a flower girl. but i know i can be a lady to you, colonel pickering, because you always treat me as a lady and always will.” – eliza doolittle in “my fair lady”
more: thirteen traits of partners you’ll want to keep | six rules for keeping partners happy and productive | why strategic thinking impacts your firm’s future | seven things good firms must do | five ways to separate accounting winners from losers | two factors determine firm profitability | don’t make firm profitability a goal | core values: why your firm needs them | five keys in compensating new managing partners | top 20 tough choices for the partner comp committee | voting on ownership basis? three better methods | what partners do and don’t deserve
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the ancient greek philosopher heraclitus said: “there is nothing permanent except change.” people fly and drive cars instead of using horses and carts. technology has replaced calculators, slide rules and the process for writing books. food is purchased at grocery stores instead of grown on farms.
drastic changes have occurred in the cpa industry as well. one of the biggest areas of change is how staff are managed and treated, as shown by this chart.
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student accounting enrollment shows third year of recovery | cornerstone
but 
new data from the national student clearinghouse research center shows a 12 percent increase in fall 2024 accounting enrollment compared to fall 2023. the increase amounted to an additional 28,672 students.
total undergraduate accounting enrollment for fall 2024 was 267,278 students, the highest accounting enrollment reported since fall 2020 (263,092 students) and just shy of the pre-pandemic fall 2019 enrollment (275,963 students).
understanding the inflection points
in number of cpa exam candidates
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 cornerstone report
the key factors contributing to the ups and downs – mostly downs in the last three decades – of cpa exam candidates reflect broader trends in the economy, regulatory environment, and demographic landscape.
turnover timebomb: 4 of 5 senior managers at risk
and seven ways to overcome staffing issues.
by hitendra patil
the talent crisis in the accounting profession has been relentless, and it now seems that the staffing issues are moving up the ladder.
the preliminary results of the inaugural accountants professional satisfaction survey show nearly two in five directors and senior managers at accounting firms report dissatisfaction. only one in four seniors are highly satisfied. on the other hand, one in three managers are dissatisfied at their firms, and only 17 percent are highly satisfied.
150 credit hours: helping or hindering?
one study suggests there is little if any upside but plenty of downside.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
four decades ago, the american institute of cpas promulgated a rule requiring accountants to complete 150 credit hours to qualify for certification, an increase from 120 hours. basically, it required a fifth year of college education.
more: can’t recruit? retain! | the accountant as a strategic business partner | report: efficiency still the top priority for accounting firms | is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries? | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | to replenish the talent pipeline, go back to the classroom | beware the work-life/workload doom spiral | why the dry pipeline? it’s about time | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | global trends show many dissatisfied cpas | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board
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state boards of accountancy had discretion over when to enact the rule. by 2015, all states and u.s. territories had adopted it.
fun fact: the national rule did not impose any requirements on what courses the students had to take. it didn’t have to be courses on tax law or accounting standards. philosophy, music theory or basket-weaving would do. state boards, however, often mandate specific course requirements.
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can’t recruit? retain!
other options: outsourcing, m&a, even freelancers with different skill sets.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
there’s no good news coming out of the talent pipeline. there are fewer accounting majors coming in at the college end, and fewer coming out at the cpa exam end.
the reasons are legion. kids these days have little interest in a career reputed to be boring and exhausting. they can make more money in some other area of finance or business. the extra credit hours take too long and cost too much.
more: the accountant as a strategic business partner | report: efficiency still the top priority for accounting firms | is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries? | audit firms nervous about new tech | what accountants can learn from t-ball | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | to replenish the talent pipeline, go back to the classroom | beware the work-life/workload doom spiral | why the dry pipeline? it’s about time | business model transformation: do it or die | misperceptions, corrections, accountancy and lemonade
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the 2024 thomson reuters state of tax professionals report sums it up with illustrative stats.
- 39 percent say recruitment will be “highly challenging” in 2024.
- another quarter say it will be “somewhat challenging.”
- 33 percent of firms with four or more employees say talent will be a top priority.
is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries?
there’s a paradox going on.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
a working paper by three academics presents a paradoxical contradiction in the accounting industry. somehow, technology, which is starting to replace some accounting functions, is causing a shortage of accounting professionals. and despite the high demand for the few graduates who major in accounting, starting salaries are lower than in related professions.
more: audit firms nervous about new tech | what accountants can learn from t-ball | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | to replenish the talent pipeline, go back to the classroom | beware the work-life/workload doom spiral | why the dry pipeline? it’s about time | business model transformation: do it or die | misperceptions, corrections, accountancy and lemonade | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | global trends show many dissatisfied cpas | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads
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and in a related paradox, technology’s most powerful tools may be augmenting the accountant’s workload.
how can all this be concurrent?
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