{"id":129631,"date":"2024-08-29t12:01:11","date_gmt":"2024-08-29t16:01:11","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/?p=129631"},"modified":"2024-09-10t09:25:34","modified_gmt":"2024-09-10t13:25:34","slug":"why-staff-leave-cpa-firms-and-how-to-stop-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2024\/08\/29\/why-staff-leave-cpa-firms-and-how-to-stop-them\/","title":{"rendered":"why staff leave cpa firms… and how to keep them"},"content":{"rendered":"
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the 14 top reasons they depart, plus insights from young employees.<\/strong><\/p>\n
in 2021, staff turnover was the highest in recent years, though not across the board. firms over $20 million did not experience much of a turnover increase, probably because they recognized early on that remote work was here to stay and liberally offered it to staff. but smaller firms, those under $20 million, were slower on the draw to implement remote work policies and as a result, some staff left their firms to join one that fully embraced remote work.<\/li>\n
also, as the covid-19 pandemic continued from its onset in march 2020, people got more accustomed to living with it and were not as fearful as they were in the beginning. with the increased comfort level with the pandemic, staff who didn\u2019t want to change firms at the onset started moving.<\/li>\n
an increase in staff turnover during the covid-19 pandemic is likely due to the popularity of remote work that many firms embraced and chose to keep as a permanent work option. firms that weren\u2019t offering this as an option were less likely to keep staff as flexibility became one of the biggest recruiting and retention tactics.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
the top reasons staff leave cpa firms<\/h3>\n
there may be other reasons why staff leave, but the ones listed below are what we see time and again, both in our consulting and in survey results. the items are not ranked in any way.<\/p>\n
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a less-than-favorable relationship with the boss, be it a senior, manager or partner. when we use the term \u201crelationship\u201d it\u2019s not just a matter of \u201cis the boss a nice person.\u201d equally important, do the supervisors help the staff learn, grow and advance?<\/li>\n
a failure to measure or compensate partners\u2019 performance based on their success at staff retention and mentoring, particularly at smaller firms. as we\u2019ve said before, you get what you measure.<\/li>\n
lack of challenge or variety in work and\/or advancement opportunities.<\/li>\n
below-market compensation. there are two parts to this:<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
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a revolution in cpa firm compensation is taking place. why? because cpa firms\u2019 revenue is robust, but they don\u2019t have enough staff to get the work out. to avoid losing their staff to other industries, cpa firms have been awarding salary increases at levels previously unseen. it\u2019s common for firms to be increasing staff compensation in the 8-15 percent range. some stars are getting even more.<\/li>\n
a sea change has taken place over the past five to 10 years in terms of how cpa salaries for staff compare to other jobs. for decades, entry-level salaries for accounting majors were at the top of the pay scale, generally surpassed only by technology and engineering. but data from surveys of two national personnel organizations, indeed and career builder, indicate that while accounting salaries are still respectable, finance majors, investment bankers, business analysts, data scientists, web developers and graphic designers, among others, are getting paid more than accountants.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
so cpa firms are severely challenged these days to pay their staff competitively. they need to stay competitive with prevailing pay levels, both within the cpa profession and outside of it.<\/p>\n
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lack of benefits offered. often this, coupled with higher compensation, is a reason staff end up leaving their firms. newer benefit offerings include dependent and child care aid, money toward student loan repayment, and stipends for technology such as home office equipment, internet and cellphones.<\/li>\n