Industry Insights

The Staffing Strategies report from the Center for Accounting Transformation highlights key challenges and solutions in closing talent gaps within accounting firms. While many firms acknowledge burnout due to high workloads, they also believe they maintain strong team collegiality. To address staffing shortages, firms commonly rely on hiring, offshoring, demand management, and technology.

The blog emphasizes that pre-employment tests must comply with anti-discrimination laws to avoid legal and reputational risks. Following the EEOC’s best practice guidelines helps ensure that testing processes are defensible against any claims of bias.

This blog discusses best practices for hiring university and college graduates, particularly in accounting and bookkeeping. Since graduates often lack extensive work experience, employers must assess their potential through testing.

Top accounting firms excel by aligning their hiring practices with strategic goals, focusing on candidate-centric job ads, leveraging employee referrals, and using data-driven tools like skills tests and structured interviews. A comprehensive approach that includes tailored onboarding and ongoing development helps firms attract, hire, and retain top talent while minimizing costly hiring mistakes.

The blog emphasizes the importance of testing and assessment in hiring decisions, particularly for support-level roles that are often overlooked despite their significant impact on business operations. While businesses commonly invest in assessments for middle-level roles (e.g., managers, accountants), and sometimes neglect higher-level roles due to overreliance on track records, they rarely assess support staff, citing cost concerns.

The blog discusses the value and ROI (Return on Investment) of pre-employment testing, addressing why many firms are hesitant to adopt it due to challenges in measuring its benefits. It highlights insights from Dr. Steve Blinkhorn, who breaks down the key factors that influence the ROI of testing.

Employers can integrate these tests into hiring processes, combining them with skills and personality assessments to build a complete candidate profile, ensuring informed and confident hiring decisions. Trial options are available for interested firms. Happy hiring!

This blog discusses why the accounting profession struggles to attract talent, highlighting common issues like low starting salaries, poor work cultures (especially in Big 4 and tax firms), the high cost of education, and a "boring" perception of accounting. Professional organizations are working on solutions, and CAANZ (Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand) is making notable changes to improve accessibility.

In today's tight labor market, transparent interviews are gaining attention as a fair and consistent method to evaluate candidates. Transparent interviews provide candidates with questions in advance, allowing them to showcase their suitability for the role. Explore how transparent interviews can enhance your hiring process by allowing for better-prepared candidates and more accurate assessments of their fit for the job.

The article discusses the challenges small and medium-sized accounting firms face in creating unbiased and diverse hiring processes, along with actionable tips for improvement.

The blog promotes a webinar aimed at improving the hiring process for accountants, focusing on using objective evidence and validated tests to make better hiring decisions

The article discusses the hidden costs of making a bad hire, specifically focusing on the example of hiring a Client Accounting Manager for $100,000/year. Initially, the weekly cost, including benefits, is estimated at $2,300. However, the new hire underperforms, causing team friction and poor coaching. After 90 days, the manager is terminated, seemingly costing $34,500.