Industry Insights

Discover how AI is set to impact the education of accountants in this thought-provoking blog. With questions raised about the role of technical knowledge and communication skills, the author proposes changes to the educational system to adapt to the rise of AI and suggests that those who embrace these changes will be in high demand

This informative blog provides a practical model for demonstrating the cost of a bad hire in public accounting and offers tips to avoid making one. Drawing on 25 years of experience, the author emphasizes the importance of hiring with a purpose, mastering the art of interviewing, verifying beyond the resume, emphasizing team compatibility, and swift decision-making.

Who’s better – ChatGPT or Jasper? And would they pass a CPA level exam? We thought we’d get Chat GPT and Jasper.ai to take our CPA level Public Accounting Test. This test is used by employers to assess candidates for roles where a CPA licence is usually required. We analysed the questions into categories to try and see where each AI performed. This is not a scientific analysis but here is what we found...

As businesses face a growing demand for experienced and reliable financial guidance, accounting firms are striving to offer more advanced, personalized services such as Virtual CFO and Virtual Controller. Find out how to make sure new and existing hires have the knowledge and experience to offer these services to your clients.

Ryan concludes that accounting firms should treat new hires like any other investment decision – what is the ROI, especially in terms of the tasks this new person will be able to take off the firm owner.  This will likely sway decision making more towards hiring senior rather junior than might otherwise have been the case. Taking the strategic view might result in a different decision than initially considered.

When used effectively, phone-interviews bring all the benefits of identifying the best candidate for the role, without the current risks and expense of bringing candidates in from all over and organizing the resources to accommodate interviews and candidates.  However, they also bring the considerable risk of missing out on great candidates when run ineffectively.

What do you do when two outstanding candidates are vying for the same position at your firm and they have been neck and neck throughout the recruitment process, how do you decide which person to hire? Here are four strategies to consider:

Maintaining a robust selection process with choosy candidates in a labour shortage is just another day in the challenges of management. Here’s a guide for landing great selection decisions in a tough job market.

Every interaction with a candidate reveals their commitment and most importantly their attitude. Once you have your preferred candidate, you will know in the first 3 months if they are the right candidate because what they do in the first 3 months is what they will do for the next 30 years.

The purpose of shortlisting is to assess candidate’s suitability and identify those who best meet the selection criteria and who are most likely to be capable of carrying out the duties of the job.

Checking references can be time-consuming but it is a vital part of the hiring process. It verifies the information provided by the candidate on their CV, during the interview, and as part of the testing and assessment process. It also allows for any red flags & concerns to be debunked or confirmed.