octobernovember2022 - 35

BRIDGING THE GAP
SANDRA WILEY
President, Boomer Consulting, Inc.
sandra.wiley@cpapracticeadvisor.com
Exploring New Roles and Positions in Your Firm
A COMMON COMPLAINT from firm
leaders these days is, " We can't find
any CPAs to hire! "
If you're in that boat, I wish I had a quick fix
for you. But the truth is that there's a shortage
of CPAs and CPA candidates, and the situation
isn't going to improve anytime soon.
THE CPA SHORTAGE
Fewer college students are pursuing accounting
degrees, and those who do aren't necessarily
interested in working in a CPA firm or pursuing
a CPA license.
Among accounting graduates who do not
plan to become CPAs, the top reasons for not
pursuing the credential include not seeing value
or relevance to their careers (32%) and not seeing
the return on investment (28%).
Meanwhile, Baby Boomers are retiring-
taking a lot of institutional knowledge with
them-and many accountants are shifting into
industry or leaving accounting altogether as they
reevaluate their professional lives post-pandemic.
At a time when 96% of firm leaders say they're
taking steps to grow the business in the next
three to five years, the ability to attract and hire
talent will be the most significant factor for a
firm's future success.
So whom will you hire? It's time to start
looking for people who aren't CPAs.
NEW TALENT FOR NEW JOBS
Today's workforce demands we focus on the unique
abilities of individuals and plug them into where
they're needed the most. Our focus can't be solely
on education, experience or letters after a name,
but on who can do the work that needs to be done.
That's going to require firm leaders and
recruiters to seek out different types of people
than they've ever looked at before.
Consider your tax and audit team members.
While there are certainly aspects of their job
that require an accounting degree and CPA
license, they likely spend a good portion of
their time on non-CPA tasks, including:
■ Marketing
■ Business development
■ Data analytics
■ Consulting
■ Project management
■ Content creation
■ Wealth management
■ Training others
And more!
In the past, when your tax and audit team
members were out of capacity to take on additional
work, you would simply hire another tax
accountant or auditor member.
Today, that's not always an option. Rather
than trying to hire another accountant,
consider which tasks your tax and audit team
members perform that don't necessarily need
to be done by a CPA. Then you have three
options:
■ Automate the work
■ Outsource it to an independent contractor
■ Hire a non-CPA with the unique skill set to
handle that part of the job
Many of the firms we work with have had
a lot of success with this approach. Some of
the tasks we've seen them offload to other
employees, automate, or outsource include:
■ Conducting initial pre-screening conversations
with potential clients that come in from
referrals, phone calls, social media platforms,
or website contact forms
■ Performing data analysis as part of assurance,
advisory or consulting engagements
■ Consulting with clients on technology, growth,
leadership, human resources, wealth management
and other non-accounting areas
■ Writing blog and newsletter content for the firm
■ Managing non-client-facing projects
PROFILING, RECRUITING AND
HIRING CHANGES
If hiring non-CPAs is part of your strategy, you
must change whom you're looking for. Start by
creating new candidate profiles. What is the job
description for new employees? What skills do
they need? What personality traits would help
them be successful in the role? What experience
or certifications (other than in accounting) should
they have?
Now that you know whom you're looking for,
you can acquire talent from all over the world.
The pandemic proved that employees don't have
to be on-site 100% of the time to be productive,
and there are many aspects of the work your
team does that don't require them to be in the
same physical location or even in an overlapping
time zone.
Talent is the most critical asset in any CPA
firm, and while accounting professionals are
still vital, they're not the only type of talent you
should be looking for. When you open your mind
to hiring beyond accounting professionals-when
and where it makes sense-you'll enjoy greater
stability on your bench, more room to grow
organically, and a diverse team that generates
the creativity and innovation to move forward
into the future. ■
OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2022 ■ www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
35
http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
octobernovember2022

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