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How to address three common staffing challenges

MNCPA members weigh in via survey

Rachel Kats | April/May 2023 Footnote

Editor's note: Updated March 29, 2023

Many hands make light work, as the saying goes. But, what to do when you’re short a few — or several — hands?

It’s a situation many employers are facing in the current economic climate. Particularly in Minnesota, where the unemployment rate hovered around 2.3% in the latter months of 2022, according to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development.

Public accounting firms are feeling the pinch. In the annual survey of MNCPA public practice members, 45% of respondents said their top concern this tax season was not having enough staff to complete the work.

So, what can employers do? Here are three staffing challenges and suggestions for mitigating their impacts.

Too few candidates

There’s a lot of talk about the CPA pipeline and an ongoing CPA talent shortage, and while there are several reasons for it, one is the perception of firm culture. Stories of busy season and 80-hour workweeks are turning younger folks away from pursuing this path, according to Paige Batcha, vice president of finance and accounting interim solutions at Versique Search and Consulting.

Batcha, an MNCPA member and former public accountant, speaks from experience and hears similar feedback from the job seekers with whom she works.

“I do have a lot of people who kind of have scars from public accounting,” she said. “But, there’s elements within the role that they enjoyed; they enjoyed the client interaction, they enjoyed solving problems and being an adviser.”

What can employers do?

More firms are recognizing the old model isn’t working and that the work culture needs to change, but change is slow going.
Batcha has ongoing conversations with employers about their efforts to provide workers with more flexibility, benefits and holistic career growth opportunities. In some cases, these difficult changes are underway, but going unnoticed.

These changes — along with spreading the message that accounting is a purposeful career — need to be broadcast far and wide by firms, educators and CPAs so students understand that firms are modernizing and a career in public accounting doesn’t mean relinquishing their personal lives for several months each year.

“I think collectively it’s going to take a lot of voices from people in the accounting field to share experiences and help make the changes,” Batcha said. “I’m not saying that you have to take a 180-degree turn, but you do need to take into consideration what motivates younger generations and what is going to allow them to be their best self in the job.

“I feel like that’s what younger generations want, is to have purpose in what it is that they do as well as feel valued in the hours that they spend in their roles,” she said.

Mismatched expectations

Expectations around work hours and working environment aren’t the only areas of disconnect between employers and job seekers. There is also incongruity in terms of salary expectations.

A 2022 survey of 1,000 undergraduate students conducted by Real Estate Witch found finance and accounting college students expect to make about $111,240 in their first post-graduation job. In contrast, the actual average starting salary for finance and accounting professionals is $59,200.

What can employers do?

Organizations should have a clear salary band structure that aligns with roles and responsibilities. This ensures fair pay, outlines career trajectories and sets expectations. In addition to salary, communicate intangible benefits such as flexibility and how your organization is moving away from the traditional busy season work structure, Batcha said.

“By creating a more solid foundation of a reasonable work schedule, I think that discrepancy between pay will slowly minimize,” she said. “It’s being able to outline on a holistic comp structure, which involves a true flexible work arrangement and other accommodations; the whole view of the person and not just the dollars.”

Skills deficits

Under different economic conditions, employers are often more selective about candidate experience level and skill set. However, the current climate has opened more opportunities to novice job seekers who are eager to join a firm but may not have all the skills needed for the role.

What can employers do?

If you are going to take on somebody who is short on a few of the skills, the first step is to have a solid onboarding and training plan.

“If the individual doesn’t have the qualifications from the get-go, then it needs to be acknowledged that there’s going to be an investment in that person,” Batcha said. “That means time, not necessarily money, but time, to be able to get them up to speed.”

Batcha also emphasized that finding candidates with the right personality and a desire to learn can often supersede some technical skills knowledge.

“I’m a huge supporter of thinking outside the box and looking at intangibles and things that can’t be taught to people — like an innate drive, a team player, those qualities of a human that can’t be taught,” she said. “You can teach them a lot about what they need to do within an audit or within a tax prep.”

Final thoughts

Staffing challenges are bound to persist, but implementing changes within public accounting firms, being transparent with job seekers and employees, and spreading the word that accounting is a great profession will go a long way in addressing them.

“It’s going to take professionals in the field saying, ‘Yes, I worked 80 hours per week for longer than I wanted to, and I don’t think it’s OK, but I did it because that was the norm,’” Batcha said. “We need to collectively change the norm so that we can still keep this profession alive.”