Oh, Where have all the Accountants Gone?...

Candidates' Market Creates Recruiting Challenges for Accountancy Firms

By Tom Fuszard

A SHORTAGE OF CERTIFIED PUBLIC ACCOUNTANTS has created a candidates' market for CPAs on the move. The U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labors Statistics reports that employment of accountants and auditors is expected to grow faster than the average for all occupations through the year 2014. James Halyard, an experienced recruiter, was interviewed on this subject recently. He is Recruiting Manager of Strategic Sourcing, LLC, a Torrance firm that specializes in securing accounting and auditing professionals for Southern California accounting firms and their clients.

Q: What factors are responsible for the shortage of accountants?
Jim Halyard: There are several: Growth in the number of businesses, the increasing complexity of financial laws and regulations, and the greater need for security and governance of finances are a few of them. The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which established a set of corporate guidelines five years ago, requires more disclosure and careful vigilance in the way financial records are kept. That raised demand for accounting talents and added some upward pressure on salaries.
     In addition, the dot-com boom of the '90s and the growth of high-tech businesses drew away many bright people who preferred fast-paced jobs there to the long hours and career burnouts that were rumored about the accounting profession.

Q: What effect has the shortage had on salaries?
Halyard: They are way up, as you might expect. Nationally, the increase was 30-plus percent over the past three years, and in Southern California we estimate the increase at 45 to 50 percent over five years.

Q: That's a candidates' market.
Halyard: No question about it. Good candidates are becoming much harder to find.

Q: How would you describe the most sought-after candidate?
Halyard: Today, it's a man or woman with a CPA certificate and five or six years experience - an audit manager with a dynamic, broad understanding of the latest trends in accounting and taxation. He or she reads industry publications and has an innate sense of technology. Communications skills are important, too; he or she is easily able to explain accounting principles and express a confident professional attitude.

Q: Why does someone leave one accounting firm for another? Is it mostly a question of money?
Halyard: No, the money is actually down the line in importance. As in many other businesses, a prime reason is a lack of upward mobility - just not enough room for promotion in one's firm. Another is friction with one's immediate supervisor. Still another is an office atmosphere that may be politically charged, unfriendly or downright hostile. Very few professionals are comfortable in a firm where there is a lot of noise, commotion or bickering, or where they hear associates berated publicly.
     Then there is the matter of work/life balance, which can become a reason for seeking a job change. Some firms still aren't flexible about a professional's schedule or worksite. A remarkable number of accounting professionals in Southern California are eager to trade two hours of daily commuting time for the chance to live and work in the same zip code.

Q: How do accounting firms deal with that?
Halyard: In several ways. Some offer flex hours that help to deal with rush hour commuting. In many others you'll find a distributed workforce with professionals working from home. This opens up a huge pool of candidates, including those with young children at home, or those who are physically challenged, or some who can't put together a carpool - really, anyone who wants to work in accounting but is unable or unwilling to commute. Some firms meet this need by opening satellite offices to bring together small groups of associates.

Q: How do you find the people who are interested in changing firms?
Halyard: We do a lot of networking. We never stop adding names and resumes of potential candidates who are referred or recommended to us. We find that our present clients and the people we've placed are our best sources for these. I also like using MySpace.com and LinkedIn.com, which are great networking resources. Service clubs and volunteer organizations provide some networking opportunities, but they are less popular than they used to be, especially with the younger people in the profession.

Q: Are retirees a recruiting market?
Halyard: Absolutely. There are thousands of highly trained and well experienced accountants out there who would like to work a couple of days a week, or pitch in at tax time and other times of peak workload. They are particularly good candidates for working at home or in small satellite offices.

Q: What is the role of the recruiter, other than finding the professionals who are willing to move?
Halyard: We're responsible for the search, the background review and the testing.

Q: You actually test experienced accountants?
Halyard: Oh yes. Employers need to be assured that the skill sets they are looking for are exactly those being offered. The background checks and testing help to establish the level of competency and the level and variety of experience in various accounting areas. Candidates don't object when they realize that the process is the same for everyone.
     We have one other serious responsibility: It's finding a sort of personality match between the candidate and the employer. Each accounting firm has its own style - its own DNA. Some accountants are looking for fast-paced, high-energy situations where they believe the promotion opportunities are greatest. Others prefer a more steady, measured work pace. Some other may be uninterested in promotion, and are seeking a firm where they can serve the last 10 years of their careers.
     We study client firms carefully and try to place the hard-chargers in firms that welcome this attitude. Those who are less interested in fast-tracking can be recruited for a different kind of firm. Both the candidate and the employer have a lot at stake in this match-up, and it's essential that we get it right. It is a responsibility that we take very seriously.

Q: What is the best advice you can offer employers about professional staffing?
Halyard: This may be obvious, but the best way to keep your firm fully staffed is to take care of the people you already have. Make sure you're providing for your present staff the kind of situation you're prepared to offer new candidates.
     That means maintaining a high level of technological support...carefully managing the benefits package...awarding more responsibility to those who can handle it. I'd take a good look at the whole work/life area, and try to provide flexible hours and some easing of the commuting burden.
     And finally, I'd be very watchful for the development of tensions or frictions between staff members, separating those who could find it difficult to work with one another. Harmony is a very valuable commodity in a professional firm.

Reprinted with permission from the 4th Quarter, 2007 issue of Business Insider Magazine