The current talent pool is historically shallow for finance and accounting talent across many industries and within a wide variety of skillsets. How companies are incorporating this new reality into their staffing strategy will vary by industry. A manufacturing company may hire differently — and prioritize different needs — than a construction firm.
But how should companies who fall into the wider category of business and professional services, with subsectors such as software, consulting, architecture or legal, approach finance and accounting hiring in this environment?
We asked Aston Carter divisional practice leader Joe DiBernardo. He’s been heavily involved in placing talent in the service sector, with a special focus on projects associated with recent compliance changes to revenue recognition policy.
Trends Across Industries
As an industry category, “business and professional services” includes an astonishing breadth of business models and subsectors. In terms of finance and accounting hiring needs, however, there are trends that reach across a wide spectrum of business and professional service companies.
According to DiBernardo, many subsectors are witnessing an increased pace of mergers and acquisitions, consolidation and reinvestment in software and systems
“In general, I’ve also seen companies across the board — not in every case, but on average — increase budgets for their finance and accounting departments at a scale and breadth that I had not previously seen,” he says. “I’m also seeing an increased demand for real-time data to help guide business decisions. “
Knowing What You Need
Some trends affect finance and accounting staffing needs of business and professional services companies regardless of subsector; the same can be said of certain core finance and accounting skills.
“Whether you’re talking about generalized business and professional service or a more specific subsector like software, typically revenue streams and transactions are based on contracts,” explains DiBernardo. “So in broad terms, the common skillset need is for financial professionals who understand contracts and the accounting associated with them—such as revenue recognition, contract review, and sales accounting.”
The transferability of these core skillset requirements could be good news for business and professional services companies looking to hire from a tight accounting and finance talent pool.
“I always want to partner companies with candidates that have experience in their industry,” says DiBernardo, “but I find that finance and accounting candidates with general business and professional services experience have a relatively smooth adjustment period when they transition from subsector to subsector.”
Depending on which roles are most needed, industry-specific experience is one area where business and professional services companies can afford to be a little more flexible in their finance and accounting hiring strategy. Companies that retain rigid protocols can find that they miss out on top talent.
Knowing the Market
Adjusting to the new low-unemployment reality requires an understanding of the evolving labor market. The companies who most nimbly adapt their hiring strategy to labor availability tend to be more capable of addressing their resourcing needs.
What finance and accounting talent is most readily available to business and professional services companies?
“Candidates on the higher technical and consultant level tend to be fairly available. Their career tracks often focus on freelance and contract-duration engagements. There’s also good availability among less experienced candidates who can be trained to succeed in a variety of roles. The more difficult positions to recruit for,” says DiBernardo, “are at the operational staff and senior accountant levels, as well as for transactional-type roles such as accounts payable and accounts receivable. That’s where the labor pool is tightest.”
Attracting — and Keeping — Talent
One major adjustment business and professional services companies have made to lure qualified candidates is an increased emphasis on work-life balance.
Says DiBernardo, “I see a lot of companies offering a flexible work schedule, work-from-home capability, or a willingness to hire consulting roles on a per diem basis to expand searches beyond the local market.”
DiBernardo also notes companies are recognizing talent retention is equally important. “Employers have been investing more in their people,” he says, “through training in Excel or specialized certifications in specific areas, more active mentoring programs and better onboarding. I’ve also seen a greater tendency towards continuity planning and contract overlap.”
Adding Efficiencies
With greater resources expended on talent search and retention, business and professional services companies are looking to add value by implementing software and systems upgrades. This can put an additional strain on an already taxed hiring environment, but the future benefits may outweigh the costs.
“Companies are taking a very conscious approach to hiring people with systems and technical experience who can contribute on a project oversight or implementation level to software upgrades,” says DiBernardo. “Addressing outdated or inefficient software not only adds value to the enterprise, but makes daily work life that much better for current employees.”
Human Intelligence in a Data-Driven World
Business and professional services companies are becoming more and more data savvy, but their staffing partners may be adjusting to the labor pool a different way — by emphasizing human connections.
DiBernardo explains, “Referral-based and passive-candidate recruiting is the trend on our side. A huge percentage of potential job seekers don't currently have a resume on job boards or CareerBuilder. More than ever, we have to leverage our human connections and networking knowledge. That’s where we provide the best service, because that’s so intensive to maintain.”
Do you have a staffing partner with enough labor market knowledge to guide your strategy in accounting and finance hiring? If not, contact Aston Carter now, and find out how compatible your resourcing needs are with available talent.
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