As CFOs begin to think through their priorities for 2024, their attention is focused on a few key areas to support growth, drive engagement and retain talent. Chief among these are finance transformation initiatives and balancing talent attraction and retention to keep finance operations afloat, especially amidst a talent shortage in key roles (i.e., accountants, financial analysts, controllers).
A Continued Focus on Finance Transformation
CFOs play such an integral role in the evolution of a company that they’re often thought of as “Chief Future Officers.” A major part of this evolution and innovation comes through finance transformation.
As CFOs look to optimize and elevate their operations, autonomous finance practices are becoming more common. The goal isn’t to replace workers, however. Instead, automating highly manual and repetitive processes helps build efficiencies in teams, minimize duplicative functions and reduce human errors in tedious tasks. It also frees up employees to focus on higher-level responsibilities while creating new roles that support these technology integrations.
Automation isn’t the only finance digitalization tool at CFOs’ disposal. Many are turning to cloud-based platforms with advanced analytics capabilities. These platforms can store and leverage large amounts of data, making them powerful tools for identifying trends and supporting strategic business decisions.
As CFOs continue supporting digital transformation in finance, developing a strategic roadmap will be critical to their success. This includes clearly outlining their company goals and the people, technology and processes that will be needed to fulfill them.
Ongoing Emphasis on Improving Retention
As CFOs compete for skilled workers amidst a labor shortage for key roles like accountants, they’ll need to address candidate demands while also ensuring current employees remain engaged. Finding the right balance that achieves both enables new talent and perspectives to be introduced into a company while retaining institutional knowledge and business continuity.
Addressing the Accountant Shortage
The vast majority of accountants are now over retirement age, and there aren’t enough accounting graduates or CPA candidates to fill their roles. As accountants retire and CFOs are unable to find new talent to fill their workforce gaps, remaining employees are burdened with the excess work. One survey showed that 99% of working accountants reported struggling with chronic workplace stress.
In some cases, automation will be able to replace entry-level accounting roles. However, finance digitalization tools won’t be enough to make up for a lack of higher-level accounting expertise. CFOs will need to be prepared to compete for accountants in a tight labor market in 2024 and beyond. This may mean exploring alternate pipelines to tap into broader talent pools or standing out to candidates by offering larger salaries or remote and hybrid opportunities.
Employers and Employees Disagree on Remote Work
An internal Aston Carter survey found that accounting and finance candidates are increasingly prioritizing remote work options when considering job offers. This stands in conflict with the desires of some CEOs who want a return to office.
Employers will have to weigh their desire for on-site employees with the competitive advantage remote and hybrid work gives them in finding talent. As accounting candidates become scarcer, even the most passionate on-site advocates may have to adjust their policies.
Supporting CFO Strategy in 2024
As CFOs begin planning for the coming year, they should consider seeking out a talent solutions partner who can support their recruiting and strategic needs through staff augmentation, project management and consultative services.
When searching for a partner, it’s critical that CEOs look for a company with a national reach. This gives them greater access to a talent pool of hard-to-find skill sets, including accountants, financial analysts and controllers. This talent can be used to supplement a workforce on a more permanent basis, for the duration of a specific project or during peak ramp-up seasons.
The right strategic partner can also be a value asset during finance transformation initiatives to keep the project on time and on budget. Partners with expertise in supporting these efforts can share best practices and work with CFOs to identify process or talent gaps. For companies looking to implement new finance digitalization tools, they can even source experienced project managers who can help lead implementations from the planning stages through go-live.
As CFOs’ priorities and goals take shape for 2024, they need to ensure their company is primed for success. Partnering with a talent solutions provider can help support critical goals and ensure CFOs and their finance teams have the talent they need to fulfill strategic business priorities through the first quarter and beyond.
Aston Carter is a cost-effective alternative to larger consulting companies with access to a deep bench of talent ready to help you achieve your business goals. Contact us to learn more about how partnering with a talent solutions partner can help you attract and retain accounting and finance talent.
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