Throughout our thought leadership series, we’ve examined how various industries have specialized their finance and accounting hiring in a labor market that’s seen unemployment rates hit a generational low while job openings reach a historic high.;
We found that while each subsector of finance and accounting staffing has its own set of rules and behaviors that necessitate highly specific adjustments to hiring protocol, employers in every sector face a similar set of challenges.
Regardless of industry, every company needs to do what they can to expand their available talent pool. One method that may prove fruitful is opening up positional requirements to candidates with a background in other sectors.
But what roles transfer, and what roles don’t?
To find out, we asked a panel of subject matter experts from Aston Carter.
When Accounting is Accounting
Based on basic incentive structures, labor tends to specialize into higher paying roles with fewer competitors when times are good, and generalize into a pool of available labor that meets basic requirements when times are bad. Although the current market qualifies as a very good time for candidates, generalized labor does still exist in finance and accounting.
You just need to know where to look for it.
At the deeper reaches of an organizational flow chart, accounting is still accounting.
Aston Carter Account Manager Clint Utz says, “General Accounting is a background that is valuable in every single industry, across all skill sets. While there are specific intricacies that matter and help, the basic fundamentals of accounting hold true across the full spectrum of industries.”
At the transactional level, tasks involving credits, accounts receivable, accounts payable and payroll tend to be similar anywhere, making these roles highly transferable and accessible to the largest possible pool of generalized finance and accounting labor.
As a result, companies often draw on this relatively available labor segment to fulfill basic needs as positions with more specialized requirements take longer to fill. Aston Carter Account Manager Matt Texeira explains, “In health care, which can get very specialized, I’ve seen an uptick in contract business where we bring in general ledger accountants from other industries, just to keep the lights on.”
When More Specialized Roles Can Transfer
Depending on industry requirements, it may be that candidates for more operational-level roles, such as staff accountants, financial analysts, auditors or tax accountants may transfer capably, with sufficient onboarding and training, from backgrounds in outside sectors.
“Pharmaceuticals vertically integrate many revenue models and accounting methods common in other sectors, from research and development to manufacture to distribution,” says Aston Carter Account Manager Dan Duddy. “So in operational roles within each department, we can bring in candidates with prior experience in a similar revenue model and activity, but with a slightly different product or industry.”
There may even be some transferability wiggle room in hiring finance and accounting labor for highly specialized roles — certain large implementations such as accounting or inventory software upgrades can be served well by hiring candidates with more generalized project management, consultancy or systems experience.
“With Enterprise Resource Planning systems [ERPs] becoming more complex,” says Aston Carter Account Executive Nick Pugh, “companies need to look anywhere they can to find talent to service these systems.” Utz agrees, “ERP systems skills and knowledge transfer very well across most industries.”
When Specialized Roles Can’t Transfer
As Duddy, Pugh and Utz mentioned, roles tend to transfer well when there’s a similarity among revenue models, accounting methods and systems expertise. When that similarity isn’t there, such as the difference between the skill set required in manufacturing cost accounting versus real estate project accounting, in-house training will struggle to bridge the gap with sufficient cost effectiveness.
Compliance issues are another major blockage to accounting and finance role transferability.
Imagine, for example, fitting every single one of the FDA’s reporting requirements into a two-week onboarding process, and the liability issues that would ensue if you didn’t do a good enough job.
“Anytime you get involved in that medical space, the government is going to be more involved with compliance-related functions,” says Pugh, “so you can’t just hire any accountant without potentially dire consequences.”
A working knowledge of certain regulatory frameworks — such as the A133 audit or OMB circulars for non-profits, SOX 404 compliance for publicly-traded companies or interlocking state and local tax for transportation and distribution companies — is a fundamental requirement for successful accounting and finance candidates in many industries.
When Candidates Can Transfer, But Don’t
There’s another, simpler factor that may have the greatest influence on the size of your company’s available finance and accounting labor pool: the personal preference of the candidates themselves.
“It’s a candidate’s market,” says Aston Carter Divisional Practice Lead Jon Cieski. “Finance and accounting candidates will have multiple offers, and they'll be extended counter offers to entice them to stay in their current role. So you have to decide what can you offer a desirable candidate to be a better match for their goals, skills and interests.”
The tables have turned, and now companies have to compete for candidates rather than the other way around. No matter how flexible a given company or industry may be on their hard skills requirements, they also need to remain competitive on salary, employee perks and in-house training programs.
If you’re interested in exploring aspects of hiring strategy flexibility you might not have considered, contact Aston Carter now to find out how to find finance and accounting talent that matches your needs.
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