The talent drought impacting the accounting industry has been ongoing for years. As the shortage becomes even more acute, some practices are looking at alternatives to a bidding war for experienced, skilled labour.
It is well known that there is a shortage of skilled accounting professionals in Ireland. Coverage in the media has raised the prospect that this is unlikely to change in the coming years, as students choose different disciplines. There are several factors contributing to this shortage, but a lack of new entrants to the profession has resulted in a smaller pool of candidates to recruit from. This creates a “bidding war”, which increases the cost of labour – putting further strain on the bottom line.
Traditional accounting practices have traditional hierarchies but in times of shortage, these may not best serve you. Can you reimagine your reporting structure to put your resources to work where they bring the highest value? Can you adjust roles and responsibilities so that existing staff can move into income-earning areas? This can leave space for lower value tasks to be outsourced. Not only does this address your skills shortage, it’s also a valuable retention tool for your existing staff. A different outlook on your company staffing structure can reinvigorate your whole organisation and shows potential clients your ability to innovate and adapt to change.
Taking time out to ensure your processes are working at maximum efficiency is a great investment in your business. Are you confident that projects are being done without the need for rework? Are there bottlenecks in the flow of your operations that are slowing your time to completion down? Are you maximising the use of technology to serve your clients faster and get draft time down? Business process specialists can help you to organise your workflows to that you achieve maximum efficiency. This will help free up staff time allowing them to focus on innovative work streams, improving morale and increase staff retention.
To address the shortage of skilled professionals, the accounting industry needs to focus on attracting new entrants to the profession. This will take several years to fix, but in the meantime, accountancy and auditing practices need to do things differently in order to survive and grow. Outsourcing is a great way to stay ahead of the competition.
Working with an outsourcing partner enables accountancy practices to spend more time with clients, while maintaining a high level of service delivery. The scope of outsourcing ranges from piecemeal work to project work and temporary or permanent staffing. You identify your needs and work with an expert outsourcing partner to establish the scope of an outsourcing arrangement. Bypassing the traditional hiring market in a time of staff shortage is a great way to fill gaps fast and scale your business up in a swift and cost-effective manner.
Teams PLUS is an Irish outsourcing company, specialising in accounting and auditing services. We match your needs with qualified and experienced team members, sourced specifically for you and based in our state-of-the-art office in India. With robust security protocols, ISO certification and fully GDPR compliant, the integrity of your data is always assured.
We differ from bench outsourcing models, in that our members work exclusively with you, as an extension of your local team. This means you get the work you want delivered the way you want it. Experienced and highly qualified, they hit the ground running and you are guaranteed quality work, continuity of service and the ability to scale your business without the cost and commitment of hiring permanent staff.
Get in touch with us to find out more about outsourcing and how it can help your business. No obligation. Simply contact us and we can arrange a call at a time that suits you.
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