Every business owner faces unique setbacks that can make your hair fall out – but the unprecedented shakeup in the accountancy labor market has been a wild ride we’re glad is finally over (at least for us)! Our team is in great shape and we’re on the path to becoming even stronger, but this has been a challenge that truly put our problem-solving skills to the test.
Where has all the talent gone?
According to the Wall Street Journal, an incredible 300,000 accountants and auditors left the profession between 2019 and 2021, representing a staggering 17% of the total workforce. Every year since, signs have pointed to things getting worse before they get better.
- In 2024, over 82% of accountants leaving the industry had 6+ years of experience
- The average tenure of quitting accountants has doubled since 2000
- Universities cite declining numbers of students enrolling in accounting programs
All this and no slowing in the demand for accounting services.
With experienced CPAs switching fields and up-and-coming talent pursuing other careers, accounting firms have been caught in the crossfire, scrambling to hire staff capable of delivering high-quality services. Excess demand can be a boon for business, but only if you have the capacity to take on new clients.
Soon after this challenge dropped on our doorstep, we came to the realization that no one single tactic was going to solve the problem. We knew we would need to take a multi-faceted approach and attack this roadblock from every angle.
Some factors were in our control, and some weren’t – but in the end we’ve been able to put together, and retain, an exceptionally talented team, even with the labor pool still reeling from the COVID-era CPA exodus.
Culture isn’t just a buzzword
Anyone who says company culture doesn’t matter has never seen our team in action. From the top down, we can say without the slightest hint of hesitation that leadership genuinely cares for the wellbeing of our staff – with the same fervor that we care for our own.
We’ve turned the work-life imbalance typically associated with the accounting field upside down and booted it out the door. Our team works incredibly hard – but they know unequivocally that any time they need a break to recharge, for any reason, they get one.
Our culture of caring has led to an impressively tightknit camaraderie, which is particularly notable given that with offices in Seattle and Boulder, many of the teammates who support each other daily have yet to meet in person.
This culture wasn’t built overnight but it was created with intention. When you care about people, they care about each other, care about their jobs, and care about their clients. It’s one of those lessons that we learn in kindergarten, but all too often forget as the years roll by.
There’s a word for people who want to work in a positive, supporting environment. It’s called everyone.
Lean into investing in technology
There are two ways to eke additional output from your top performers. You can put them into a pressure cooker and squeeze them like a vice, or outfit them with best-in-class tools to drive efficiency and make their jobs easier. One yields short-term results followed by burnout, and the other empowers your team to get more done with the same amount of effort.
We’re never afraid to spend money on software that helps our best get better – and every year we make a deliberate effort to improve and refine our tech stack. As a bonus, the more tools we use, the easier it is to define the functionality we need and find lower-cost alternatives that deliver the same benefits at a fraction of the price.
Adopt a remote/hybrid model
While COVID certainly accelerated the shift to remote workforces across industry at large, this was a concept we had already been exploring as a strategy for broadening our available talent pool, improving work-life balance for our team, and delivering more convenient, consistent service to our clients.
Lifting geographic restrictions makes it easier to hire new staff and have a broader range of candidates to choose from – but it also boosts employee retention. Whether they’re moving because they have to, or they want to, we no longer lose out on top talent when life takes our tea other places. And knowing they enjoy this freedom, to live where they want to, and to make life decisions without worrying about losing their job, further strengthens our culture of caring.
The same goes for attracting high-quality clients. Being a remote-capable firm allows us to work with the best, no matter where their head office is located. This flexibility has opened the door to working with amazing entrepreneurs, who are now also free to change locations without needing to change CPAs.
Having technology in place to serve clients from anywhere has improved the quality of our outputs, as travel or other planned/unplanned life disruptions are no match for our flexibility. This continuity bolsters our existing client relationships while opening endless possibilities as we look to grow the firm and find more like-minded business owners to partner with.
Offshoring and expatriate staffing
To cope with the staffing shortage and increase in demand post-COVID, we hired two offshore tax preparers to support our team’s bandwidth needs. In 2024, we decided to move away from offshoring but continue with international staff using an expatriate staffing arrangement.
Starting in January 2025, we will be welcoming two new accountants from overseas into our Boulder office. We are excited for the opportunity to provide better mentorship and look forward to seeing how this new piece slides into our puzzle.
Four tactics, one result
While the rest of the industry continues to struggle with the ongoing CPA labor shortage, we’re exceptionally happy with the team we have in place and know with certainty that they’re all happy to be here, too.
And we’ve done it without driving our employees to burn out, and in conjunction with improved client outcomes. There were bumps along the way, but we’re confident that our efforts have put the firm in a position to not only ride out the labor shortage but continue to employee a team of dedicated high performers.
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Accountability Services’ Behind the Puzzle series shares honest thoughts and stories from our own business journey. Like you, we have a vision for our company that goes beyond turning a profit – and like yours, our path to success has been lined with obstacles and triumphs, frustration and joy, problems and solutions. As our team works to solve our own business puzzle, we hope this candid look behind the scenes provides useful insights to help you solve yours.
