What to do when Accountants are in Short Supply

When it comes to top notch accountants, there’s one thing you can count on — some time in the not-too-distant future, there simply won’t be enough of them. According to the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, the total number of accounting graduates has decreased by 12% in the last decade. Meanwhile, the demand for accountants in recent years has risen dramatically, due largely to stringent Sarbanes-Oxley requirements and increased IRS scrutiny.  Short supply and high demand have created a “seller’s market” for accounting professionals. By some reports, Accountants salaries have increased by as much as 25% in the last few years. Qualified accountants may have become scarce and expensive, but they are no less necessary.

The shortage of accountants, predicted to last for the next 10 to 15 years, is part of a larger trend, analysts insist, an overall shortage of “knowledge workers” — well educated professionals who are comfortable with technology and savvy about business operations. Given this outlook, companies must begin to plan now for a high-demand, low supply job market.

Organizations that are understaffed, particularly in key technical areas, expose themselves to a number of potential risks. Work overloads may lead to performance that does not meet — and can rarely exceed — company standards, clearly a situation with serious consequences when it comes to accounting;

• inadequate staffing may result in financial transaction integrity risks or reporting processes that take twice as long;
• overtaxing staff in one area has repercussions throughout the organization such as delayed reporting timelines which can lead to less than nimble decision making; and
• overburdening employees can create serious retention issues.

An effective retention strategy (competitive compensation, grooming new talent, attractive benefits, recognizing and rewarding achievements, flexible scheduling and other “soft benefits”) is a fundamental element in managing costs, ensuring growth, and creating a healthy and productive work culture.

Gelco Helps You Become an Employer of Choice

It may surprise you to learn that many of the strategies and tools Gelco provides to help streamline business operations and boost the bottom line —Gelco’s ExpenseLink, for example — can also serve to support effective recruitment and retention. Organizations that run efficiently and use resources wisely enable employees to be productive and to perform well. These are the types of companies that become employers of choice (EOCs), competitive organizations that are successful in hiring and retaining top talent.

Gelco can play a valuable role in your company’s efforts to remain or become an employer of choice and can be an important component of your overall staffing strategy:

1) Create a plan – A company’s employees are truly its greatest asset. It’s essential to protect your human resources in the same way you protect your material resources, with deliberate, thoughtful plans for the future. Gelco’s automated expense management solution is part of a comprehensive approach to planning. Visibility into spending habits and trends supports strategic planning and smart decision-making throughout the enterprise.

When it comes to personnel planning, it’s important to know that as a result of streamlining their T&E processes many Gelco clients have grown their employee base and/or travel without increasing corresponding finance and accounting staff. With Gelco, you may find you can grow your business without hiring additional finance or accounting professionals.

2) Implement state-of-the-art technologies – Talented employees develop loyalty to organizations that provide top-of-the-line tools with which to accomplish their jobs. With Gelco’s innovative capabilities you demonstrate your commitment to the highest quality solutions and to your employees’ success.

3) Provide on-going training and education – Human Resource experts agree that training is an integral part of an effective employee retention plan. Gelco’s on-going education and training opportunities and unrivaled customer service can complement your company’s training and professional development efforts.

4) Take advantage of your advantage – Who doesn’t want to be on a winning team? Employees are more likely to develop loyalty to a successful company with a bright future. From data capture to third party objective audits, Gelco provides the insight your organization needs to streamline operations, reduce costs, and focus on your core business. Gelco helps you gain and maintain a competitive edge.

Along with attention to work/life balance, options for flexible scheduling, an attractive benefits package, and competitive compensation, optimizing your Gelco solution can become an integral part of a comprehensive recruitment and retention strategy.

The Long View Keeps You from Coming up Short-Handed

While the projected shortage of accountants may pose a challenge for many businesses, there are some positive sides to the dilemma. With stricter requirements to obtain accounting degrees and to sit for the CPA exam (the reason, in part, for the decrease in the number of accounting degrees in recent years), accountants are now better prepared than ever to deal with today’s complex tax and regulatory environment. Low supply and high demand provide an opportunity to improve operations and processes, optimize your technology solutions, create a smart recruitment and retention plan, streamline operations, and strategize for the future. When it comes to your most important asset — your workforce — you’ll want to take the long view now, so you won’t find yourself short-handed in the future.

To assess whether your organization is optimizing Gelco’s solutions to support your strategies to deal with ramifications of talent shortages in accounting and finance, contact your Gelco Account Manager.