staffing & recruiting

job descriptions for staff accountant, senior accountant, manager and partner.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset

“the last person i ever want working for me is someone who says, ‘that’s not in my job description.’” – neil degrasse tyson, cosmologist and astrophysicist

“well-written and effectively developed job descriptions are communication tools that allow both employees and supervisors to clearly understand the expectations of the role, its essential duties, the competences and responsibilities, along with the required educational credentials and experience.” – mary anne kennedy, hr daily advisor

more: generational differences can’t be ignored | surveying your staff: why and how | why developing women partners matters | six tips for setting compensation | eleven things that good mentors do | how remote work is impacting accounting firms | how to solve the big disconnect in talent management
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this post addresses the four most common positions at a cpa firm: staff accountant, senior accountant, manager and partner.

there is no such thing as a standard job description for these four positions. each firm must define them in ways that make sense for their practice. if ever there were job descriptions that should have flexibility built into them, most certainly they would be cpa firm positions, because the expectations vary as much by the type of assignments as by their title.
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don’t stereotype, but don’t pretend all ages are the same, either.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset

“each generation imagines itself more intelligent than the one before it and wiser than the one that comes after it.” – george orwell

the following was written by scott steadman, who heads up jacksonville, fl-based steadman valuations and forensic accounting llc. read with caution: statements about the traits of an entire generation are, of course, generalizations that do not necessarily apply to every individual in the grouping.

more: surveying your staff: why and how | better communication = better retention | a better way to provide performance feedback | staff crave advancement and challenge | give the recognition your staff needs | make work flexibility work for everyone | what relevance means for staffing in accounting
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baby boomers (born 1946-1964)

early on, a strong economy and stable lifestyle made baby boomers generally optimistic about their future and the future of the united states. once known as idealistic dreamers, boomers were forced to focus on their economic future and real-world concerns over money and stability. in the movie “wall street,” when gordon gekko said “greed is good,” he was speaking to (and for) baby boomers.
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six ground rules for optimum results.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset

“the partners may think they know how the staff feel about the firm, but it’s only important what the staff think.” – marc rosenberg

if you truly and honestly want to make your firm a great place for your staff to work, the first thing you need to do is ask them what they think. there are two primary types of surveys:

more: better communication = better retention | eight strategies for recruiting | why developing women partners matters | six tips for setting compensation | eleven things that good mentors do | how remote work is impacting accounting firms | how to solve the big disconnect in talent management
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1. staff satisfaction surveys, where the staff respond to firmwide questions about their jobs, their supervisors, the partners, the management and advancement. these are very much like client engagement surveys.
2. upward evaluations of partners and managers by the staff. with these surveys, staff evaluate each partner and manager they worked for. some firms opt to limit this type of survey to partner evaluations only.

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tips for policies, staff meetings and just plain fun.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset

“i have yet to find a company that has earned high levels of customer loyalty without first earning high levels of employee loyalty.” – frederick reichheld

we have discussed key ways to retain staff. this post looks at scheduling and managing, accountability, communication and ideas for having fun at the office.

more: eight strategies for recruiting | why developing women partners matters | a better way to provide performance feedback | training? cpe? they’re not the same | six tips for setting compensation | staff crave advancement and challenge | what leadership looks and feels at cpa firms | eleven things that good mentors do | give the recognition your staff needs | the importance of great bosses | how remote work is impacting accounting firms | make work flexibility work for everyone | why staff leave cpa firms … and how to stop them | how to solve the big disconnect in talent management | what relevance means for staffing in accounting | how accounting staffing has changed
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

scheduling of staff

organized, effective centralized scheduling enables firms to staff client projects so the client work is promptly completed. other benefits:

1. it matches staff with the assignments each needs to grow and develop technically. example: a staff member may have worked on nonprofits and needs more experience in the for-profit sector.

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plus interview questions, ideas for small firms and more.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset

“in looking for people to hire, you look for three qualities: integrity, intelligence and energy. if they don’t have the first, the other two will kill you.” – warren buffett

“we believe hiring to be the most important first step toward the organization’s success.” – anonymous

more: why developing women partners matters | a better way to provide performance feedback | training? cpe? they’re not the same | six tips for setting compensation | staff crave advancement and challenge | what leadership looks and feels at cpa firms | eleven things that good mentors do | give the recognition your staff needs | the importance of great bosses | how remote work is impacting accounting firms | make work flexibility work for everyone | why staff leave cpa firms … and how to stop them | how to solve the big disconnect in talent management | what relevance means for staffing in accounting | how accounting staffing has changed
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

this post offers a plethora of ideas and techniques to recruit staff. all of them can be sorted into eight high-level strategies:

1. abr: always be recruiting. we all know that staff are very hard to find and retain. it’s been this way for decades and seems to get worse every year. in the past, firms recruited only if they had an opening. progressive firms proactively recruit 24/7. given the 15-20 percent turnover rate at cpa firms, they never know when a staff person will resign or need to be terminated. but one thing is sure – turnover will occur. if your firm website doesn’t have a section on the careers page that encourages applicants to submit their resume even if there are no openings posted, add one immediately.

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several experts on offer tips on how.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset

“if i have 500 partners and 400 are men, i figure i have 150 underperforming partners.” – a big 4 managing partner

the cpa profession suffers mightily from a shortage of labor. there are several reasons for this, in no particular order:

1. accounting is not a popular major in college.

more: a better way to provide performance feedback | training? cpe? they’re not the same | six tips for setting compensation | staff crave advancement and challenge | what leadership looks and feels at cpa firms | eleven things that good mentors do | give the recognition your staff needs | the importance of great bosses | how remote work is impacting accounting firms | make work flexibility work for everyone | why staff leave cpa firms … and how to stop them | how to solve the big disconnect in talent management
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

2. since the turn of this century, a dreadful shortage of accounting professors has challenged universities’ ability to meet student demand for accounting courses.
3. the cpa firm industry has high turnover, generally in the 15-20 percent range. reasons include the technical demands of the work, busy seasons, long hours, the profession’s requirement that people wait 10 to 20 years before making partner and the failure of partners to mentor staff.

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yes, we included a form. but we almost didn’t.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset

“feedback is the breakfast of champions.” – ken blanchard

“average players want to be left alone. good players want to be coached. great players want to be told the truth.” – doc rivers, nba basketball coach

more: training? cpe? they’re not the same | six tips for setting compensation | staff crave advancement and challenge | what leadership looks and feels at cpa firms | eleven things that good mentors do | give the recognition your staff needs | the importance of great bosses | how remote work is impacting accounting firms | make work flexibility work for everyone | why staff leave cpa firms … and how to stop them | how to solve the big disconnect in talent management | what relevance means for staffing in accounting | how accounting staffing has changed
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

this post is divided into two sections:

• the progressive view of providing performance feedback, which a minority of firms today practice. whenever something new to the field of practice management appears in a major way, many firms are slow to embrace it. examples: proactive selling, going paperless, adopting the cloud and managing a cpa firm like a real business.
• the traditional view of providing performance feedback, which a majority of firms still practice today. if asked why the traditional practice continues, partners often respond, “that’s the way we’ve always done it. it ain’t perfect, but we are reasonably satisfied with it.”

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the three types of training needed and 21 best practices for providing it.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset

“training is everything. the peach was once a bitter almond; cauliflower is nothing but cabbage with an education.” – mark twain

more: six tips for setting compensation | staff crave advancement and challenge | what leadership looks and feels at cpa firms | eleven things that good mentors do | give the recognition your staff needs | the importance of great bosses | how remote work is impacting accounting firms | make work flexibility work for everyone | why staff leave cpa firms … and how to stop them | how to solve the big disconnect in talent management | what relevance means for staffing in accounting | how accounting staffing has changed
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

we cringe when cpas use “training” and “cpe” synonymously.

• cpe coursework is often reactive, taken to maintain a cpa license. it may or may not educate. it may or may not be the type of education an individual needs. many cpas look upon cpe as a nuisance that is necessary to comply with professional regulations. the smaller the firm and the older the cpa, the more likely this is the case.
• training is primarily proactive, undertaken voluntarily to expand a person’s knowledge, performance and capabilities. the training aligns with what the person needs to do the job and provide value to the firm and its clients.

ideally, the training identified as needed also qualifies as cpe.
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plus 17 extraordinary benefits to consider offering.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm staff: managing your #1 asset

“if you pick the right people and give them the opportunity to spread their wings and put compensation as a carrier behind it, you almost don’t have to manage them.” – jack welch

“pay your people the least possible and you’ll get from them the same.” – malcolm forbes

every cpa industry survey we’ve seen for decades shows that compensation is either no. 1 in importance to staff or close to it.

more: staff crave advancement and challenge | what leadership looks and feels at cpa firms | eleven things that good mentors do | give the recognition your staff needs | the importance of great bosses | how remote work is impacting accounting firms | make work flexibility work for everyone | why staff leave cpa firms … and how to stop them | how to solve the big disconnect in talent management | what relevance means for staffing in accounting | how accounting staffing has changed
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

our feeling is that compensation is the ante to enter or stay in the game. put another way, according to jeremy wortman:

if college graduates are looking for their first job, or if a young person with a little experience is job hunting, compensation is huge. if a person has two offers, one for $60,000 and the other for $65,000, the higher offer will get the person almost every time. but if the offers are $500 apart and the person likes the firm offering the lower salary better, it’s likely that the lower-paying firm will get the nod.
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