In Pursuit of Profit
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Gig work can trace its origins to before the creation of the internet. However, over the last decade companies like Uber and Lyft have steadily led the push in the mass acceptance of the gig economy. In 2020 as lockdowns swept the nation, hundreds of thousands of new gig jobs became available virtually overnight thanks to Amazon, DoorDash, Grubhub, Instacart, and Shipt. The pandemic accelerated a shift that was already well on its way to becoming the next big trend in work. But the quickly burgeoning gig economy was not isolated to takeout and grocery delivery. Professional gig work also grew exponentially as workers were laid off and left their traditional office jobs to manage personal responsibilities. According to a Harvard Business Review article on Thriving in the Gig Economy, Approximately 150 million workers in North America and Western Europe have left the relatively stable confines of organizational life — sometimes by choice, sometimes not — to work as independent contractors. Some of this growth reflects the emergence of ride-hailing and task-oriented service platforms, but a recent report by McKinsey found that knowledge-intensive industries and creative occupations are the largest and fastest-growing segments of the freelance economy. As a fan of Star Trek, one thing I like to ponder about is the concept of time dimensions. Can you be in two points of time at the same time? For many people, living in a pandemic has made the sensation of time change. Things have simultaneously seemed like they happened long ago and also only yesterday. And, at one point or another we have all thought, “It seems like it was years since I saw you. Wait, it has been years!” But time has more than just social implications. The concept of time is relevant to you professionally as well, especially as an accounting manager or a member of an accounting team. To have an effective accounting and finance team, an individual’s time view preference must match their job responsibility. If it is not, your accounting operations may suffer, and your company may experience unnecessary attrition. What do I mean? “Start with the core of the onion.” This is a mantra I use when talking to hiring managers about who they want for their job opening. This means starting with their most ideal candidate and working through different profiles. Most hiring managers are looking for either the next “up and comer” or someone who is established and has a solid 20 years left in the tank. As we work through candidate profiles, inevitably the recommendation is to always hire the person who can add the most value in the position. In the world of non-executive accounting and finance recruiting, the ‘core of the onion’ answer is never “I’d love someone who is late in their career.” There is often a stigma attached to late-career candidates that is uneducated at best, and at worst tantamount to ageism. But late-career candidates should be considered equally with all other candidates. Understanding why first starts with thinking about a professional’s career trajectory. There is no doubt the US workforce landscape continues to experience significant changes. The business challenges of the last few years have caused many companies to rethink how they can best execute their operating plans. With more and more companies outsourcing their accounting functions, there are a few important things to keep in mind to ensure a beneficial outcome. This is a common story we hear: “We’ve been searching for an accountant for months and just can’t find anyone!” Clients that come to us with this story are usually weary and desperate for help in finding the right candidate for the specifics of their role. Often times work has been piling up and employee morale is down as other staff tries to cover the gaps. It is at this point that hiring managers begin to wonder if they should settle for less than what they were looking for, using the old “someone is better than no one” rationale. However, under-hiring for a role is often more costly than continued hiring delays. A guest post from Jen Girard at CFO Selections We get this request all the time. A small non-profit needs to hire a new Finance Manager. Sometimes they call this person a CFO or Controller, but whatever the title, the role is a Superhero who wears multiple costumes and does it all! How do you find (and afford) this person? Find out how other non-profits are doing it: 1/4/2022 Help! My Accountant is RetiringA lot has been said about The Great Resignation occurring across America right now, but not all employees are leaving for better opportunities. Long-term employees are retiring in droves right now. Many accounting and finance professionals that are close to retirement age are making the decision to step away from full-term work, while others that are well past retirement age are finally ready to hand over the reins at the companies they have served for many years. Any time a long-term employee leaves, a significant gap is created that their employer must fill with not only a new hire but also the technology and systems components that need to be built up in the transition. So, if your accountant is retiring, now is the time to plan for the shift. 12/13/2021 Do You Need an Ecommerce Accountant?Are ecommerce accountants different than regular accountants? Should you have an accountant that has previous ecommerce experience for your online business? These kinds of questions are becoming increasingly common with the dramatic rise in ecommerce business. In 2020 alone US ecommerce grew by more than 32% as traditional brick-and-mortar companies made the transition online and new ecommerce businesses started up in record numbers. 11/22/2021 Networking Tips for AccountantsNetworking is usually a prescriptive topic. Resources will tell you what to do in concrete terms, like practice your elevator pitch, make eye contact, and send a follow up email after meeting someone. And while these tips are not bad advice, they do not address the underlying question of, “Why are you networking?” As a result, they are very little help because they provide obvious advice that even entry-level professionals already know. They also fail to customize the provided advice for a specific industry or individual. So, instead of being redundant and just providing the same information that you can get anywhere online, we wanted to put together a resource that would actually help accountants to network with other accounting professionals. We asked our team how they network these days, and these are their top tips: When a company is undergoing a significant shift, like a big cultural change or a change of ownership, a financial assessment can give them a comprehensive picture of where they are financially to aid in their strategic planning. A business financial assessment helps with decision-making related to everything from short-term cash flow management to long-term vision-setting. Over the last year and a half many companies have brought in consulting accountants and fractional CFOs to assess their current financial position. Let’s take a closer look at what a financial assessment includes and who is best poised to conduct one. |
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4/18/2022