The Process of Hiring an Accountant

In the early stages of running a business, owners typically manage finances themselves or utilize a bookkeeper to maintain financial records. As the company grows, however, day-to-day operations change, and financial needs become more sophisticated.

​Finding a solution that scales with the business often requires hiring an accountant.
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A specialized financial professional can be hired internally or accounting functions can be outsourced to an accounting firm. Often the deciding factor for a business owner is the degree to which they want to own the search and selection process.

​Hiring In-House

Define the Role

Too often hasty or incomplete job positions derail the hiring process. A job description should be thorough and well-edited to attract the right kind of candidates. Hiring someone into a role that is not properly defined only sets that individual up for failure and costs the business precious resources.

To effectively hire an accountant a business owner must first understands what the company needs and why. For instance, some functions may necessitate a CPA, but not all will. Finding the right balance between hiring to meet basic business requirements and not over-hiring is often difficult. A job posting should ensure that the candidate pool will have the skillsets necessary to do the job needed without attracting candidates that are over qualified for the role. Applicants that are over-qualified can waste more business resources than those that are under-qualified because they typically make it further in the process before being ruled out due to salary requirements.

Simply searching for an accountant does little to refine the search in instances where a business would be better suited looking for a specialized position like a tax accountant or auditor. Identifying these nuances is crucial in finding the right candidate for the role.

Get a Referral

With the popularity of online employment search engines many business owners assume peppering these boards with an opening will attract a vast pool of qualified candidates. However, the reputability of the website is often a strong indicator of the caliber of candidate that it will produce. While Indeed, Glassdoor, and LinkedIn are typically perceived as the most reputable, a business referral is the single best way to ensure trustworthiness.

Business attorneys, corporate partners, and colleagues are the best sources for referring candidates. Requesting recommendations from existing and former connections will likely unearth possible applicants that are better qualified than a traditional job posting.

If personal connections cannot provide any recommendations, incorporating the right keywords into the job posting can help attract more focused candidates.

Interview

Typically, a basic phone screening and phone interview will precede an in-person interview with the hiring manager and anyone else who may influence the hiring decision. The desired hiring schedule and size of the applicant pool will determine how many candidates to bring in and how quickly to schedule successive interviews.

Like any other hiring process, resume facts (degrees, licenses to practice, specialties) should be verified and a candidate’s previous experience should be understood to determine skill level. Additionally, all applicants should be able to provide information regarding which software platforms they have worked with as well as how they have driven real business results.

In some instances, it may be prudent to have top candidates sign NDAs (non-disclosure agreements) prior to interviewing in-person and provide them with recent business financials to analyze as component of the interview.

References should then be checked for stand out candidates. Feedback provided from these professional contacts combined with first-hand familiarity as a result of interviews can then be analyzed to find a good cultural fit for the organization.

Make an Offer

The final element in the hiring process is making an offer to your preferred candidate. At this stage the power shifts because the candidate has the option to choose or reject the business. Relinquishing control in this manner is often difficult for business owners who are accustomed to maintaining the power in business relationships.  
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Recruiting top-talent requires a competitive offer. However, the competitiveness of an offer is not solely determined by base salary. A serious candidate will evaluate the whole package being offered to them, inclusive of benefits like bonus potential, paid leave, in-office perks, and professional educational opportunities. Differentiate your offer from other opportunities that may be available to candidates to influence their decision.

​Outsourcing

Understand Offerings

Unlike a well-crafted job posting, outsourcing financial functions to an accounting company simply requires that a business owner decide which tasks will be handled by existing in-house employees and which will fall under the purview of the business relationship. Once these tasks are identified, an experienced accounting firm can help a business owner determine what kind of services the business will need.

While a growing business may only require basic bookkeeping services initially, its needs will continue to evolve. For that reason, owners should take stock of the other types of services that they may need as business goals shift. Selecting an accounting firm that also offers tax services, auditing, management consulting, or estate planning is a shrewd way to plan for future needs. 

Interview

After the research phase each contender should be interviewed. Inviting representatives from the accounting firm to meet at your business location before going to theirs creates reciprocity that gives a sense of how your staff will work with theirs. Meeting in-person provides more details regarding the nature of this relationship than simply speaking over the phone or via email.

During these meetings find out who will be doing the accounting work for your business. At some firms account managers handle correspondence while accountants do the financial work behind the scenes, while other companies prefer the accounting professionals to communicate with clients directly. Take the opportunity to ask what kind of relevant experience the accounting company and your assigned representative has and find out which companies they have worked with in the past.

Discuss their fee structure and determine whether your business will incur any nonessential costs. Some accounting companies charge a retainer-style fee that varies as additional services are added onto their standard offerings, while others take an a la carte approach, only charging businesses for the specific financial services that they require. Furthermore, some companies require contracts while others provide services on an as needed basis. Use this fee information to accurately forecast costs.

Select a Company

The biggest benefit of outsourcing over hiring internally is having the power to choose the company that will best satisfy the business’s needs. A business owner seeking an accounting firm has the prerogative to determine exactly what will be offloaded externally and who will be the best choice to handle those functions now and moving forward. Outsourcing keeps the business owner in the power position throughout the entirety of the process.

​Regardless of which method you choose to fill the accountant role, please feel free to contact us to ask questions about your specific needs. We appreciate the opportunity to be of service.