The Future of Work
Reimagining the Role of an Accountant — The Dream-Driven Accountant
About the Author: Katie Thomas, CPA, is a content creator, 2021 & 2022 40 under 40 CPA Practice Advisor recipient, Top 50 Women in Accounting recipient, and the owner of Leaders Online, where they help accounting professionals increase their impact, influence, and income through thought leadership and digital marketing. Feel free to visit Leaders Online or connect with her on LinkedIn to get in touch with Katie.
If you were to ask accounting departments about their biggest challenges, talent retention would be a common answer. With professionals leaving the industry in droves, college enrollments in the field declining by 17%, and an industry turnover rate of 9.4%, it’s evident that the sector is undergoing a transformation. Companies need to urgently address these concerns and strategize on what they can do to:
- Attract talent
- Retain talent
Moreover, with an estimate suggesting that 75% of accountants in the field are expected to retire in the next 15 years, accounting departments must look deeper than just pay and benefits. Accountants have a picture of their dream job — their Nirvana, if you will.
Yet, there are obstacles preventing them from achieving this state of professional bliss. By understanding and addressing these challenges, you can implement transformative changes that help accountants find their dream job within your organization.
I’m going to use three sources of information to dive deeper into the problems accountants currently face and what you can begin doing proactively to solve them:
- FloQast’s research with The University of Georgia Consumer Analytics department
- My own personal experience
- Experiences that other accountants shared with me
So, which problems do you need to help accounts solve to reach their Nirvana? Let’s find out.
Problems Stopping Accountants from Being in Their Dream Job
Accountants want to be more than number crunchers inside and outside of work — they want to be themselves. We cannot address the changes that must take place at work without first looking at the professional’s life as a whole.
I discuss this in detail in my article: How Teams Can Avoid a Burnout Crisis With an Employee-First Mindset — Part 1.
Fulfillment is crucial (I’ll touch more on this shortly), but from my own personal experience, I can say:
- Personal and professional lives blend together
- Accounting departments must check on team members
- You need to make sure that the professional has time to enjoy life outside the office
Accounting departments need to have an employee-first mindset. If Jeff hasn’t taken a vacation in two years, step in and ask him why. If Jeff is working well beyond the normal hours that everyone else is, reach out and find out if you can take things off his plate.
After all, 43% of accountants believe their poor mental health is related to their job. Many factors are at play here, but the research between FloQast and the University of Georgia indicates there are two interrelated challenges that accountants currently face in their careers. These two challenges are:
- They know there’s a better way. Accountants desire confidence in their work, and when they know there’s another option to solve problems better, it’s difficult to be confident. The research concluded that while accountants believe they are completing the basic tasks required by their jobs, 42% are not completely confident in their work.
- Fulfillment goes hand-in-hand with confidence. If an accountant is confident in their work, they feel fulfilled. On the flip side, fulfilled accountants are more likely to get the work done and feel confident about it.
Confidence in the work being performed should be a top priority. Why? Given the nature of the work, omissions or mistakes can have very serious consequences for the company.
While confidence and fulfillment are closely tied, it begs the question: What specifically fuels this sense of fulfillment for accountants? It’s not just about avoiding errors or meeting job requirements. It goes beyond that.
One constant answer that was repeated in my research and the research between FloQast and the University of Georgia is that an accountant needs to be able to figure out the puzzles that pop up in their work. These experts want to spring into action when problems arise and solve them.
You can help accountants solve these problems with greater ease and guide them on their path to career Nirvana.
3 Ways to Help Your Team Achieve Their Nirvana
You know the problems holding accountants back from being fulfilled and confident in their work, but what solutions can you offer to solve them?
1. Nurture Fulfillment and Make Them Feel Valued
Lack of fulfillment is a big problem among accountants. Part of the problem is that accountants don’t feel valued in the workplace. Many are thrown into roles or handed tasks without proper training and left feeling overwhelmed.
Much of their time is spent on repetitive tasks when they would rather be involved in strategic planning (a.k.a. fulfilling work).
To help your team achieve their Nirvana, ensure that you’re taking steps to nurture fulfillment and make your accountants feel valued.
- Provide them with meaningful work. This becomes possible when you implement the right systems and technologies (more on this below).
- Hear them. Listen to and consider their feedback and ideas.
- Train them. Training will help ensure they feel confident and as a result, fulfilled.
I remember my first day working in audit. I was asked to help tie out some of the work papers, and I had NO idea what I was doing. But when I asked for help, I was told to look at what they did the prior year and copy that. Yikes!
Because I wasn’t properly trained, I never really felt confident or fulfilled. That experience contributed to me never wanting to participate in an audit again.
But it’s not just me who feels this way. Many accountants are in the same boat.
I recently met up with a group of five accountants – all experienced (7+ years in the industry) and working for different companies. Only one out of the five felt valued and fulfilled in their role.
The other four? They are all working with recruiters to find new jobs.
2. Give Them Dependable Systems and Clearer Processes
When FloQast asked accountants how they would approach their jobs differently, many of them indicated that they want more of a say in their work. They want their work to have more of an impact on the organization’s success. This desire circles back to the need for fulfilling work and to feel valued.
How can you help your team have a more impactful role?
Invest in:
- Streamlining tasks to free up time for more fulfilling projects, like creating forecasts or informing strategic planning
- Automating repetitive processes, so they have time to serve as strategic partners and help with mitigating risks
- Clearer processes so that everyone is on the same page and knows exactly what’s expected of them
Give your team the support they need. Dependable systems will give your team the tools and time to solve more complex problems that automation cannot.
3. Adopt Technologies That Empower Them
Technology can solve many of the issues that accountants have today – or it can make their jobs more frustrating.
Accountants with a bad relationship with their current technology often feel their jobs are more difficult than necessary.
On the flip side, the right technology can make their jobs easier.
Among the group of accountants I mentioned earlier, the only fulfilled person had a positive relationship with their technology. Their accounting department had recently gone through a huge technology overhaul. While it was stressful initially and took time to adopt the new system, their role is much improved. Why? Because technology is handling the mundane, boring work.
Final Thoughts
Nirvana, a dream career, or whatever you prefer to call it, is within reach for every member of your accounting department. If you adopt the employee-first mindset, help your professionals solve problems, and focus on fulfillment, you’ll create a work culture that is confident, happy, and willing to remain part of your team.
With massive headwinds in hiring and retention, it’s more important than ever to focus on the long-term happiness of your team.
