Accounting and Finance Trends to Watch for in 2023

The role of accounting and finance candidates continues to expand. The increasing use of technology is responsible for many changes in client expectations.

Today’s professionals are impacted by the changing accounting and finance trends. Companies that keep up with these trends and train their teams accordingly maintain a competitive edge.

Pay attention to these accounting and finance trends to keep your company competitive in 2023.

Diversified Client Services

According to Sage’s The Practice of Now 2020 report, 79% of accountants state that their client expectations now include business and finance consultancy. In addition to bookkeeping and accounting guidance, these clients want advice on complying with emergency legislation, leveraging government assistance, and computing leave entitlements and wage subsidies.

Most accountants use technology to provide clients with more efficient services. This significantly improves client satisfaction.

Enterprise Resource Planning Systems

Implementing enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems lets companies combine their accounting and financial data with other business areas. Examples include supply chain, order, and production management. Using an ERP system lets the data be entered into one application that is accessible throughout the organization.

Implementing an ERP system means employees must be trained to use only one system. These employees also can find the information they need from one source. Additionally, having one source of information promotes collaboration. Plus, the centralized information for analytics and reporting helps leaders make more informed business decisions.

Artificial Intelligence

According to the Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey 2020, 47% of CIOs say the coronavirus pandemic caused digital transformation and adoption of emerging technology to accelerate. Examples include artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), blockchain, and automation.

The extraction of quality data is critical to effectively using AI. The process requires the right applications, cloud solutions, analytics, and business processes.

Providing accurate business intelligence maximizes the use of the data. This gives organizations a competitive edge.

Cybersecurity

The handling of confidential data requires strong cybersecurity. Data breaches allow cyber criminals access to payroll, tax, and other financial information. These breaches impact a company’s credibility and reputation.

According to the Harvey Nash/KPMG survey, spear-phishing increased by 83% in 2020 because of the pandemic. Malware increased by 62% and denial-of-service attacks grew by 21%. This is why 47% of CIOs included security and privacy as one of their top three technology investments. As a result, accounting and finance professionals must comply with cybersecurity best practices to safely collect, store, use, and share data.

Competition in Hiring

Diversified client services, implementation of ERP systems, increasing use of AI, and the evolving need for cybersecurity are among the accounting and finance trends for 2023. Capitalizing on these trends helps your company stay competitive.

Steep competition for hiring accounting and finance professionals is expected to continue throughout the next year. Turn to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources for help. Get started today.

Why Some Accountants Do Not Like Their Jobs and How to Help

Traditional accounting career paths do not fit today’s accountants. This is why many accountants do not like their jobs.

Most accountants do not want to remain with the same company throughout their careers. Instead, they want to change employers to diversify their skill sets.

The lack of opportunities for advancement causes many accountants to be dissatisfied with their jobs. These accountants value professional development and promotions.

Employers tend to focus solely on having accountants complete their work at the office. However, today’s accountants typically desire flexibility, meaning, and purpose in their roles.

Discover why many accountants dislike their jobs and what managers can do to help.

Long Work Days

Many accountants are expected to work at least 60 hours each week. This can be longer during tax season. As a result, these accountants have limited time to fulfill personal responsibilities and interests.

Limited Professional Development

Many accountants work for companies with prestigious reputations. However, these accountants often lack opportunities to reach their full potential with the organization.

Accountants who work for large firms tend to specialize in audit, tax, materials and acquisitions, or another narrow field. As a result, these accountants do not learn how the business operates as a whole.

The lack of variety in accounting responsibilities can be frustrating. Accountants who are unable to develop their skills tend to be unfulfilled in their jobs.

Difficulty Changing Practices

Choosing between public and private practice impacts an accountant’s career. Each type of practice requires different personalities and skill sets. As a result, switching to the other practice after establishing a career can be difficult.

Accountants who change from private to public practice or vice versa may need to start from the bottom and work their way up. This can cause significant professional setbacks after years of career establishment.

Tips to Increase Job Satisfaction

Accountants tend to prioritize work-life balance. This means many accountants prefer jobs with remote or hybrid work and a flexible schedule over higher-paying jobs that require onsite work during set hours. Offering these perks can increase accountants’ job satisfaction.

Most accountants want variety in their jobs. Consider letting them cross-train to take on additional duties and responsibilities. These accountants can cover when their colleagues are off work.

Accountants typically desire meaningful work. Providing challenging tasks and projects that require creativity and problem-solving promotes engagement and productivity.

Want Help Sourcing Accountants?

Many accountants work long hours and have limited opportunities for professional development. This lack of skill development makes it difficult to switch between public or private practice after career establishment. Managers can alleviate these issues by allowing flexibility for work-life balance and diversifying job duties and responsibilities.

If you are having difficulty sourcing qualified accountants, Casey Accounting & Finance Resources can help. Reach out today.

Why Showing Gratitude to Your Employees Can Lead to Higher Productivity

Most employees cite their income, work environment, and company culture as reasons why they enjoy their roles. However, how they feel about their positions matters as well.

Employees feel good when their employers appreciate them. These employees often share their positive emotions with colleagues and coworkers. The cycle of smiles, generosity, and random acts of kindness impacts others in the organization. This leads to greater feelings of employee appreciation.

As a manager, you influence how your employees feel when they are at work. This is why you should be giving praise for employee achievements.

Providing autonomy and constructive feedback shows your employees they are valued and respected. This promotes engagement, productivity, and retention.

Discover how showing gratitude for your employees can increase productivity and how you can attain this objective.

Attractive Company Culture

Employees who feel appreciated often express gratitude for their colleagues and coworkers. This promotes feelings of appreciation throughout the organization. Companies that emphasize employee appreciation have an attractive culture. This encourages job seekers to apply to the organization.

Increased Employee Engagement

Employees who feel appreciated typically have high job satisfaction. They are committed to performing their best and reaching business goals. This results in strong customer satisfaction and revenue for a healthy bottom line.

Elevated Employee Performance

Expressing gratitude to your employees shows you appreciate their contributions and results. This creates a source of pride in their work. Employees who are proud of their achievements typically put in their best effort.

Stronger Employee Retention

Expressing gratitude to your employees shows they are valued and respected members of your team. This encourages your employees to perform their best. Employees who enjoy their roles are likely to remain with your organization long-term. This reduces hiring costs.

Methods to Express Employee Appreciation

  • Publicly give thanks for each employee’s specific contributions, results, and impacts on the organization.
  • Provide a donation in the employee’s name to a charity they care about.
  • Create a reward system that provides points to redeem for a gift card, remote work day, vacation day, or other awards.
  • Provide a bonus, pay increase, or promotion when appropriate.
  • Publicly give thanks for each employee’s specific contributions, results, and impacts on the organization.

Frequency of Employee Appreciation

A survey by Authentic Recognition found the following:

  • 2% Received Daily recognition
  • 11% Received Weekly recognition
  • 20% Received Quarterly recognition
  • 17% Received Annual recognition
  • 29% Received No recognition of any kind.

Source: https://authenticrecognition.com/how-frequently-should-you-give-recognition/

Want to Increase Your Team’s Productivity?

Expressing gratitude to your employees helps them feel valued and respected. This encourages your employees to remain engaged, productive, and loyal to your organization.

Many HR managers and People leaders follow the R.I.S.E. method when implementing their recognition program. This concept highlights how employee appreciation should be regular, immediate, specific, and encouraging.

If you’re looking for other ideas to express employee appreciation, or you need to add employees to your team, include Casey Accounting & Finance Resources in your hiring process. Learn more today.

 

Up to 67% of US Employees Could Be Quiet Quitting. How They Impact Your Business?

Millions of employees are putting in minimal effort to keep their jobs. This mindset of “quiet quitting” is becoming more prevalent than ever before. It also is impacting businesses across the United States.

Source: https://teambuilding.com/blog/quiet-quitting-statistics

What Motivates Quiet Quitters?

Quiet quitters typically blame burnout for their lack of motivation to perform better. For instance, layoffs and staffing shortages often result in the remaining employees taking on more of the workload. However, most are not being compensated accordingly.

Many managers expect the same productivity levels with the increased workloads. These unreasonable expectations cause many employees to feel unappreciated.

As a result, quiet quitters are losing patience with their employers leading these employees to prioritize their personal lives over their professional responsibilities.

Why Are Many Remote Employees Quiet Quitters?

Remote employees often have an easier time not going above and beyond in their roles. Many of these employees feel less connected to and involved with their teams.

A lack of clear work hours encourages many remote employees to be quiet quitters. Not understanding how much should be accomplished each day increases stress. Ongoing exposure to elevated stress levels typically leads to burnout.

How Do Quiet Quitters Impact Companies?

Employees who do not remain engaged in their work and perform their best decrease productivity. This lowers employee morale and here’s why.

Better-performing employees often feel the need to pick up the slack caused by quiet quitters. This typically leads to frustration and resentment. These high-performing employees often end up leaving for other opportunities. As a result, turnover and hiring costs increase.

What Can Managers Do to Motivate Quiet Quitters?

Managers must understand what motivates each of their employees. Examples include verbal recognition, stretch assignments, and additional paid time off. Rewarding employees in the manner they desire promotes engagement and productivity.

Talking with each employee in one-on-one meetings, on a regular basis, helps uncover how they feel about their jobs. Managers can discuss each employee’s pain points and collaborate to find solutions. Making changes encourages employee engagement and productivity.

Providing constructive feedback encourages employees to improve their performance. Sharing what an employee did well, and specific steps to improve can promote desirable results.

Remaining empathetic during employee conversations is imperative. Many employees are facing personal challenges that are impacting their work. Providing support through increased work-life balance, access to therapy, or career advancement opportunities encourages employee engagement and productivity.

Need to Add Professionals to Your Team?

Quiet quitters put in minimal effort to meet their job requirements. This causes other employees to pick up the slack. When these better-performing employees become frustrated and resentful, many find opportunities elsewhere. As a result, turnover and hiring costs increase.

Managers should use customized tactics to help their employees stay engaged in their work. Managers also can talk privately with employees who are not performing their best to uncover the reasons, resolve the issues, and provide support.

For help adding professionals to your team, partner with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Find out more today.

 

How to Motivate Your Employees to Finish Strong in Q4

According to Gallup’s State of the Global Workplace: 2022 Report, approximately 65% of employees are not fully engaged in their work. This percentage likely increases during the holiday season.

Maintaining focus during Q4 can be difficult for employees. Most are thinking about their holiday plans rather than their work tasks.

Fortunately, there are steps you can take to motivate your employees to finish the year strong. These ideas can help.

Follow these guidelines to motivate your accounting and finance team to finish strong in Q4.

Revisit Goals

Review which goals were achieved during the year and which remain. Then, clarify the goals your employees should put in additional effort to attain. Include how the goals increase company success for the current year. This sets up a strong beginning to the new year.

Offer Incentives

Provide incentives to your employees who reach their goals for Q4. Examples include gift cards, bonuses, and additional paid time off in the new year. These incentives encourage your team to go above and beyond to increase their achievements for the year.

Encourage Autonomy

Let your employees work as independently as possible. This shows you trust, value, and respect them.

Since your team members are well-trained, they understand what to do and when to do it. Provide the necessary resources and be available for questions, then let your team work independently.

Recognize Achievements

Thank your employees for their contributions and results. Include the goals your team members reached, the steps taken to attain the goals, and the impact on the organization. This increases employee engagement and performance.

Lead by Example

Model the behavior you want to see from your employees. Examples include meeting milestones, communicating status updates and challenges, and asking for assistance. Your team is likely to follow your example as their leader.

Need Help Finishing Q4 Strong?

Revisiting goals lets your employees know what to work on during Q4. Offering incentives, encouraging autonomy, and recognizing achievements show you trust, value, and respect your team.

If you need temporary team members to help finish Q4 strong, talk with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Learn more today.

 

Becoming a Better Finance Manager: What to Do and What Not to Do

Everyone has room for improvement at work. This includes your role as a finance manager.

Becoming a better finance manager elevates your team’s performance. Your employees likely will stay engaged longer, perform better, and remain with your organization longer.

As a result, you must do what you can to become a better finance manager. The following tips can help.

Becoming a Better Finance Manager

Do: Remain Accessible

Make yourself available to your employees. Encourage them to talk with you about their needs and concerns.

Being accessible shows you value and respect your team. It also improves employee engagement, productivity, and morale.

Don’t: Micromanage

Your role is not to perform your employees’ work. This means you do not need to hover while your team members complete their tasks.

Keep in mind you hired the best talent and trust them to effectively complete their work. You are there to provide guidance, supervision, and mentorship. This includes giving your team the necessary resources, letting them work, and being available for questions and support.

Do: Provide Feedback

Regularly give each employee constructive feedback. Include what they are doing well, what they can do better, and specific ways they can improve.

Constructive feedback builds trust and respect among your employees. It also improves employee engagement, performance, and retention.

Don’t: Shame Your Employees

Publicly embarrassing your employees does not establish your authority. Rather, it undermines your credibility and turns your team against you.

Instead, privately suggest methods to improve an employee’s performance. Use the discussion to empower your team member with specific steps to more effectively perform their work.

Do: Celebrate Accomplishments

Acknowledge when your employees reach a target, finish a project, or attain a goal. Include what each team member accomplished, the steps they took, and their impact on the organization.

You may want to send your employee a congratulatory email or take your team to lunch. Also, let other managers, supervisors, and leaders know of your employee’s or team’s success. Plus, provide a bonus, raise, or promotion when appropriate.

Celebrating employee accomplishments encourages your team to repeat the behaviors that led to the results. This elevates employee engagement, performance, and job satisfaction.

Don’t: Ignore Your Employees’ Skill Development

Employee skill development is imperative for career progression. Not having opportunities for professional development means your team members cannot move up within the organization. Lack of advancement encourages your employees to look for jobs elsewhere.

Instead, delegate tasks to your employees to promote their skill development. Also, offer stretch assignments, job shadowing, and cross-training opportunities. Plus, let your team members lead meetings and represent the company at industry events. These actions promote employee longevity with your company.

Effective Leadership Means Hiring the Best

Understanding what to do and what not to do as a finance manager makes you a more effective leader. The more your employees feel valued and respected, the longer they will stay engaged, perform their best, and remain with your organization.

Free up the time needed to manage your team by making Casey Accounting & Finance Resources part of your recruiting process. Get started today.

Prioritizing Mental Health in the Workplace

Many people still are dealing with the psychological and emotional effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Add to this discouraging news about the economy and other world issues, employees are experiencing instability in significant areas of their professional and personal lives like never before.

The Conference Board conducted a 2022 mental health survey of over 1,100 workers. Fifty percent of the respondents reported deteriorating mental health since the coronavirus pandemic began. Only 38% of the workers felt their manager adequately addressed their mental health concerns. Merely 29% of respondents whose companies offered mental health support found the resources helpful.

In response to what employers can do to help, 82% of the workers mentioned offering managers training on how to address mental health concerns. Sixty-one percent of respondents said increased manager trust would improve their mental health.

As a result, managers must actively listen to and provide support for their employees for their teams to succeed. This involves managers advocating for their employees’ needs to create caring, empathetic work cultures.

Follow these guidelines to prioritize mental health throughout your organization.

Embrace Change

Being comfortable with change positively impacts employee engagement, morale, and leadership styles. This includes modeling behavior that is open to and accepting of the transforming work world.

  • Regularly talk with your employees about what they need to feel safe at work and excel in their roles.
  • Determine how your team members feel about their workloads.
  • Talk about potential feelings of disengagement or burnout.
  • Find out how you can more effectively support your employees.
  • Ask for constructive feedback on how you handle situations.
  • Encourage your employees to ask for what they need.

Update Work Practices

Assess the policies, processes, and systems that no longer serve your employees. Examples include set work hours, limited leave policies, and not feeling comfortable providing or receiving feedback.

  • Educate your team on the resources available for mental health support.
  • Advocate for flexible work hours, more comprehensive leave policies, and psychological safety for employees to give and receive constructive feedback.
  • Actively seek new information on employee-first work cultures.
  • Use data to support your decisions.

Advocate for Mental Health Support

Talk with your employees about your own mental health issues. Include how you seek and receive support both inside and outside the organization.

  • Share your methods for coping with workplace stress.
  • Discuss your feelings of safety when sharing your thoughts with your team or manager.
  • Be honest about how you are feeling and when you are having a bad day.
  • Encourage your employees to take time for self-care throughout the day and at night.
  • Emphasize why building a culture of mental health support matters.
  • Demonstrate how everyone needs to be invested in building a culture of mental health support.

Need More Ideas?

Embracing change, updating your work practices, and advocating for mental health support are ways to prioritize mental wellness in your workplace. Modeling these behaviors helps reduce the risk of burnout. This increases employee engagement, productivity, and retention.

If you’d like other ideas, check out our previous blog from Mental Health Awareness Month in April.

We’re here to offer more support to your team. Make Casey Accounting & Finance Resources part of your talent acquisition process. Find out more today.

 

Interview Skills You Should Brush Up On to Succeed!

As companies move forward during The Great Resignation, they need to hire the right employees. This requires effective interview skills.

It takes a significant amount of time for a hiring manager and HR to discuss the job requirements, source and screen candidates, and conduct interviews. It also takes time to conduct background checks, finalize the candidate selections, and wait for candidates to accept offers and begin working.

As a result, hiring managers should participate in training now to refresh their interview skills. This helps build candidate pipelines for current and future hiring needs.

Discover some benefits of hiring managers brushing up on their interview skills and topics to discuss during training.

Advantages of Refreshing Interview Skills

Proving a refresher for hiring managers’ interview skills training lets them practice in a safe environment. Because these managers may not have conducted interviews for a significant time, a mini session would be advantageous.

Refresher training ensures hiring managers and HR are on the same page regarding interviewing. This increases success in hiring the best candidates.

Topics to Discuss When Refreshing Interview Skills

Intake meeting: Talk about the meeting between the hiring manager and HR to discuss the job requirements and sourcing strategy. For instance, emphasize the importance of the candidate experience throughout the hiring process. Also, discuss specific ways to show commitment to diversity and inclusion so candidates feel they are welcome and can be themselves at work.

Discussing the intake meeting ensures the hiring manager and HR are following the same policies and procedures for interviewing. This speeds up the hiring process, increasing the likelihood of hiring top candidates.

Interview questions: Emphasize the importance of asking effective, compliant behavioral interview questions. These questions provide insight into a candidate’s experience.

You may want to use the STAR method to create interview questions. This involves asking a candidate about a situation they encountered, the task they needed to accomplish, the action they took, and the results they attained.

Ensure the hiring manager asks follow-up questions to gather enough detail for a complete picture of the situation, task, action, and result. This helps provide the necessary information to make a hiring decision.

Candidate selection: Remind hiring managers to look past their unconscious biases when choosing the best candidate. This can be accomplished through an online training program that may be included in your diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts.

Need Help with Hiring?

Refreshing hiring managers’ interview skills ensures managers and HR are on the same page throughout the hiring process. Sharing details about the intake meeting, interview questions, and the candidate selection process increases the likelihood of hiring the most qualified candidates.

For additional help with hiring, partner with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Get started today.

What Employers Can Do to Better Support Their Working Parents

Employers always are looking for ways to support their employees. This improves productivity, performance, and retention.

One key area of support is for working parents. Because most employees have families, they make up a significant part of the workforce.

Working parents often deal with issues that affect their professional performance. Examples include taking time off to care for a sick child and needing to finish work early to handle family responsibilities.

As a result, employers who provide accommodations for working parents are more attractive to employees and job seekers. Taking small steps can result in a substantial impact on your organization with little impact on the bottom line.

Choose among these methods to provide support for your working parents.

Talk About Working Parents’ Needs

Find out more about what your working parents want help with most. You may want to begin with a survey to understand their issues, concerns, and suggestions for help. Then, you can use this information to begin discussions between working parents and management about methods to increase support.

You may want to identify a specific issue that many working parents face. Then, you could encourage managers to speak with their employees for more details. The managers could meet with HR and leadership to share feedback and discuss implementation methods.

Create a Parents’ Network

Encourage working parents to share ideas, provide support, and organize family-friendly activities. This may include creating an email chain for parents to swap out gently used children’s clothing. Or, parents might provide tips to ease the stress of raising children while working full-time.

Having this network helps fill working parents’ wants and needs by connecting them with the right individuals at the right time. You may want to create a dedicated intranet page or Slack channel to encourage working parents to join the network.

Provide Flexibility

Offer employees a flexible schedule and options for how they work. Examples include working remotely, hybrid, flextime, part-time, or having a compressed workweek.

You may want to make accommodations for when working parents’ children start school or change their childcare routines. This reduces the stress of fitting in work around childcare. It also increases productivity and retention.

Looking for Additional Advice?

Working parents appreciate help supporting their personal and professional needs. Talking about and accommodating working parents’ needs, creating a working parents’ network, and providing flexibility are effective methods to provide this support. This increases employee engagement, productivity, and performance. It also increases employee attraction and retention.

For additional advice to better support your team’s working parents, reach out to the professionals at Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Contact us today.

 

Struggling to Get Applicants? Why You Need to Examine Your Hiring Process and How Long It Takes to Hear Back

Like many employers, you may be having difficulty filling your job openings. One of the reasons may be that you take too long to respond to candidates.

Regular follow-up throughout your hiring process is important. This may include letting candidates know you received their application, would like to schedule an interview or are considering offering them a job. It also involves what the next steps in the process are and when the candidate should expect to hear from you.

Discover why regular communication throughout your hiring process is an effective way to hire the best applicants.

Respect

Responding to each candidate shows you respect their time. Applying for a job takes a significant amount of research and decision-making. Expressing interest in working for your company says a great deal about your organization. Showing appreciation is important.

Realistically, you may be unable to personally respond to each candidate. As a result, you might want to automate your responses with your applicant tracking system (ATS). This helps provide a positive candidate experience.

Candidate Engagement

Top candidates have many employment options. Following up with them throughout your hiring process helps keep them engaged. This increases the odds that your best candidates will accept potential job offers from you.

Be sure to let each candidate know when they should expect to hear from you. Also, fulfill these expectations as much as possible. If you need to extend a timeframe, let each candidate know as soon as possible.

Candidate Experience

Effectively following up throughout your hiring process improves the candidate experience. This helps set your company apart from the competition. It also helps you hire more high-quality candidates.

Even if you’re not ready to provide a job offer, share with your most desirable candidates feedback on their interviews. This encourages them to want to work for your organization.

Talent Pipelines

The more you keep in contact with candidates, the more your talent pipelines remain filled. A candidate who has a positive experience with your company but isn’t offered a job may apply for a role in the future. They also might refer other candidates to your organization.

Employer Brand

Regular follow-up with each candidate enhances your employer brand. The more you communicate with candidates, the more positive your company’s reputation remains.

Many candidates post reviews on Glassdoor and other employer review sites. They’re likely to share positive reviews when you follow up on an ongoing basis. This encourages other candidates to apply to your organization.

Want Help Hiring?

If you’re not regularly following up with candidates, you may be having trouble filling your jobs. Ongoing communication with candidates promotes respect for their time, engagement in the hiring process, and a positive candidate experience. It also helps keep your talent pipeline full and your employer brand positive.

If you need help hiring, Casey Accounting & Finance Resources can match you with qualified candidates to fill your business needs. Learn more today.