Business Archives

The Best Accounting & Finance Podcasts to Listen to Right Now

Are you searching for ways to stay informed about the latest accounting and finance news, trends, and best practices? If so, choose among these accounting and finance podcasts.

Discover the best accounting and finance podcasts to listen to right now.

Count Me In

Count Me In is hosted by the Institute of Management Accountants (IMA). Learn the latest perspectives on the accounting and finance field from experts and thought leaders.

AICPA Town Hall Series is hosted by Susan Coffey, CEO of Public Accounting for AICPA, and Erik Asgeirsson, President and CEO of CPA.com. Discover the latest news and updates in the accounting profession from leading subject matter experts.

Grow My Accounting Practice

Grow My Accounting Practice is for accountants and bookkeepers who want to expand their businesses. Learn sales, marketing, hiring, management, pricing, and other business skills needed to scale your company.

The Abundant Accountant

The Abundant Accountant shares tips to build accounting skills, increase revenue, and expand firms. Topics include networking, pricing, finding ideal clients, increasing cash flow, and setting boundaries with clients.

Building the Premier Accounting Firm

Building the Premier Accounting Firm helps accounting professionals confidently offer quality services and get paid what they are worth. Learn tips and tricks to apply accounting principles to build a successful business.

Accounting Marketing Doesn’t Suck

Accounting Marketing Doesn’t Suck is hosted by Hugh Duffy. Learn from successful accountants, CPAs, and other professionals how to grow a profitable business.

Where Accountants Go

Where Accountants Go is for accountants in all industries. Learn as accounting guests share their stories about career development.

Accounting Technology Fireside Chat

Accounting Technology Fireside Chat hosts Nick and Trevor have been working with technology for accountants for over 10 years. Gain insight into where technology is going and how accountants can use technology to increase efficiency.

Accounting Matters

Accounting Matters is hosted by Sarah Cage Richter and Adam Olden from Embark. They start with a new topic and definition in each episode, then highlight and discuss the key areas from evaluation to reporting.

Do You Need to Add to Your Accounting and Finance Team?

Partner with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources to add accounting and finance professionals to your team. Learn more today.

How to Write a Good Job Description

Writing a good job description involves sharing the duties, responsibilities, expectations, and requirements for the role. This information helps job seekers determine whether they can see themselves in the position and should apply.

Creating a clear job description helps create questions for the interview process. It also supports the hiring team throughout the candidate selection process.

Having an effective job description helps create new hire goals and training and development plans. It also supports job performance evaluations, career pathing, and company growth.

Implement these tips to write a good job description.

Choose a Targeted Job Title

Use a title with keywords that many job seekers search for. Titles that indicate what the role involves, such as “Call Center Agent” rank higher in search engine results than vague titles, such as “Rock-Star Marketer.” Job postings that rank well typically have a high number of clicks that can lead to qualified applicants.

Outline the Job Duties and Responsibilities

Highlight what would be expected of the new hire. Include the day-to-day activities and to whom the individual would report. Help job seekers determine whether this is the right position for them.

Limit the Qualifications

List the most essential education, skills, and experience required for the role. Keep in mind that hard skills can be taught while on the job. Limiting the number of qualifications encourages more candidates to apply.

Share the Salary Range

Let job seekers know what type of compensation to expect. Candidates who desire a higher salary can apply for other positions. This saves time reviewing resumes and scheduling interviews.

List the Benefits and Perks

Let job seekers know which benefits and perks make the role desirable. Examples include health insurance, a retirement plan with a company match, paid time off, a remote or hybrid work environment, and a flexible schedule. Supporting job seekers’ quality of life encourages them to apply to your openings.

Are You Looking for Help with Writing Job Descriptions?

Choosing a targeted job title, outlining the job duties and responsibilities, and limiting the qualifications encourage top talent to apply for your open positions. Sharing the salary range and listing the benefits and perks show job seekers what they can gain from working for your organization.

For additional help with writing good job descriptions, get in touch with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Contact us today.

5 Tips for Starting Q2 Strong

Starting Q2 strong involves capitalizing on your Q1 successes. You can use your momentum to continue moving the company forward.

You can use what you learned from your setbacks in Q1 to start Q2 strong. This increases the likelihood of achieving your goals over the next 3 months.

Implement these five tips for starting Q2 strong.

1. Capitalize on Your Momentum

Build on your successes from Q1 as you move to Q2. Balance your short-term urgency with your desired long-term gains. Focus on how your course corrections over the past 3 months can improve efficiency over the next 3 months.

2. Focus on the Future

Spend 10% of your time determining what went wrong in Q1 and 90% of your time planning for Q2. Figure out why you did not attain the desired outcomes and how you can do better going forward.

Focus on what you learned in the past 3 months that you can apply to the next 3 months. You might need to create systems and strategies or resolve process issues to reach your goals.

3. Analyze Market Trends

Pay attention to the trends that are impacting your industry. Focus on the internal and external factors that might impact your company’s financial performance in Q2. Adjust your plans to adapt to these changes for growth in your numbers.

4. Reassess Your Goals

Meet with your team to determine whether the goals set in January still are relevant in April. If they are, find ways to promote engagement to attain these goals. Otherwise, use the latest data and insight to adjust your Q2 goals.

5. Clarify Your Team’s Capacity

Use your team’s capacity to plan your Q2 goals. For instance, if your employees work 40 hours per week, their individual capacity is 40 hours. Therefore, your team’s collective capacity is 40 hours x your number of employees.

Ensure you leave at least 30% of open space for your team. For instance, if your employees work 40 hours per week, commit them to only 28 hours of work on reaching Q2 goals (40 – 30% = 28). This should allow adequate time for tasks that take longer than anticipated and for unexpected circumstances that arise.

Planning adequate time to reach their goals helps your employees fulfill their regular job duties and responsibilities while working toward Q2 objectives. It also helps prevent your employees from overworking to attain their 90-day business goals.

Get Help with Hiring

Capitalizing on your successes, focusing on the future, analyzing market trends, and reassessing your team’s goals help start Q2 strong. Being realistic about your team’s capacity should provide adequate time for them to fulfill their regular job duties while working toward their 90-day goals.

Let Casey Accounting & Finance Resources help with your hiring so you have more time to reach your Q2 goals. Reach out today.

6 Effective Ways to Build Trust with Your Employees

As a manager, building trust with your employees is essential for success. You need your employees to carry out daily tasks related to their jobs. Your employees need you for guidance, support, and leadership.

Effective ways to build trust with your employees must be worked on daily. This is especially true if your employees work remotely or hybrid.

The more your employees trust you, the more engaged and productive they will be. This elevates job satisfaction, employee morale, and retention. It also increases your bottom line.

Choose among these six effective ways to build trust with your employees.

1. Openly Communicate

Build trust with your employees by initiating or joining in conversations. This may involve sharing company news and insights or answering questions. Also, be attentive to your employees’ concerns. Ongoing communication with your employees builds confidence in your leadership abilities.

2. Provide Flexibility

Although you want your employees to work full days, situations will arise when they must take care of their personal needs. Show compassion by letting your employees take care of family issues or other priorities that come up.

Your employees are likely to go above and beyond when you need them to. Being there for your employees shows they are trusted and valued team members.

3. Be Direct

Communicate with your employees in a clear, honest manner. This is especially important if you have bad news to deliver.

Calm, direct engagement in conversations lets participants be heard and understood. This supports respect and trust with your employees.

4. Delegate Responsibilities

Ask your employees to take on high-priority tasks and duties. Show that you trust them to follow through and reach deadlines with little oversight.

5. Offer Guidance

Reassure, support, or lead your employees when needed. Show that they can depend on you in good and bad times.

Help your employees move through challenges and come out stronger than before. Being there for your employees helps build trust.

6. Lead by Example

Model the behavior you want your employees to follow. This includes being authentic and vulnerable. Your employees are likely to trust you enough to be authentic and vulnerable in return.

Add Employees to Your Team

Openly communicating in a direct manner and providing flexibility help build trust with your employees. Delegating responsibilities, offering guidance, and leading by example show that your employees are valued and respected members of your team.

When you need to add employees to your team, get help from Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Learn more today.

Challenges in Recruiting for Accounting & Finance Positions and How to Conquer Them

As The Great Resignation goes on, many employees are leaving their jobs for other opportunities. Therefore, the challenges in recruiting for accounting and finance positions continue to increase.

Many accounting and finance professionals are expected to accomplish more with fewer resources. This increases stress levels, especially during busy seasons. The inability to maintain work-life balance often leads to burnout.

As more accounting and finance professionals leave the industry or retire, fewer professionals are entering the field. This increases the challenges in recruiting for accounting and finance positions.

Because accounting and finance professionals are needed to drive business, company leaders must find ways to increase employee attraction and retention. These tips can help.

Learn the challenges in recruiting for accounting and finance positions and how to conquer them.

Loss of Talent

Many experienced accounting and finance professionals are leaving the industry. Job-related mental health concerns, such as anxiety and depression, are among the top reasons why.

Lack of work-life balance, especially during busy seasons, also contributes to the decision to leave. Constant exposure to work-related stress can lead to burnout.

Seasoned professionals are the hardest professionals to replace. This is especially true for mid-career professionals.

Increased Automation

Fortunately, you can support your accounting and finance team by implementing robotic process automation (RPA). This software emulates human actions and mimics how humans interact with technologies.

RPA can help with essential accounting and finance functions:

Analytical procedures
Financial statement preparation
Dual-purpose audit tests
Forecasting
Investment decisions
Cost allocation
Expense reimbursement
Accounts payable
Accounts receivable
Reconciliation
Tax reporting
Cloud-based applications

Providing access to the necessary tools, systems, and support helps accounting and finance professionals complete their work. This helps maintain work-life balance and positive mental health while reaching company goals.

Work with an Accounting and Finance Staffing Agency

You can conquer the challenges in recruiting for accounting and finance positions by partnering with a staffing agency that specializes in the industry. The agency has a vast network of experienced professionals with the skills and qualifications needed to help you achieve your company’s goals.

You can choose from temporary, temp-to-hire, and direct-hire workers to blend with your full-time employees. Taking advantage of this flexibility helps save money while filling your staffing needs.

Partner with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources

The loss of talent in the accounting and finance industry requires increasing use of automation to support your workforce. Working with an accounting and finance staffing agency can help you find the qualified professionals you need to reach your business goals.

Reach out to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources for help filling your recruiting needs. Get started today.

Supporting Your Employees’ Goals in 2023

Supporting your employees’ goals in 2023 is more essential than ever. Employees are finding new employers with better opportunities at a rapid pace. As a result, employee retention during The Great Resignation is extremely important.

How you support your employees in reaching their goals impacts whether you are an employer of choice. This affects your ability to attract and retain talent. The following ideas can help.

Implement these suggestions to support your employees’ goals in 2023.

Prioritize Employee Mental Health

Most employees continue to experience mental health challenges that began during the pandemic. Increasing exposure to stress can lead to anxiety, depression, and burnout. These factors impact employee engagement, productivity, and performance. They also affect job satisfaction, employee morale, and retention rates.

You can help your employees reach their goals for positive mental health by providing additional support for overall wellness:

Maintain an open-door policy for your employees to privately talk with you about their personal and professional challenges. Emphasize that these discussions are free from judgment or consequences.
Encourage your employees to get enough sleep each night. This helps maintain emotional resilience and performance throughout the workday.
Remind your employees to use all of their paid time off each year. They need time away from work to rest and rejuvenate.

Encourage Employees’ Soft Skill Development

Many employees believe their soft skills were impacted by the social isolation caused by the coronavirus. This is especially true for Gen Z, whose educational and career goals were difficult to achieve during social distancing and lockdowns.

Many members of Gen Z say their education did not effectively prepare them to enter the workforce. They missed out on developing the soft skills that are essential for career success. This includes networking, speaking to groups, and negotiating.

Employees from other generations experienced a lapse in their soft skills due to working remotely. The lack of in-person interaction significantly increased stress, exhaustion, and burnout.

You can support your employees’ goal of soft skill development by providing online skills training courses and opportunities to implement their learning. You also can match your employees with mentors to model and develop the soft skills required to advance within your organization. Plus, you can assign group projects that require collaboration among teammates.

Need Additional Guidance for Supporting Your Employees’ Goals?

Prioritizing employee mental health and encouraging soft skill development help support your employees’ goals in 2023. These actions increase employee engagement, productivity, and retention. They also lower your hiring, onboarding, and training costs.

For further advice on supporting your employees’ goals, get in touch with Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Connect with us 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.

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.

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.