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

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.

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 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.

 

Are You Offering Enough PTO to Your Finance Employees?

As the manager of a finance team, how much paid time off (PTO), you offer your employees matters. Providing a fair amount of PTO with opportunities for more helps you attract and retain the best talent. It shows you prioritize work-life balance and want your employees to have as much flexibility as possible.

Determination of how much PTO to offer can be difficult. The following suggestions can help.

Use these tips to determine whether you are offering enough PTO to your finance employees.

Defining PTO  

PTO consists of a block of time that employees can draw from throughout the year. Rather than creating categories and assigning a number of days for each, such as 7 paid holidays, 6 vacation days, 5 personal days, and 4 sick days, all of the days can be used however the employee sees fit.

For instance, most companies offer 30 days of PTO that each employee can divide up as needed. So, one of your employees might decide to take 12 days of paid sick leave, 12 days of paid personal leave, and 6 days of paid vacation. Another employee could decide on 5 days of paid sick leave, 12 days of paid personal leave, and 13 days of paid vacation.

Determining the Amount of PTO

Certain variables should be considered to decide which amount of PTO is right for your employees. For instance, you may want to offer different amounts of PTO to different types of employees. You also need to determine whether your employees should be required to use all of their PTO each year, be able to roll it over to the next year or get paid extra for the unused days.

You may want to start your new hires with less PTO and award more PTO based on the number of years your employees remain with your company. You also might want to let your employees roll over their unused days as a reward for good attendance.

Deciding How Much PTO Is Right for Your Employees

The amount of PTO you provide your finance employees depends on your business needs. It may be best to start each new hire with 30 days of PTO and provide opportunities to increase over time. This might be linked to job performance, years of loyalty, or other criteria.

Ensure your standards for awarding PTO are fair, clear, and included in the employee handbook. This helps your employees understand how much PTO they start out with and how they can earn more.

You can change your program over time to remain aligned with changing employee needs. This helps your finance team attract and retain top talent.

Want Help with Hiring?

The amount of PTO you provide your finance employees impacts how long they remain with your organization. Starting your new hires off with a fair amount of PTO and opportunities to increase helps attract and retain the best talent. This can help lower your recruitment costs.

When the time comes to hire additional employees, turn to Casey Accounting & Finance Resources for help. Find out more today.

4 Updates You Can Make to Job Descriptions to Gain More Applicants

Your job descriptions provide managers with clear guidelines for hiring, developing, and managing employees. The descriptions also clarify the job expectations for employees and support compensation, performance standards, and development decisions.

Your job descriptions are an important part of your job postings. They let candidates know the duties and responsibilities of a role and the requirements to be successful in the position.

Because your job descriptions serve multiple purposes, they need to be current. The following are four ways to can make sure the information is updated.

Implement these four tips to update your job descriptions to increase your applicant pools.

1. Position Summary

Summarize the main job duties and responsibilities.

  • Make the role attractive to job seekers.
  • Share information about your department.
  • Include who the employee reports to and whether any employees report to them as well.

2. Minimum and Preferred Qualifications

Clarify the qualifications that candidates must have to apply for the role. Include the qualifications that make candidates even more attractive to the hiring manager. Focus on the major end results of the role.

  • The minimum requirements are a shorter list of your objective criteria.
    • Include the minimum education and experience required for success.
  • The preferred qualifications are nice to have if applying for the position. A candidate without the preferred qualifications still may be hired.
    • These qualifications are on a longer list of more subjective criteria that can be discussed in more detail during an interview.
    • Examples of preferred qualifications include soft skills such as communication, attention to detail, and organization.
    • The preferred qualifications set candidates apart from those with the bare minimum qualifications.

3. Duties and Responsibilities

Include the main job functions in order of importance.

  • Be as specific as possible about the job duties and responsibilities.
  • Explain whether the employee makes recommendations to a decision-maker or makes the actual decisions.
  • Use clear action words and specific adjectives for each task. For example, “Create Excel sheets from raw data, including pivot tables and formulas such as if/then. Perform data entry to update, sort, analyze, and summarize in reports for leadership.”

4. Physical Requirements

Clarify whether there are any physical requirements to complete the work. Include whether accommodations can be made for candidates who need them.

Want Help Hiring Accounting and Finance Professionals?

Sharing clear, updated information in your job descriptions lets candidates know what would be expected of them in the role. Clarification of the position summary, minimum and preferred requirements, duties and responsibilities, and physical requirements help candidates decide whether to apply for a position. This narrows down your options when deciding who to contact for an interview.

If you need help with crafting your job descriptions or recruiting candidates that best meet the hiring qualifications, contact the experienced recruiters at Casey Accounting & Finance Resources. Reach out to discuss your needs today.