Your Accounting Technology Strategy Will Become Your Talent Strategy

Navigating the world of accounting talent is a puzzle for many firms seeking the perfect fit. It’s common for accounting firms to struggle with finding and retaining talent. An often neglected piece of the puzzle is understanding the role that tech plays for employees in choosing and staying with an employer.

Whether it’s streamlined processes, increased accuracy, or improved client communication - a solid accounting technology strategy often lends itself to an even stronger talent strategy.

How can accounting firms leverage technology to improve their talent strategies? Like any good strategy, the answer we will explore is multi-faceted.

How Your Accounting Technology Strategy and Your Talent Strategy Connect

Gone are the days when technology was siloed to a corner of the IT department. Today, almost every accountant uses technology throughout the day. Anything that impacts so many people requires careful thought in several key areas.

Talent Acquisition

The demand for accountants is growing, which means prospective employees can prioritize companies that make an effort to foster a positive working environment. While employee engagement initiatives should never be neglected, the day-to-day of working with seamless tools will often stand out to accountants who want to deliver results.

Younger accountants who grew up accessing information with lightning speed will typically not tolerate working somewhere with clunky software that holds them back from the efficiency they’ve grown accustomed to over their lifetimes.

Talent Retention and Upskilling

It’s far more beneficial for team culture (not to mention cost-effective!) to invest in retaining your employees than searching for and onboarding new employees. Employees benefit from effective tech in the following ways:

• Continuous learning and professional development opportunities.
  No one likes to feel stagnant, particularly in an age where technology options are growing by unprecedented leaps and bounds. Ensuring that newer tech tools are utilized and appropriate training provided on an ongoing basis means that employees can enjoy the feeling of developing their skill sets and staying ahead of their industry’s curve.
  
  
• Fostering a culture of innovation and adaptability.
  The satisfaction many employees feel when using a new tool that improves their work-life lends itself to a more agile workforce. This leads to a more innovative company overall, which means the firm is ready to tackle changes in a dynamic industry.
  
  
• More efficient workflows.
  Being bogged down by systems that are slow and inefficient is often a major employee complaint. These are not to be taken with a grain of salt because more efficient workflows do more than boost morale. Many small changes over time can significantly add up and maximize a firm’s effectiveness and profitability.

How to Incorporate Accounting Technology into Your Current Workforce

A few key questions to consider when determining a firm’s next step for their technology strategy include:

What current gaps or bottlenecks could be solved with technology?

Be prepared to dream big and consider holistic challenges while also considering small daily annoyances and inefficiencies that could be improved.

How can training programs be used for professional development?

Are there opportunities that can be incorporated to better support your workforce?

What technology do employees believe will help?

People succeed in firms that value and incorporate their opinions. Many accountants discuss their tools with friends at other firms, presenting a treasure trove of possible solutions. Employees whose feedback is implemented are also more likely to champion new technology and support their colleagues in adapting to the new solutions.

Choosing the Right Accounting Technology

The many tech options that exist can be overwhelming. There are a few rules of thumb to consider when making choices:

Tech should align with business goals and needs. Just because a technology option is “shiny” and has neat features doesn’t mean it’s always the best option. A clear understanding of a firm’s needs and goals is required before selecting tech tools.

Tech should be able to scale and adapt to future needs. While no one has a crystal ball for predicting the future, most firms have a general sense of where they might be in a few years and possible trends that may be relevant to their business. Ensuring the technology chosen will easily incorporate into likely future scenarios will save headaches and avoid costly tech overhauls.

Tech should be easy to use and integrate with other business tools. A common barrier to employee success and morale is systems that don’t integrate well together, requiring tedious and confusing redundancies. Ensuring tech is fairly intuitive to grasp and fits logically into existing business tools can support success in your tech and talent.

Leverage Accounting Technology in Your Talent Strategy

Technology and talent strategies are not isolated problems but interconnected opportunities. A thoughtful accounting technology strategy streamlines processes and workflows and fosters a positive working environment and a culture of innovation.

Accounting firms that embrace this ethos will unlock many gains and find they’ve not only solved a big piece of their puzzle - they’ve built a masterpiece that will attract talent from far and wide.

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