With skilled and talented accounting professionals still thin on the ground in the U.S., it remains extremely challenging for CPA firms not just to attract new talent, but to retain who they already have.
Many have already turned to offshore bookkeeping services with great success, and here’s a closer look at offshoring and how it can work so well for CPA firms struggling to keep hold of their in-house employees:
If your staff have pain points – identifying them is crucial when offshoring
It won’t take you long to recognize that your staff are struggling, but exactly why things are so difficult for them, might not be immediately obvious. Start by conducting a straightforward survey among your internal employees, to help identify their challenges, and look at how offshoring might help address them. For instance, if they’re finding themselves weighed down by the repetitive or time consuming nature of certain bookkeeping tasks, outsourcing these could help free up their time, and enable them to pursue other, more lucrative avenues within the firm.
Looking beyond tax season
Although tax season is a significant stressor for most accounting firms, if offshoring is implemented successfully, it need never be this way again. Any tasks that are preventing your in-house employees from hitting their deadlines, or producing a high enough standard of work, can be offshored; it really is as simple as that.
With vast pools of talent at their disposal, offshoring companies can help accounting firms operate at their very highest capacity, all year round, not just during tax season.
Employees that are adequately upskilled
Even if you have a talented team of accounting professionals on board, it’s imperative that they continue to grow their skills and adapt to changes in the industry, so that they can carry the firm forward in a competitive way.
By choosing to offshore some of your in-house teams workload, you can give them the time and mental energy to learn new skills and become accustomed to new technologies that are helping to transform the industry, such as AI and RPA. They can improve themselves, while your firm continues to deliver expert services to clients; what could be better?
Can offshoring really help CPA firms retain their top talent?
The short answer would be yes – even though offshoring might initially seem counterintuitive since you already have a talented workforce – but of course it might not be the answer for all accounting firms.
However, if your accounting firm wants to keep its in-house employees satisfied and protect them from burn out, offshore bookkeeping can aid your existing workforce by helping them better cope with their workload, find time and mental energy to focus on higher value services, and generally feel more fulfilled and content within their role.
Overall, if your firm wants to be more competitive while holding on to its in-house employees, but lacks the resources, innovation, or skilled staff to achieve this, then offshoring is definitely a cost effective and convenient solution.
