Outsourcing, temporary workers, and co-sourcing (“loan-staff” collectively) are cost effective options that managers need to consider for a businesses’ professional staffing needs.

Recently, the Society for Human Resource Management surveyed members on their businesses’ perception of the economy and how their companies were poised to react.  Organizations reporting they were likely to lay-off workers due to the economy were 11% in 2010, compared to 21% in 2009.  The survey also indicated that businesses were cautiously optimistic, but wanted to be able to implement changes quickly if necessary to reduce costs.

According to Michael Owens of MFR, “The pressure is on accounting and tax departments to assume new responsibilities and become more proactive, while often being asked to get more done with less.  Many employers continue to be uncertain about the U.S. economy and are reluctant to increase permanent head-counts.  Here’s where loan-staff come into play – often during periods of peak demand.  Employers are also opting for short-term employment arrangements, in part because of the current business climate.  When work slows down, loan-staff are easier to cut back.”

Workers with specialized skills can augment your work-force or provide enhanced competencies.  “Accounting and tax are prime areas to consider loan-staff augmentation because of the cyclical nature of the work and unexpected spikes associated with business restructuring and special projects.  In addition, rapid changes in professional guidance and laws mean these experienced, temporary professionals can hit the ground running,” according to Owens.

Market Demand for Tax and Accounting Professionals

In 2011, Monster.com, the on-line job and career placement service, released a study on job conditions in the U.S. tax and accounting market.  Jobs in the accounting and auditing fields are expected to grow. Accountants and auditors should enjoy much faster than average employment growth from 2008 through 2018, according to the Occupational Outlook Handbook 2010-2011 -- the predicted growth of 22 percent, or 279,400 new jobs.

Job postings in 2008 fell 13% and in 2009 dropped a steep 51%. Postings were negative in January, February, and July of 2010, but were positive the rest of the year resulting in a 13% gain for the year.  For these reasons, finding tax and accounting professionals may be more difficult than expected, even though unemployment is high.

What makes it hard to find candidates?   The primary reason recruiters and hiring managers cite is their increased workload placed on them.   When looking at the challenges of the candidates themselves, several problems are cited: under-qualified candidates, not enough candidates, and candidates lacking the appropriate skills.

(Source: Monster.com)

Finding qualified professionals for short-term or cyclical assignments is not easy.  While accounting job opportunities are primarily for permanent roles (67 percent) in the Monster survey.  The remaining 33 percent of job postings are for temporary/contract work, and this relatively high percentage indicates companies are competing for temporary workers as well.

Firms such as MFR do the work for clients and let them select from a pool of experienced tax and accounting professionals to meet their short-term needs.

Supply of New Tax and Accounting Professionals

Accounting enrollment has reached a new high in 2009-10 of 226,108 students. (According to the AICPA, 68,639 accounting degrees were awarded at the Bachelor’s and Master’s level in 2010.)  The accounting field, however, is quickly growing larger than the pool of qualified professionals, according to the 2011 edition of the AICPA Survey, “Trends in the Supply of Accounting Graduates and the Demand for Public Accounting Recruits.”   While the increase in enrollment is positive, it will be years before this group of students will be viewed as experienced professionals.

CPA firms have been a valuable training ground for accounting and tax professionals. According to the 2011 report, hiring of newly graduated BAs and MAs by CPA firms increased from 25,488 to 33,321; the second highest point since the survey began in 1971. This is a sure sign of the demand for accounting graduates has rebounded significantly from the economic downturn in recent years.  Nearly 90% of all firms forecast the same or more hiring of new accounting graduates during 2011 in comparison to 2010. Seventy-one percent of the largest firms anticipate an increase in hiring this year compared to the previous year.  The up-turn in CPA firm hiring may also indicate fewer professionals will move into other business segments.

One of the more interesting statistics in the AICPA survey is the number of responses in 2009 to sitting for the CPA examination.  The number is close to the 1977 level.  This may mean that accounting graduates are by-passing working for public accounting firms and are going directly into industry or other non-accounting businesses.

MFR offers outsourcing and co-sourcing options to meet the needs of your business.  If you are interested in exploring how your business might benefit, contact Michael Owens at MFR.