You’re not attracting the best finance professionals
Finally, if your accounting system is showing its age, you might not find it easy to keep many accountants on team.
There is a crisis of talent at the moment in the accounting profession, one that EY was happy to throw $1billion at trying to solve.
According to research by Center for Accounting [2], the top reasons for staffing success among accountants include:
- Leveraging technology
- Having a distinct culture
- Continuous employee development
And while numbers two and three in the list might not depend on whether or not your financial management software is stumbling or making strides for your company, the first absolutely does. Leveraging modern financial technology is crucial for attracting and keeping the best financial professionals.
After all, do your people want to spend their time on data entry, or more meaningful problem solving? Do they want to review old reports or to be able to identify what’s happening as it happens, so they can make powerful decisions in the moment?
Lorraine Twist, a director at recruiter Hays specialising in accountancy and finance, spoke on this issue to Raconteur [3], “Firms that are able to prove they are digitally savvy are typically more successful in attracting and retaining talent… Ultimately, firms need to show candidates that the job entails more than numbers and spreadsheets.”
As part of the same article, Liz Parry, a telecoms CEO and former accountant, said, “Some organisations encourage you to step out of your lane and look beyond the pure financial responsibilities, but not many do and you can end up stuck in a very stereotypical finance department where it’s tough to gain exposure to other disciplines.”