Companies looking to retain accounting
firms as their service providers often
go through as rigorous an interviewing
process as they would when hiring their own
employees. Applying their own hiring standards enhances the possibility of retaining
the accounting service providers that meet
their specific needs and can help them
immediately.
One way companies can identify the best
match is to look at the standards accounting
firms apply in their own recruiting programs
and develop a list of questions to ask them
based on those criteria. Asking those questions can improve companies’ chances of
creating the viable, long-term partnerships
that benefit both participants.
Smart Business spoke with Beth Baldwin
of Burr Pilger Mayer to get a general idea of
the criteria accounting service providers look
for when hiring accountants. Those criteria
are the foundation for a list of factors that
companies might consider as they interview
potential accounting service providers.
Should potential clients inquire about the
continuity of the accounting service provider’s recruiting program and balance in the
level of experience?
Successful accounting service firms experience turnaround. How accounting firms
replace departing employees is important.
The new employees might be experienced
hires, recent college graduates, interns or a
combination. If the accounting firm maintains a balance of employees at different levels of experience in its work force, that is a
positive factor. Companies should look at the
balance and continuity of an accounting service provider’s work force when considering it
as a partner.
Should companies worry about working with
newly hired professionals at accounting
firms?
There are a lot of factors to consider here.
Some of the issues involve the types of
degrees the accountants have earned, where
they obtained them, how early in their
employment they got to work with partners
and whether they completed internships
with their firms. In the case of experienced
new hires, it might be helpful to learn about
where they gained their experience, e.g., at a
‘Big Four’ accounting firm or at a one-person
operation. Knowing those things can provide insights into the level of the experienced employees’ technical and client-oriented skills and shed some light on whether
they have track records of being successful.
Companies should take the answers to
these questions into account when considering which accounting service providers to
work with.
Is there a benefit to knowing what types of
degrees accountants at prospective accounting service firms have?
Yes. For example, it would be helpful to
know whether accounting service providers
prefer to employ people who have accounting degrees, rather than finance degrees.
Hiring people with accounting degrees accelerates the new employees’ learning curves,
since they are already familiar with the
accounting principles clients do not want to
wait for them to develop. Employees with
other types of business degrees may take a
little while longer to acquire in-depth knowledge of those principles, which inhibits how
quickly they can get up to speed with clients.
Is it advisable to ask about the colleges from
which the accountants earned their degrees?
The information can be helpful. For
instance, some colleges in the company’s
area of coverage might have better, more
established accounting programs than others
and better track records in placing graduates
with the more prestigious accounting firms.
Others might focus on general business
majors, rather than accounting specifically.
Accounting firms take those differences into
account. Their clients should, too.
It might also be helpful to learn how long a
firm has worked with a particular college.
Some accounting firms form close working
relationships with people in a college’s career
development centers and become well
known at the schools. Consequently, the students become familiar with those firms and
their reputations. Those longstanding relationships create pipelines for the firms, and
provide employment and internship opportunities for students. Eventually, the benefits of
those relationships filter down to the clients.
How do internships influence newly hired
accountants’ experience?
Internships familiarize the accountants
with their firms’ cultures, areas of specialization, etc. The experience they gain in internships provides them with the knowledge they
need to apply when they become full-time
employees and gets them involved in the
firm’s operations more quickly. They are better prepared to work with clients as a result.
How do the factors discussed above benefit
long-term relationships between companies
and their accounting service providers?
Once the companies realize that the service
providers can offer a beneficial mix of experience and skill sets, they will feel more comfortable working with them. That is particularly true if the accounting provider employs
professionals who are ready to start working
at once. That saves companies time and
money, and provides a good starting point for
the long-term relationship that benefits them
and the accounting service provider.
BETH BALDWIN is the director of human resources at Burr Pilger Mayer. Reach her at (415) 677-3300 or [email protected].
