Finding talent has always been a challenge for the accounting profession. It’s not getting any easier, and a lot of firms are really struggling right now. But one way firms are increasing their talent pool is by hiring remote employees.
Since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, more firms are jumping on the remote work bandwagon. Firm leaders have come to realize that good accountants don’t have to be sitting in the same office, but halfway across the country.
While some firms have been hiring remote talent for the better part of a decade, things really started to change around May 2020 according to Jeff Phillips, CEO and co-founder of AccountingFly. That’s because remote positions had more applicants. Even as far back as 2016, he shared, remote positions would garner eight to 10 times the applicants as the same in-person job.
But before you post a remote position at your firm, realize that it can take some work to understand what it means to hire remote talent, how to do it, and what to think about.
Ask the right questions
When firms start down their remote hiring process, there’s a tendency for partners to set the bar higher for remote candidates. But Phillips believes this is a mistake.
“There needs to be an apples-to-apples approach to recruiting,” he said.
What firms need to look for today is evidence that a remote candidate has done remote work before. They need to demonstrate they’re a self-starter and that they have the initiative and responsibility to get their work done no matter where they are. And remote is not right for every accountant.
Partners and recruiters need to figure out better questions to ask for remote positions. The way to do that is to ask situational questions and use storytelling to get the answers you need.
“You want to ask those same seven or eight questions to every candidate, whether they’re remote or not, to make sure everyone is evaluated the same,” Phillips said.
Don’t be satisfied with generic answers, either. Be curious and dig deeper into the answers provided.
“And then,” Phillips said, “if you’re asking the same questions to the same people, you’ll see a pattern start to emerge between good candidates and candidates that aren’t a fit for your business.”
Consider pay, nexus and flexibility
Firms often ask themselves if remote employees are compensated differently. The answer is bad news for firm owners because gone are the days where remote employees take less simply because they live somewhere else. If you offer less than another firm, you will lose the candidate.
“Expect to pay at the high end of the salary spectrum,” Phillips said. “That’s the harsh truth.”
But paying more actually helps everyone. The firm benefits because they get an excellent candidate. Their tax season or their frustration is alleviated. Firms can bring in more clients because they have more capacity. Smaller communities get more cash coming in because no longer are rural candidates limited to the jobs immediately surrounding them. It’s a win-win.
However, remote employees also mean more state payroll tax requirements. Accountants understand nexus, but it’s still a compliance issue that firms will need to come to terms with. More than that, though, Phillips said the biggest headache is simply mailing checks and forms to different places.
Then there are time zones to consider. There is no easy answer here, and it runs the gamut from firm to firm. Some don’t care when work gets done; just that it does. Some have clear expectations for when their remote employees must be online.
“It depends on the firm’s guiding principles and what kind of work needs to be done,” said Phillips.
Firms should be setting these expectations during the interview process to really lay out when team meetings happen, the level of client interaction that’s expected, and the timeframes when those occur. And outside of that, allow the remote employees some flexibility to do their jobs when they feel most productive.
“The talent pool that you’re hiring today values flexibility over just about anything else that you can give them, and you have to pay them,” Phillips said. “And if you’re not meeting those needs, they will find employment that does meet their needs, and that’s a fact.”
And there needs to be professional advancement opportunities for remote employees, too.
“You can figure this out if you stop caring where your staff lives,” Phillips said.
In a profession built on tangible deliverables, it shouldn’t be that difficult to hire a remote employee. It doesn’t matter if you can see them or not. Being able to know that the tax return, or whatever deliverable, is done on time and done well is all you really need to know, right?
Hire people with an entrepreneurial mindset and who have a career path. Plus, when you have people all over the country, you have more of an opportunity to do business development in different areas.
Three necessities for hiring remotely
For any firm contemplating embarking on a remote journey, Phillips suggests that you first stop caring where people live and realize that firms can’t reliably hire in their own city anymore. After that:
- Have the right technology in place to support remote employees;
- Put the logistics in place to make remote employment work; and,
- Sell remote candidates on what makes your firm different.
There are some issues you’ll need to think through before you begin hiring remote employees, but these are not unsurmountable. There is so much opportunity right now for accounting firms and candidates. Firms that continue to embrace this change and adapt to support remote employees will come out on top of the talent struggle.
