Finding talent

My CPA firm is in serious need of talent. We have tried the mainstream job boards over the past 2 years but have come up empty.

Is anyone willing to share ideas / success stories in finding strong candidates?

Are you offering a competitive compensation package and working conditions. Right now with a tight job market, prospects have a lot of options to choose from.

If things don't work out, you may want to pay a head hunter!

I understand the desire for anonymity on the Internet but there's nothing to go on -- even the word "talent" is vague.

What kind of talent are you looking for? Do you need CPAs or bookkeepers? Must your talent be in-house to you or are you willing to have remote workers? Are you located in an area that attracts workers or do people with degrees stay away from it? As an employer, are you relatively unique or are there a lot of similar firms to yours? What are your expected working hours (and are they expected to fit within the "normal" 9-5)?

I'm not expecting you to reply with answers to those questions, but those are just some of the multitude of variables that affect how you might find talent.

At the MN Tax Conference a few years ago the speaker from the AICPA said the generation in front of us had four to six buyers for every practice for sale - the current selling generation will have one buyer for every four firms who are selling. Computers and alternative accounting, financial technologies have gained employees that used to be available to us. BIG changes to the amount of people wanting to go into our business - full employment does not help-yet. I think the old supply, demand and glitz has something to do with it. We always offered a better than average living, but no glitz and a lot want better than average!! The employment chances are huge now, much more than a couple of decades ago - and our supply has decreased-just look at our membership organizations.

Look at the large firms now the services have become huge - professional placement help, technology of all kinds, personnel development services, software - hardware.

I worked with a professional 40 years ago who has four or five locations (CPA offices) and does buy practices, when I talked to him a couple of months ago he said that staffing is all he does now. He had the same troubles as the above mentioned, to get and retain qualified personnel is more difficult than ever before!!

What kind of talent are you looking for? Do you need CPAs or bookkeepers?

We need it all but especially in need of a CPA with 10 + years of experience in tax for partner replacement.

We're located in a resort area on the east coast and cost of housing is a huge obstacle. Our firm is super laid back - probably too laid back - we offer flex and work from home. I believe we are offering competitive compensation for the area which includes 401k with match but no health insurance. Below are approx. parameters of our packages - not sure how they compare to other areas - you tell me.

Entry level: $40K - $45K
2-3 years: $45K - $50K
3-5 years: $50K - $65K
5-10 years: $65K - $80K
10 + : $80K +

That entry level is comparable to what we pay. Everything else is way below what we pay. FWIW.
Plus we offer health, disability, and GTL insurance,

the current selling generation will have one buyer for every four firms who are selling.

My strategy is to sell a subset of clients every few years, rather than my entire practice (which is essentially just a client list anyway, as I'm sole & working out of my home office). It's worked so far on the first two-year cycle (which I'm in the middle of).

Computers and alternative accounting, financial technologies have gained employees that used to be available to us. BIG changes to the amount of people wanting to go into our business - full employment does not help-yet.

After forty-two years working exclusively as a part-time or full-time employee (including seven in the tax prep industry), I'm quite content to work self-employed. It's so much easier now for someone to successfully run a small practice with little overhead for employees or commercial office space. I'm fortunate that I am not critically dependent on my tax prep income for support, otherwise I would have to consider again becoming an employee... ugh.

My point being, I'm the type of person who ten years ago would have been among your job candidates, but thanks to current technology, and forums such as TPT, I no longer am.

What kind of talent are you looking for? Do you need CPAs or bookkeepers?

We need it all but especially in need of a CPA with 10 + years of experience in tax for partner replacement.

We're located in a resort area on the east coast and cost of housing is a huge obstacle. Our firm is super laid back - probably too laid back - we offer flex and work from home. I believe we are offering competitive compensation for the area which includes 401k with match but no health insurance. Below are approx. parameters of our packages - not sure how they compare to other areas - you tell me.

Entry level: $40K - $45K
2-3 years: $45K - $50K
3-5 years: $50K - $65K
5-10 years: $65K - $80K
10 + : $80K +

The salaries all seem low, but you probably know your market best. A CPA with 2-3 years of experience can make 65-70K+ in my neck of the woods.

I live in an average cost of living area and my comments are in line with sjrcpa -- entry level pay seems fine but higher up is way underpaid, and the lack of health insurance probably hurts you with some (but not all) of the employment market. But that's in an average COL area... and you mention a crazy cost of housing.

Entry level: $40K - $45K
2-3 years: $45K - $50K
3-5 years: $50K - $65K
5-10 years: $65K - $80K

These salaries are on the lower end. If you don't offer health insurance, you can basically turning talent away. Would you take a full time job that pays $40K with no health insurance. The average family premium may run into $3000 to $4000 for a decent policy without any subsidy.

The average family premium may run into $3000 to $4000 for a decent policy without any subsidy.

Maybe in MA - I know they have had the mandate longer than the feds. Around here you're looking at $15K plus.

Maybe in MA - I know they have had the mandate longer than the feds. Around here you're looking at $15K plus.

Are you looking for workers >= age 50, or < age 50? Does it make a difference to your recruiting methods? What is the value of a worker who ends up with you only one or two years versus, say, ten years?

Interesting aspect, the cost of benefits in relation to the age of the employee. I think employer group health insurance costs more, the older the employee and spouse are, especially if they have no young children to bring their average cost down. (remember, the older you are the more your insurance costs, guaranteed, which is why Romneycare was designed to bring younger, healthier people into the insurance pool).

This is the toughest part of the business and also the most important. You definitely have to look at all your options here. Craigslist has been the best for us online. We mostly develop interns from local universities and then have them move up the ranks. Although we have had to look for staff with 5 to 10 years experience which is super hard by using Craigslist almost exclusively. I will say I suggest opening up to allow people to telework if you live in a condensed area. This is work for us to get the CPA with 5 to 10 years experience. You literally have to create a system though and try all types of options to find great talent. Good luck.

What kind of talent are you looking for? Do you need CPAs or bookkeepers?

We need it all but especially in need of a CPA with 10 + years of experience in tax for partner replacement.

We're located in a resort area on the east coast and cost of housing is a huge obstacle. Our firm is super laid back - probably too laid back - we offer flex and work from home. I believe we are offering competitive compensation for the area which includes 401k with match but no health insurance. Below are approx. parameters of our packages - not sure how they compare to other areas - you tell me.

Entry level: $40K - $45K
2-3 years: $45K - $50K
3-5 years: $50K - $65K
5-10 years: $65K - $80K
10 + : $80K +

I think these numbers are low... as a CPA with 10+ years of experience, you can easily find employment making 115k+. To gain perspective with salaries, use Indeed.com for a job search and match the job positions using glassdoor.com for a salary expectation. A tax manager with Big 4, falls within 90k-150k depending on locality.

I am looking to hire someone within the Denver or Houston metro area with 3-5 years of experience and will likely pay 65k-80k with benefits.