Recruiting Tax Preparer Challenges

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#1
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Hi All,
I have a small practice and my key tax preparer who has been with my firm for over 25 years is retiring. I've been looking for someone to replace him for the last three months to no avail. Using Indeed, Ziprecruiter, LinkedIn didnt garner the right candidates unfortunately.
Does anyone else experiences challenges with recruiting talent? Any suggestions on how to look for seasoned professionals? Pardon my ignorant questions, I was lucky that I didn't need to deal with this issue for a very long time. Now the market just sucks. I may need to let clients go because I don't have the staff to service them :(. Thank you for your input
 

#2
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This is an incredibly difficult dynamic for firms of all sizes. It's why most midsized firms are trimming their client lists among attempting to use remote workers and other approaches to increase capacity.
~Captcook
 

#3
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Thank you for your response. I wonder what strategies other small practices use besides offering higher pay and thereby shaving any profitability that is left. I gave up on finding someone local so I reverted to a fully remote position. I also tried to use freelancing websites but the quality is not there unfortunately.
 

#4
JAD  
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I'm a solo so this issue has not impacted me directly, but I have read that firms of all size are having problems with recruiting and retention. I've read that we have fewer people coming up after college who are interested and more people retiring. Upon my peers, I don't know anyone who is still accepting new clients. We are all either retiring or cutting back in light of the excess stress of the last couple of years with constant and retroactive law changes.
 

#5
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I spent fifteen years in public accounting in the UK and have done seventeen years here. I think part of the problem is the condensed tax season, which does not lend itself to year-round work for enough people. You have been lucky for twenty-five years. It seems to me that you have to decide if you wish to find someone who is trainable and hope that they can get up to a decent standard in a year or two. Yes, it will be bloody hard work this season, if you choose to go down that route.

I wonder - could you combine outsourcing with a new hire? Then, as the new hire improves, cut back on the outsourcing? The issue with outsourcing is that the profit isn't there. I looked at it three or four years ago with my former employer and he would have ended up with a meager "commission" whilst still taking the risk of signing the return. He decided it wasn't for him, but might it make sense as a short-term measure?
 

#6
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Thank you All for your input. It really helps to get things in perspective.
SumWunLost: that's a valid suggestion. Maybe this is the way to go. The main challenge would be with outsourcing. I tried using freelancing sites like Upwork but the talent out there is pretty flaky. They charge pretty hefty hourly fees (the seasoned preparers) and the "cheaper" ones are a bit risky. Perhaps I need to outsource clients completely, but then they (meaning these clients) will probably stay with the person who does their taxes most likely. Anyway, that's good food for thought. I appreciate everyones perspective and I guess I'm not the only one who is feeling the pain. Let's hope things get better someday(although it doesn't look promising) .
 

#7
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There are companies who will take the work and process it, leaving you to just review the work. Most of those companies have US-based and foreign-based employees. You get to choose which. At my last employer, we used XCM for bookkeeping in India. It worked OK but you could tell when the bookkeeper had changed. Apparently, the pricing was competitive. It allowed me to just review the bookkeeping and get it ready for the return. As I noted above, there was very little profit for returns. I dug my heels in and pointed out the client notice requirements if their tax information leaves the USA. So, if you do it, I imagine it would be a stop-gap.

It depends a lot on your client base, but have you looked at Gruntworx? It works best with W-2 and brokerage accounts. So if you client base is business ore rentals, I doubt you would get very many efficiencies.
 

#8
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Good points! I haven't explored these options yet. I'll definitely look into it. Much appreciated.
 

#9
Preppie  
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I have a taxes-only firm. No bookkeeping, payroll, or accounting. 98% 1040 prep, with a handful of 1065 and 1120S that we only do for people who bring us reasonable financial statements we can use to prepare the return.

I hire noobs with no tax experience, but only from our niche community (military). I post the jobs in Facebook community groups focused on military financial issues. 100% of my seasonal help are military spouses working virtually. For this coming year I am taking on an active duty person who is nearing military retirement who thinks she might like to work in this field when she gets out.

I reimburse for the Surgent/Income Tax School basic preparer's course if they present certificates. Then I spend some time in January conducting Schedule E training because frequent moving by the military creates a high number of 'unintentional landlords'. Then I review their work until we are confident they know what they are doing. Then I answer questions all season long. I have 2 preparers with 4+ years now, so they don't ask many questions. The questions are almost non-stop from 1st year people.
 

#10
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Thank you for sharing! Very interesting.
Based on what you're saying it makes sense to train noobs. I might have to bite the bullet and do that although my premise is a bit different. I may need to have some bookkeeping and payroll knowledge (i'll need someone with some basic "accounting thinking"). I think hiring from the military community is a very smart move. Typically, they are go getters who are not afraid of hard work. I live in Southern Cali so it's a bit different of a mentality here, lol ;). Nonetheless, it may be inevitable choice to start recruiting noobs. Thanks again!
 

#11
smtcpa  
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The market is horrible. If you're not already, consider something like Gruntworx or Sureprep. It will save a lot of time on the basic data input.

I wonder if trying to target the mortgage industry would be a good source of candidates if you're willing to train. They should be good with numbers, organized, and understand the importance of accuracy. And the market is suffering so there are probably layoffs.

I have a young lady working for me who has some experience but we are doing a lot of training with NATP and theincometaxschool.com

I have been working hard the last few years to create a schedule for clients so we are not slammed during tax season in hopes of retaining my own interest in this industry and to use as a recruiting tool. I've also been trimming low-fee clients, increasing fees by quite a bit in the last few years, and accepting only premium-fee clients who need planning and who are ok with filing after 4/15. This helped me recruit my tax manager who is starting in two weeks. I am paying above-market wages with a bonus, PTO, paid vacations, and 401k. We are also 100% virtual which greatly expands the list of available candidates. I don't see any alternatives right now.
 

#12
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CaptCook wrote:This is an incredibly difficult dynamic for firms of all sizes. It's why most midsized firms are trimming their client lists among attempting to use remote workers and other approaches to increase capacity.


One of the issues that could get a little fuzzy is whether someone who you outsource to can be covered by your malpractice. Conversely, does he/she need coverage on their own?
 

#13
sjrcpa  
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viewtopic.php?f=10&t=26965
This person is looking for remote work.
 

#14
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Taxalmancer wrote:
CaptCook wrote:This is an incredibly difficult dynamic for firms of all sizes. It's why most midsized firms are trimming their client lists among attempting to use remote workers and other approaches to increase capacity.


One of the issues that could get a little fuzzy is whether someone who you outsource to can be covered by your malpractice. Conversely, does he/she need coverage on their own?


If the remote worker is an employee, they would be covered by your insurance.
As a contractor, I'm not sure.
~Captcook
 


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