4 Great Ways CPA Firms Can Reduce the Rate of Attrition

There is no getting away from the fact that the employee turnover rates in the accounting industry are very high. This problem persists across firms of all sizes, with larger firms experiencing employee turnover rates of 17%. Also, 1 in 6 firms has a typical turnover rate of 20% or more. This is huge. Staff retention amongst surging turnover rates is a growing challenge, and one of the ways this can be managed is through offshore accounting. Think of outsourcing as the lynchpin of your efforts to reduce attrition. Other solutions can revolve around offshore staffing to bring down the attrition rates at your firm.

1. Adopt a Strategic Approach Towards Stress Busting

Come the tax season, and your accounting team is overwhelmed with tax preparation. Sleepless nights are the norm. Not many enjoy this pressure year after year. This can be a reason for team members to put in their papers. The solution is to build capacity not just for the tax season but also for the entire year. This means adding new team members. The addition of new team members is never easy and requires time and money. Naturally, this will put pressure on your overhead. But wait a minute! There is a solution that allows your firm to scale its team without adding to the headcount – Work with offshore staffing companies to scale your team without the associated costs.

2. Motivational Strategy – Build Skillsets

Money is an important motivational factor, but that can only do so much. Here’s the rub – all accountants, tax preparers, bookkeepers, or anyone else want to keep adding to their skill sets. They expect a certain kind of learning and development to happen, and if this happens, they get the type of motivation they need to work for a firm. So, think about it. Why would an experienced accountant or tax preparer choose to stay in a firm if commoditized services cannibalize a large part of their time? The tax preparer would love a role geared more towards tax advisory, as will the accountant.

Again, the key here is whether you have enough capacity to transition your internal team members to advisory roles with the kind of complexity that will test their expertise. How do you scale your team flexibly and affordably to build the type of capacity you want? The answer lies in offshore staffing companies.

3. Think of Offshore Accounting as a Strategic Growth Driver

Your staff should see a future with your organization. They want to work with firms that have a growth plan in place and must execute this plan. The calculation isn’t complicated. Firm growth would mean professional growth from the salary and expertise perspective. A growing firm can offer more opportunities to grow and progress in their careers, so tie in accounting outsourcing with your firm’s growth strategy.

Do not just think from the affordability perspective. Think beyond cost savings. There are many accounting outsourcing companies out there, but the one that you should work with is the one that helps you extend your services portfolio. Most clients are looking for bundled services these days, and working with the right outsourced accounting services provider should allow you to develop your services.

4. Offload Pressure to Offshore Accountants

The one thing that gets everyone’s goat is pressure. If your in-house accountants are not saddled with loads of work pressure, that’s half the battle won. With accounting outsourcing or hiring offshore accountants who work from an offshore delivery center, you can take care of all the commoditized work coming your way. This way, you have more time on your hands to take care of your accounting firm and its employees. You have more time to understand their needs and what will make them want to stay back in your firm. You can balance work with employee engagement – a perfect recipe for retention.

Conclusion

The whole idea behind offshore staffing is to leverage its potential as a growth driver for an accounting firm. The fact that it also helps you sort out your firm’s attrition woes shouldn’t be lost in the din of affordability. The one point that needs to be reiterated repeatedly is that you need to think strategically when you look for ways to reduce the high turnover rates in your firm.