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Challenges of employing quality accounting staff

Felcorp Team


March 16, 2023


Key Findings

1. More jobs to available candidates Accounting job vacancies across the country are outnumbering available candidates by as much as 5 to 1. In regional areas particularly, we are seeing the ratio as high as 7 jobs to 1 applicant.

 2. Other industries are recruiting accountants for more money with fewer responsibilities. We are seeing a lot of mid-tier companies directly advertising for accountants to work in-house. They are almost always offering strong salaries and far fewer responsibilities as they no longer have to conform to practice deadlines.

 In some specific cases, we found that in Sydney, some companies were looking for payroll accountants on a $120,000 package with only 35-hour working week.
This makes it incredibly hard for practices to both retain and attract experienced staff as often employees will work 45-50 hours per week while in practice.

3. The cost of acquiring an accountant Accounting wages have increased and so has the fees charged by recruiters. Many practices are saying that the average recruiter fee has increased over the last 3 years to 15% and with management and senior positions commanding 25% fees.

4. Time frame of new employee placements Recruiters are saying that if a candidate can meet 50% of your requirements, don't wait, make them an offer, or risk losing them to other firms.
Firms are now seeing that they are spending much more time training and up-skilling the new employee rather than holding out for the ideal candidate.

5. Current wage rates There's been a steady increase in average accountant wages over the past 3 years. The average wage for a tax accountant in Sydney is now well over $100,000. Some reports show the median wage is $112,000 for Sydney CBD.
These figures are base wages before super, bonus, or any other benefit.

 Looking beyond the statistics: Firms are specifically saying to us, that after engaging a recruiter and interviewing the candidates, they have hired that person to find out they are not familiar with some of the transaction or tax work that is clearly expected for that salary.
Others report that younger candidates, having received a degree and working at a large big 4 firm, all seemed to lack the work ethic to get the job done in a timely manner.

How offshore outsourcing can overcome these problems

Outsourcing, especially with the right provider, can really look to mitigate a lot of these factors. As the nature of the outsourcing arrangements are month to month, there is far more flexibility and less chance of lock-in time frames.
The biggest benefit is that there is a significant cost saving involved with outsourcing, around 40% cost saving when compared to traditional salaried accountants.
To find out more about our senior accounting service, visit our page here .

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