You must quickly recruit a senior accountant. Your firm might suffer if you don’t have someone to oversee accounting personnel and bookkeeping operations, create financial statements, and assess balance sheets and income statements. But how do you go about finding a senior accountant? Do you know what tactics to employ to swiftly find and obtain a top candidate for your company?
As you’re likely to encounter stiff competition for these specialists, you’ll need a well-thought-out approach for recruiting a senior accountant. Senior accountants are among the most in-demand accounting and finance professions for 2022, according to the current Salary Guide. Here are some pointers to help you narrow down your search for an exceptional senior accountant:
1. Create an accurate senior accountant job description
Job descriptions are difficult to write. To recruit individuals with the talents and expertise your company needs, you should be as explicit as possible. However, you don’t want to be so stringent that you turn off bright applicants who, with little training and development, may quickly grasp the position’s key tasks.
As a result, while writing the senior accountant job description, strive for balance. You should probably specify that you’re looking for someone with at least three years of general accounting experience and a bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, business administration, or a comparable discipline. This is standard practice for this position. You could also specify if you prefer individuals with credentials such as a CPA or a certified management accountant (CMA).
Outline the job duties and needed qualifications in addition to the baseline requirements. Are you looking for an accountant that is well-versed in accounting concepts and technology, as well as financial statements, risk assessments, and budgets? Make it very clear. Taking the extra step to be more detailed about the skills and expertise a candidate needs to thrive in the post can help you attract qualified candidates.
However, be cautious about how much information you give in the job description. Consider which qualifications are required or desirable for the senior accountant position you need to fill. Be realistic, but try to be flexible as well.
2. Provide an overview of your company’s working environment
The senior accountant job description should also include information about your company’s culture and what it’s like to work there. Does the employer, for example, provide flexible scheduling? (According to data for our current Salary Guide, around two-thirds of U.S. workers consider flexible work hours a top perk.)
Also, what type of training and professional growth and promotion chances does the organization provide? What are the key values of your company? What is the company doing to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion?
You don’t have to go into great depth, but you should give a general concept of what your organization is about. This sort of information can help you stand out as an employer of choice to prospects and you can hire accountants who are very good.
3. Work with a professional recruiter to cover more terrain
In your quest for a senior accountant, a talent solutions business can help you write an effective job description and much more. Recruiters that are well-connected are familiar with the applicant market in your business and region. They can also assess a candidate’s qualifications and experience.
Furthermore, specialist recruiters can draw on their broad networks to find brilliant experts who aren’t even aware of your available position and aren’t seeking for a new career. Many senior accountants are happy in their current positions, but would consider changing for the proper chance. These are the passive job seekers that a quality recruitment solutions business can assist you in locating — and targeting.
4. Provide a wage and benefits package that is competitive
If you want to employ (or keep) a highly qualified senior accountant, you must be willing to pay a competitive salary. Review major industry sites to remain updated on compensation and recruiting trends.
According to the most recent reference, a senior accountant (general accounting) with an average degree of experience and most of the required abilities earns an average beginning salary of $84,000 in the United States. To localize national wage numbers for your local market, utilize our online Salary Calculator.
Also, be sure to explain to potential recruits what bonuses, perks, and other incentives your company offers, since they are significant as well — and might be the deciding factor for in-demand applicants selecting whether or not to join your organization. Health insurance, paid time off, and retirement savings plans are among the top perks that many workers are looking for right now, according to our Salary Guide.
5. Conduct a hard and soft skills interview
Professionals must have a solid mix of technical and interpersonal skills in today’s dynamic, technology-driven, and remote or hybrid work contexts. When interviewing applicants for the position of senior accountant, ask questions that will allow you to assess a candidate’s ability on both fronts.
To measure a potential hire’s technical skills, ask accounting interview questions like “What accounting program are you most familiar with?” Check during the interview if a candidate is well expertise in tax law charges. Also check if he/she is good at handling financial tasks under pressure and the way he/she approaches budgeting.
You may examine a potential hire’s confidence, work ethic, capacity to work effectively with or manage others, and more during the interview. Communication skills, problem-solving abilities, a customer service mindset, adaptability, and other soft skills can all be assessed using behavioral questions like “Tell me an example when you had to explain something complicated to a client, customer, or coworker,” or “How would you handle a client who insisted you made a mistake?”
6. Contact professional references
Don’t ignore this phase in the recruiting process for your new senior accountant as a formality – it’s a crucial step in chevalier hiring. Professional references can assist you gain a better grasp of a candidate’s credentials and characteristics. You can also learn more about your potential hire’s former employers’ contributions.
Perhaps you wish to learn more about a candidate’s technical expertise or strength. “I hear Zara handled budget planning and analysis at your firm,” you can question a former manager during a reference check. “Could you elaborate on her responsibilities as a staff accountant?”
Then you may go a step further and inquire about a possible restriction, such as how the prospect would do in a more senior position.
Rundown
The tactics discussed above can assist you in finding a senior accountant quickly and thoroughly. They can also help you avoid spotting a diamond in the rough who, with a little polishing, may be the finest senior accountant appointment your business has ever made.
