Have you found it difficult to find new accountants to join your firm? Or to retain your current staff? You wouldn't be alone. Internationally, finance roles were ranked seventh out of 10 positions that are the most challenging to fill.

The United States Department of Labor anticipates the number of jobs for auditors and accountants in the US to increase by 4 % between 2019 and 2029. This means that roughly 61,700 positions will open up thanks to both turnover and growth.

However, filling accounting and other related finance roles is incredibly difficult.

One of the reason that these roles are so hard to fill is that there's a persistent skills gap in the accounting profession. Accounting firms' expectations have expanded to include skills to make the most of the latest financial technology, which makes it difficult for new recruits that have no technological training.

Bridging the gap between the academic world and workforce expectations is difficult, but universities need to catch up with the expectations of the day to produce employable accountants.

However, before we even get to the issues of skill gaps, we need to back pedal a bit. Kids have several different career paths to choose between. What will make them choose accounting over professions that are more glamorized on TV, like medicine or law?

Are there persistent skills gaps?

The accounting profession has a bit of a branding problem. This was the topic of a recent podcast by Accounting Today, hosted by their Editor-In-Chief, Daniel Hood. Daniel spoke with CEO of KET Solutions, Kimberly Ellison Taylor (who I'll refer to as Kimberly), about the acute staffing problem facing the profession today, what's caused it, and how to overcome this issue.

Kimberly highlighted a number of problems to do with the perception of accounting as a profession as well as a lack of positive representation. The top problems that she raised included:

The perception of accounting as a profession.

To attract new people to the profession, accountants need to find a way to show that accounting can be lucrative. They also need to stop being so modest about what they do and what they earn.

Kimberly noted how when she speaks at schools, the students look to see what car she drives as a measure of success. It doesn't help that her car is 10 years old - fully paid off - but 10 years old. Even if that's a smart financial choice, students won't necessarily see it that way. They're more likely to think she can't afford a new car.

Kimberly found that to get the attention of school pupils, she had to invoke the heroes of popular culture, be they basket ball players or Cardi B. You need to connect to the audience you are speaking to, after all. Think about Beyoncé and Cardi B, she said. They have a lot of money and someone has to manage their money for them. That's what an accountant does - they manage the money. Doesn't that make it sound appealing?

The way that accountants represent themselves is crucial to encouraging children to pursue accounting. Children are more likely to want to pursue accounting if they know someone who is an accountant and can see the rewards and different options available to professional accountants.

As Kimberly noted in the podcast, some of the first black CPAs in the US lived and worked in Illinois and Chicago. There were a lot of black CPAs in these specific areas because the precedent existed. Black CPAs were visible, as was their success, and this served as motivation for others to follow in their footsteps.

The key to compelling youngsters to pursue accounting lies in storytelling. As Kimberly argued, "You don't have to be black to be able to go in and tell stories" to minority groups - or anyone else. What you need is a repository of success stories that you've collated and can present when the occasion arises.

This is about correcting the misperceptions, such as the idea that you have to be a math whizz or boring to be an accountant. You can tell amazing stories of transformation, show the fun side of your personality, and also explain that, yes, math helps but you don't need intense theorems to be an accountant.

The key to compelling youngsters to pursue accounting lies in storytelling.

Gone are the days when everyone is expected to wear a suit and tie to work, or even to come into the office every day. Tech companies have led the way when it comes to business casual, with their daily dress-code of t-shirts and sneakers. However, a lot of accounting firms still expect employees to wear business formal, and for young people, this may be a turn-off. One UK study found that 61% of people looking for a new job viewed enforced dress codes negatively.

Similarly, it may be time to re-think the skills that you focus on. To work in finance today, you need to be able to do more than crunch the numbers. There are apps for that now. You need to be able to analyze and derive meaning from financial data and be able to apply this in a broader business context.

According to PwC's survey, 82% of financial services employees believe up-skilling would make their job performance better. Some of the types of knowledge that are helpful to today's accountants include:

How to attract the kind of employees you want.

To attract the kind of employees you want, you need to get with the times when it comes to flexibility and using the latest technology. Making use of visualizations and data analytics from apps like Syft Analytics can save you time and give your practice the upper hand.

To attract new accountants to your firm, you need to appeal to more than just the benefits of the profession. A recent survey by the ManPower Group in Canada found that candidates are more likely to accept a job and stick with it if you offer them:

It's also become increasingly apparent that people don't stay at jobs because they're well paid, but because they have a good relationship with their employers. One report found that 58% of employees would stay at a lower-paying job if it meant working for a great boss.

Company culture plays a big role in job satisfaction. A positive work culture is associated with greater employee engagement, increased productivity, and higher profit margins.

Attracting the talent you want.

At the time currently dubbed "The Great Resignation", it's just as important to consider how to retain staff as it is finding new staff members. In fact, retention has been a struggle for the financial industry since the 2007 financial crisis! As an article from Thomson Reuters put it:

“High turnover rates have practically become synonymous with accounting firms, sometimes reaching up to 30% at large audit firms.”

So, how do you manage to keep the talent you've worked so hard to find? One answer could be an investment in digital technology. A survey from PwC found that 74% of those who reported an improvement in talent retention and recruitment because of digital investments said “the level of improvement met what was expected or even more”. Firms who have invested more time in up-skilling their employees' tech capabilities have seen a great return on investment.

According to an ACCA report, 49% of Gen Z respondents ranked “opportunities to continually acquire new capabilities/learning” as one of their top five attractions for employment. This attraction ranked higher than any other. Gen Z are known for their eagerness to learn and to adopt the latest tech. And having an up-skilling program also addresses the issue of the skills gap.

Solving the accounting staffing problem isn't easy. It requires a rebranding of the profession, better representation of accountants, and a dedication to skills development.

To attract young, intelligent candidates, you need to offer them something more than a job. You need to offer purpose, training, flexibility, and a welcoming company culture.

There needs to be a multi-pronged approach to fixing the staffing problem - starting at the level of school children and moving across the years and levels of experience. But this isn't a solo mission. Everyone who's invested in the accounting profession has a role to play in keeping the industry alive.