Finding Finance Talent in a Tight Labor Market
For your company’s finance operations to run efficiently and effectively, you need highly skilled talent to help execute strategic initiatives and achieve business goals. Finding that talent, however, can be a challenge.
Bringing in consultants with expertise in business transformation, mergers and acquisitions (M&A), system integrations, technical accounting, and supporting quarter-end and year-end closes can help your company grow while containing costs.
Supporting Operations During Digital Transformation
The Need
As you seek new ways to help your business operations run as smoothly and efficiently as possible, turning to upgraded tools and technology can help. Newer tools empower businesses with the ability to automate certain processes, improve the way teams collaborate and get work done, and increase the speed of data analysis — all which can help an organization cut costs and create efficiencies.
Legacy systems can pose many threats to your company including delays in data processing, security risks, trouble integrating with other new systems in your tech stack that your business relies on, increased operating costs and an inability to capture the most up-to-date financial data your business relies on. All of this impacts your company’s ability to make accurate forecasts and build strategic, data-supported business plans.
Moving to more updated systems, however, brings its own challenges. Implementing these systems can be a complex process that has the potential to disrupt day-to-day operations and also bring with them a sharp learning curve that delays your organization’s ability to realize value in their investment right away.
The Solution
Bringing in consultants who have experience working with or implementing your new financial system can help you get it up and running, faster. These analysts or consultants can also help support day-to-day operations through this transition period if members of your internal team have shifted to support the new software roll out. Having additional talent on hand to help augment your team throughout the implementation or adoption periods helps ensure your full-time employees have the space to learn the new system without causing a delay in work or leading to employee burnout, which could ultimately lead to turnover.
You can also consider enlisting the help of subject matter experts to provide guidance and expertise through your company’s digital transformation projects. Having someone on the team with experience supporting similar projects in the past can help streamline the implementation process. They will have knowledge around common pitfalls, best practices for migrating data and knowledge about general sequencing of activities required to make the integration or implementation a success. They can also help ensure projects stay on time and on budget while advising on workforce and process gaps.
The Talent Needed
There are many different finance roles that help support successful digital transformation initiatives but here are a few key positions to consider for your upcoming projects:
- Finance transformation director, lead, consultant and subject matter expert
- Business analyst
- Data analyst
- Data migration specialist
- Finance analyst
- Program manager
Meeting the Demands of Mergers and Acquisitions
The Need
As companies merge and acquire new organizations, their organizational footprint grows. With this growth comes the need to streamline or centralize their people, processes and systems of record.
However, compiling and combining systems and legacy data is a big lift. The increase in transactions and invoices that comes with a merger can also quickly overwhelm an internal team. Without additional support or expertise, employees need to balance this additional workload on top of maintaining day-to-day operations. This can lead to a backlog of work and possible burnout for existing teams.
For companies that acquire out-of-state or international businesses, they may face additional challenges. Your company may now need to ensure compliance with new tax laws and regulations. Understanding the nuances of the laws and regulations associated with different locales where your company now does business requires internal expertise that may go beyond your current team’s knowledge.
The Solution
Instead of burdening employees with additional work, bringing in experts with experience with M&A finance integrations to oversee this process can help streamline the necessary internal changes that emerge. Temporary consultants can help handle systems integrations and map out various processes to create a unified workflow. For companies dealing with new state or international taxes, specialists with experience in these areas can be brought in for added support and expertise.
By bringing in temporary talent or consultants, this new work can be done parallel to normal operations, so the backlog doesn’t impact active work or cause burnout among current employees.
The Talent Needed
While there are a range of skills needed to support a broadscale merger or acquisition, here are some of the critical roles to consider to ensure a smooth integration and continuation of work:
- Shared services director
- Operational accountant
- Accounting manager
- Finance manager
- Credit/collections manager
- Payroll associate, analyst and manager
- Payroll tax specialist
- Accounts payable associate, analyst, lead and manager
- Accounts receivable associate and manager
Keeping Up with Changing Technical Accounting Requirements
The Need
Technical accounting and external reporting requirements are constantly changing. To remain compliant, companies need accountants with the expertise to understand and adjust to these requirements. However, the accounting talent shortage and demand for workers with technical accounting skills make competition stiff, leaving many companies without the necessary in-house talent.
The Solution
Technical accounting consultants can be brought in when their expertise is needed. This includes providing FASB/IFRS and 10K/10Q support on an agile basis. These experts can provide accounting solutions tailored to the specific needs of your team. Because the engagement is temporary, your business can get the support it needs without struggling to maintain hard-to-fill, full-time positions.
The Talent Needed
Here are some of the most critical accounting roles your organization should consider hiring temporary talent for:
- Technical accountant
- Technical accounting manager
- SEC and external reporting accountant
- SEC and external reporting accounting manager
Preparing Your Year-End Cash Flow
The Need
Companies need to have cash readily available to pay invoices for vendors and complete payroll needs. To do this, your company must ensure you’re collecting on outstanding debts in a timely manner. This becomes more important toward end-of-year, as your company looks to ensure all debts are cleared before closing your books.
However, companies that don’t have enough accounts payable, accounts receivable and payroll specialists can see a backlog in both payments and collections. This lack of workforce can mean that collections aren’t up to date, which in turn leaves you without the cash on hand to fulfill debts like payroll and vendor payments. It also puts added pressure on an already lean staff, which can increase the risk of burnout.
The Solution
Bringing in additional support through contractors can help with both collections and payment processing. This ensures payments and collections aren’t outstanding, creating good relationships with vendors and workers alike. Clearing all debts and keeping books up to date can also help make sure auditing processes run smoothly.
These specialists can also support your full-time team, helping ensure workers aren’t overloaded during busy times of year.
The Talent Needed
Here are several key roles that are important to making sure your year-end busy seasons and work run smoothly:
- Accounts payable associate, analyst, lead and manager
- Accounts receivable associate and manager
- Credit/collections manager
- Payroll associate, analyst and manager
- Payroll tax specialist
Cost Containment Strategies With Temporary Talent Solutions
One of the biggest challenges for any company is how to best contain costs while continuing to grow your business. Turning to temporary staffing solutions can help you find in-demand talent to tackle your biggest business challenges. Working with a talent solutions partner helps you contain costs by reducing your full-time head count while limiting the runway time needed to fill open positions.
Aston Carter can help you access a national pipeline of top finance talent. Our accounting and finance recruiters can connect you with consultants who have the specific skill sets you need at a competitive marketplace rate.
Contact us to find the finance talent you need to keep your strategic business plans and projects on track.
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