Expectation management can make or break your employer brand. This article outlines the rules you simply cannot break…

The following article is from our latest “Hiring Guide”, brought to you by Accountancy Ireland, in association with Barden.

Expectation management underpins the entire recruitment process. It isn’t complex, though. It simply means sticking to the timelines and commitments you set out on day one. As the hiring manager, it is your responsibility to set expectations with both internal and external stakeholders. If expectations are managed correctly, you’ll dramatically increase the likelihood of a positive outcome for both you and your prospective hire.

Should the goalposts move, however, it is up to you to inform the relevant parties. Some classic examples of unexpected issues include:

The hiring manager is doing interviews next week…

The candidate begins to plan their week with this prospect in mind. Something happens in work and you never get around to setting up the interviews. You’re too busy and forget to email the recruiter. The candidate either moves on with other interviews and puts your role on the back burner, or their perception of your trustworthiness is negatively affected. Remember, silence and time kill all deals.

Thanks for coming in for interview. We’ll be back to you before the end of the week…

The candidate goes home excited about you and your opportunity. Friday comes, but there’s no call. Candidates are human beings and will immediately default to self-protection. By Saturday, they convince themselves that they didn’t get the job and start the internal dialogue about how “it was the wrong job anyway” or “that other company got back to me faster, so they must like me more”.

Great to hear that you’re accepting the offer. I’ll get the contract out to you later today…

You’re delighted – the deal is done and it’s just admin from here. You pass the baton to HR, but the process slows. The contract issues three days later because of internal red tape, but your new hire can’t resign until they have the contract in hand. Their plans are based on the timeline you agreed at the outset, and the delay creates concern. Other roles come along, their start date is affected and you begin to see an array of other unintended consequences.

Manage expectations

To better manage expectations during the hiring process, follow these simple but effective tips:

• Always add a day. If you’re aiming to complete a task today, set the expectation that you will do it tomorrow. Reverting early is so much better than reverting late;
• Always communicate small changes. If you need to change an expectation, keep candidates informed and make sure you provide them with a credible reason for the delay;
• The recruitment process is rarely a linear event. When it comes to human beings, there are too many variables; be ready to adjust your timeframes and adapt to evolving situations. Change isn’t a sign of weakness – it’s a sign of agility and your ability to be competitive;
• Never set an expectation you can’t meet. A throwaway line in an interview can set a seed in a candidate’s mind, but seeds can grow into flowers or weeds. Plant the wrong seed, even for the right reason, and you’ll have to live with the consequences.

Expectation management is a bit like dating – if you tell your new date that you’ll call them tomorrow and then don’t call them for a week, how long do you think that relationship will last? Never underestimate the power good expectation management can have.

This article is part of the new Hiring Guide, brought to you by Accountancy Ireland and Barden.

Click here to download your copy of the Hiring Guide.

Collaborative, or peer-based selection, is a concept that’s been around for quite some time. You probably know Google (and similar organisations) use the approach, or a variant of it, to drive up the quality of hire.

Like most verticals in business, recruiters and their business partners, HR, are looking for new ways of doing things. We all know that not only are traditional talent acquisition models not delivering the goods, additionally most standard interview processes themselves often don’t have much impact on whether the new hire is successful or not.

Collaborative hiring is often hailed as a way of addressing this, through involving more people in the process and creating a stronger and deeper connection with the potential new hire.

Let’s take a look at the pros and cons:

Collaborative hiring drives smarter hires

The main principle behind collaborative hiring is that potential job applicants are assessed not only by their direct line managers and superiors, but by their peers. This is achieved through a number of means, but centres on a core role play, or a case study type exercise which allows a group of peers to see the candidate(s) ‘in action’, allowing them to provide insightful feedback on potential job performance. Not only does this allow for a more impartial interview assessment, it also reduces the risk of ‘hiring in one’s own image’, or casting your own bias onto who you decide to hire. It also reduces the likelihood of ‘ego’ coming in to play – even subconsciously, people who hire on their own, may not hire the smartest person in the room, as they may feel threatened.

Moreover, it could deliver improved productivity and increased retention

Another benefit of this method is improved productivity and shortened ramp up speeds, in theory. Because the new hire has already made connections with their peer group, not only should this accelerate the settling in period, but their peers will also feel more invested in helping the hire get to grips with their new role. Likewise, during the collaborative hiring process, it’s likely that the new hire will have learnt more about their new employer and role than in a standard interview process, making them more likely to have made a fully informed decision before accepting the role.

However, it can take a long time and far from improving candidate engagement, cause frustration

9-stage recruitment processes are nobody’s friends. Time consuming for the business, not to mention the candidate, with no guarantee of success. In a smaller business, you may simply not have the resources, and in a larger business, you may still cause friction by not being able to include everyone. Not to mention the lag on organising such a long series of interviews, by which time your candidate could have been snapped up by an agile and rapid response organisation. There are ways to get around this, like booking in a series of (shorter) interviews on the one day to reduce recruitment timeframes, but it can be a logistical challenge. It can also lead to an inconsistency in approach, as the more stakeholders involved increases the chance of a variance in structure and questions across a selection of candidates, making the end results difficult to analyse.

As with most things, it needs to work within your own company parameters, and align with your strategic priorities. If you don’t have the time to structure a well-considered collaborative hiring process, you may need to think differently. However, the point to consider overall is that trialling collaborative hiring as a new method might be worthwhile for positions you know have had poor hire/retention rates. In fact, the act of collaborative hiring itself might just provide you with insight as to why this position has failed previously, and allow you to come up with a solution to fix it.

Despite the rumours, hiring managers and recruiters can collaborate to attract top talent – all they need is time!

In one sense, the recruitment system is fundamentally flawed. Recruiters are remunerated based on outcomes, with the result that some recruiters focus exclusively on placing candidates with little or no regard for the process. It is this process, however, that will either make or break your employer brand. And as your representative in the market, you need to be certain that your chosen recruitment partner acts in your best interests at all times.

Of course, you can partner with an excellent recruitment firm and work with a poor recruiter, and vice versa. However, the key to any great relationship is time – and this is particularly true when it comes to working with third-party recruiters. If you – as a hiring manager – invest time in building a partnership at the outset, you will reap the rewards for years to come.

So in that context, here are some things you should and shouldn’t do as a hiring manager.

Definitely do…

• Use a small number of third-party recruiters and make sure that you trust the people who will ultimately represent you in the market.
• Make time to brief your recruitment partners properly, and in person, because that’s how they’ll get the ‘fit’ right.
• Be as specific as possible in your brief while leaving room for flexibility. Talk more about what you don’t want in your next hire than what you do.
• Talk about your own background and why you work where you do. It’s your personal story, rather than that of the company, that will attract candidates.
• Agree timelines for submissions, review and feedback on candidates – and meet the expectations you set. If you fail to meet your own deadlines, that will affect the recruiter’s ability to keep candidates in the loop and will subsequently position you, as the hiring manager, poorly from day one.
• Set your expectations. It’s okay to be explicit: “I’m looking for a maximum of four of your best recommendations for this role and I want you to guarantee that you will interview and brief all candidates before submitting them.” Never assume.
• Be available and engaged. You will be the biggest winner from this process so bear this in mind when prioritising your time.
• Listen to your recruiter. A good recruiter will know much, much more about recruitment and the market than you, so never underestimate the value the right recruiter can bring to the process.
• Set timing expectations you can beat.
• Be honest. The more open you are with the recruiter, the more they’ll reciprocate.
• Debrief at the end. The best hiring managers debrief their recruiters at the end of the process, share feedback and ensure that everyone learns from each experience.

Definitely don’t…

• Share your job description freely – you just make your role less of a priority for the recruiter. People will work less for you as it’s less likely that they will be paid at the end of the process given the sheer number of channels through which a candidate can apply for the role.
• Think that all you need to do is issue a job description. A good recruiter won’t send you a candidate they haven’t met but equally, a good recruiter won’t send a candidate to a company without a sufficient degree of context. Barden’s own data shows that recruitment consultants are 90% more likely to fill a role when they meet the hiring manager for a consultation.
• Engage too many recruiters. If you have five recruiters and your own HR personnel working on a role that is also advertised on your website with a call out for internal referrals, you’re ultimately going to waste a lot of people’s time and put both your brand and the opportunity at risk. If you instead choose to work with a small number of experts, both the process and outcome will be greatly improved.
• Reward recruiters simply for sending the candidate’s CV in first. That only encourages recruiters to send CVs before a meeting with – and, sadly, even speaking to – candidates. Don’t reward bad behaviour.
• Set timing expectations you can’t meet. If you tell a candidate at interview that you will be in contact by the end of the week, and you fail to meet that commitment, both you and the recruiter look bad.
• Leave it to HR. Your colleagues in the HR department can be a great asset, but they’re not the hiring manager. Work with HR to make sure contracts are issued and the process is concluded within pre-agreed timeframes. CFOs have turned down jobs with listed companies because a contract was not issued in good time, so keep in touch with your recruiter to make sure things are progressing smoothly.

This article is part of the new Hiring Guide, brought to you by Accountancy Ireland and Barden.

Click here to download your copy of the Hiring Guide.

As a hiring manager, you have to get the small things right…

1. Make sure that anyone looking at you and your team from the outside gets a great first impression. Focus first on LinkedIn profiles and job specs.
2. Decide on your route to market. Will you work with referrals, jobs boards, recruiters or others? Have a plan and remember, less is more if you have the right partners.
3. Agree on timelines and a way of working with relevant resources, and HR in particular.
4. Make yourself available to brief the relevant recruit in person as they will create the first impression of you and your team.
5. Be ready to react when the right person comes along, and make sure that other stakeholders are on-board and available.
6. Communicate, communicate, communicate – time delays kill all deals, and that’s a proven fact.
7. Be flexible in scheduling interviews and ask insightful questions. And don’t wait to complete all first-round interviews before moving on to round two.
8. Conduct reference checks yourself if you can. They help you lead and develop your new hire, not just to decide if you’re going to hire them.
9. Your job isn’t done until the new hire is past probation. Make sure the contract is issued quickly, that you meet the expectations you set, that you have a plan for induction, and that the other members of your team are involved in making your new hire a success.
10. Reflect, rinse and repeat – every hiring process is an opportunity for learning.

This ten-step guide is from our latest  Hiring Guide, brought to you by Chartered Accountants Ireland’s Accountancy Ireland, in association with Barden (Ireland). For more great tips and to download your Hiring Guide today click here.

The two main expert recruitment areas Barden cover in this area are:

• Operational Finance Recruitment
• Part Qualified to Finalist Accountant & Finance Administrator Recruitment

Operational Finance

In this space we recruit mainly across the Procure-to Pay(PTP), Accounts Payable (AP) , Order-to-Cash (OTC), Accounts Receivable (AR) and Payroll finance pillars. In this area, our recruitment team support and offer career consultancy to professionals from associate up to senior manager level.

We have also partnered with our clients to recruit language roles within these pillars and have experience working on projects where our clients would have a high volume of requirements e.g.: setting up a shared service centre, recruitment drives for centralising the finance function etc.; no project is too big or small!

Lately our Operational Finance recruitment team, have been noticing a trend (both in Dublin and Cork) of there being a lot more project focused opportunities coming up in these pillars. We are also seeing an increase in roles in the space where finance and IT overlap.

Operational finance is often identified as a key focus area, as businesses strive to be more strategic, continuously make improvements to processes and become increasingly efficient.

When you meet Barden, you will be meeting Ireland’s most experienced team of finance recruitment experts with experience recruiting across roles such as:

• PTP/ AP– Specialist to Senior Manager level, Project Management/ Project Analyst, T&E, Global Payments roles.
• OTC & AR- Specialist to Senior Manager level, Project Management/ Project Analyst, Credit Control, Credit Risk, Accounts Receivable, Order-to-Cash Analyst, Collections.
• Payroll: Payroll Specialist to Senior Manager, Payroll Project Analyst & Implementation Specialist.
• Language roles…we’ve worked on both once-off roles and large recruitment drives where a number of native level language requirements, as well as finance experience, is required..

Part Qualified Accountant & Finance Administration Recruitment

In Barden, we want to help people at every step along their road to qualifying. Knowing that this road looks different for everyone (and that there are many different routes available) recruitment in this area requires a person-centric approach. Whether you are training in practice, industry or via distance learning, and whether your aim is to be a fully qualified accountant or an accounting technician, our team will help you with support, advice and hopefully opportunities to help keep on the right track to achieve your goal.

We also specialise in helping those who aren’t sure about sitting exams, or those who no longer wish to complete their exams, and those who gained broad finance experience and wish to build a career in this area but are not qualified.

Sample roles Include:

• Assistant Accountant
• Assistant to Financial Controller
• Finance Analyst (PQ)
• Marketing Finance Analyst/ Sales Analyst
• Finance Administrator/ Accounts Administrator

Despite being very different functions, there can be synergy at certain levels between the two, which is why our experts leading recruitment in these areas are in touch with each other’s markets and are uniquely placed to help you to consider all of the options available to you.

Our expert team includes:

Tara Higgins | Team Lead | Expert in Operational Finance Careers | Barden Cork | tara.higgins@barden.ie  

Tara is leading our team in Cork and has 5 years of experience focused purely within this broad space of finance recruitment in Cork.

A UCC grad, Tara started her career in finance before moving into recruitment in 2015. She joined Barden Cork in April 2018 at a very exciting time when the Cork office was in true start-up mode. Over the past two years, she has helped our managing partners to grow this hugely varied area of the Cork business, which she is extremely passionate about.

 “Having the opportunity to help people, at all levels and across many different pillars of finance, to find their next step in their careers is what I love about working in this area of finance recruitment – no day is ever the same. Sometimes we can even help to identify opportunities for people that they hadn’t thought of before too, which is pretty cool.” Tara Higgins

Cliodhna O’Brien | Associate | Expert in Part Qualified Accountant Careers & Operational Finance Careers | Barden Cork |  cliodhna.obrien@barden.ie  

Cliodhna joined Barden in 2018 as Barden’s first ever Graduate Associate in Cork. She is now an integral part of the team and earned a promotion to Associate. Helping Part Qualified Accountants has become second nature to Cliodhna and she really cares about helping people map their career in this space. Cliodhna holds a BA Applied Psychology from UCC and a M.Sc. in Work & Organisational Psychology (CIPD accredited), from University of Limerick. Throughout her Masters Cliodhna developed core competencies and professional skills in organisational theory, organisational change, employment relations, selection & assessment, training, employee wellbeing and research design and methods. Cliodhna has also been accredited by the British Psychological Society to conduct Psychometric Testing.

“What I love most about my role is having the opportunity to bridge the gap between how people could feel about their work and do feel about their work. In our area we have the opportunity to work with people at all levels in many different roles and an opportunity to guide people on progression/career paths which is amazing. One of my favourite things to do also is to prepare people in the best way possible to perform on the day of the interview too.” Cliodhna O’Brien

Nicole Carroll | Senior Associate | Expert in Part Qualified Accountants & Operational Finance Careers | Barden Dublin | nicole.carroll@barden.ie

Nicole is a grad of the TUD and holds a BA in Business/Sports. She is also a grad of the Institute of Technology, Carlow. Nicole has been recruiting within this area of finance recruitment for the past two years and is very passionate about it. She has progressed to Senior Associate level following her dedication and hard work in supporting people she’s been working with. Nicole has spent a lot of time in particular helping Part Qualified Accountants to map out their careers and has also helped AP/AR/Payroll professionals to secure their next role.

“Getting to work across an array of industries and sectors, giving advice to people from a junior level who are setting out on their career, to people who have an established career and are looking for the next important step is my favourite thing about working in this area of finance recruitment.” Nicole Carroll

Aoibhín Byrne | Associate | Expert in Part Qualified Accountant Careers and Operational Finance Recruitment | Barden Dublin | aoibhin.byrne@barden.ie  

Aoibhín is a UCC graduate and holds a Bachelor of Commerce with French. In 2016 she joined KPMG Ireland where she trained and worked as a Tax Associate and was involved in the provision of corporate tax and advisory services to MNC’s across a variety of industries. Aoibhín always had a passion for helping people and joined Barden in 2019 with a view to using her background and experience to help others in their careers. Aoibhín describes herself as a ‘natural thinker’, when she gives people advice you can be sure this is well thought through and her advice is very much tailored to the individual she is helping.

“It’s exciting to work with candidates from varied backgrounds – from the early stages to the later stages of their careers. I enjoy being able to provide sound advice and ultimately help people fulfil their career goals and aspirations”. Aoibhín Byrne

Get in Touch

In Barden we’re here to listen, help and guide you on the best next steps for your career so please reach out and get in touch with one of our team today, or email hello@barden.ie and we’ll take it from there.

You cannot simply outsource the hiring process, step back and expect outstanding results. You must collaborate, communicate and cooperate with both your HR team and your recruitment consultant. 

The following article is from our latest “Hiring Guide”, brought to you by Accountancy Ireland, in association with Barden (Ireland).

The recruitment industry often gets mixed reviews. On one hand, there are individual recruiters and firms that operate to the highest ethical standards. They aim to get the right person into the right role every time. But there are also those whose primary motive is to fill the vacancy and secure the fee, irrespective of the outcome for the company or candidate.

While this might appear to be a problem for the recruitment industry to solve, the solution in fact lies in the relationship between recruiters, in-house HR personnel and you, the hiring manager.

The truth

The hiring manager’s experience of the recruitment process is a reflection of how they approach – and engage with – individual recruiters. If, for example, a recruiter knows that four other firms have been tasked with finding the right candidate for the same role, it will naturally be in their best (and financial) interest to cut corners and get their candidate to the top of the queue.

That’s why recruitment fees are so expensive – recruiters are forced to charge significant fees to compensate them for all the time they put into other unsuccessful assignments. So, how can this problem be resolved?

1. Collaborate

If a recruiter is solely responsible for finding the right candidate, rather than competing in a race with other recruiters, he or she will have a vested interest in the hiring manager’s success. Through collaboration, a successful outcome is virtually guaranteed and trust is built on both sides.

2. Communicate

CEOs have cited talent as a core concern, yet hiring managers often refuse to meet with recruiters, who are in one sense their brand ambassadors in the marketplace. So meet with your recruiter and with HR. Help them to understand the critical requirements for the role. Open, two-way communication is key. Providing a job spec simply isn’t good enough.

3. Cooperate
 
And finally, work with your recruitment partners. As the hiring manager, you have a significant role to play throughout the hiring process and beyond. Invest time in meeting both HR and your recruitment consultant to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

Then, you need to be willing and able to move quickly when a high-potential candidate comes along. Often, there will be a short window of opportunity to interview and make an offer – any delay at this stage could see the candidate snapped up by another more nimble company.

And finally, keep in contact with HR even when you’ve decided to make an offer. HR executives could have tens, if not hundreds, of roles to fill at any given time, so don’t assume that your vacancy will be given the priority it deserves. Make sure offers are made and contracts issued when they should be.

Conclusion

To make the system work as it should, all those involved in the recruitment process must collaborate, communicate and cooperate. If we can achieve that, everyone will be better off in time.

An expert’s view

Aidan Kenny FCA, an experienced CFO, shares his tips for hiring a senior financial professional.
 
A critical requirement in a new finance manager hire is personality fit. I’m less concerned with the current market obsession of having exact industry experience, which I believe represents one dimensional thinking. Most Chartered Accountants have had enough exposure through their training to be able to adapt to different industries – particularly those who have qualified in practice and then spent time working in industry.

Personality fit with the team is key. In many cases, you’ll be looking for someone you would be happy to work with through long evenings preparing board reports or closing the month-end. A candidate must be able to get on well with non-finance people also – this is key for your department to be valued within the organisation. I also have a preference for someone who has travelled and widened their horizons. The more industries someone has been exposed to, the better.

For the more senior hire, I would consider the use of personality tests. They can be wrong, but in many cases can be unnervingly accurate. In a previous finance director role we ignored the results of a personality test due to other business factors. We found out quickly that the personality test was indeed accurate.

This article is part of the new Hiring Guide, brought to you by Accountancy Ireland and Barden. Click here to download your copy of the Hiring Guide.

Regardless of whether your business is doing well or not doing so well, certainty is not something anyone can count on for 2021.  Salary reviews this year are going to be tricky.  Here are a couple of things  some leaders are doing a little differently right now; in case you’re interested:

• Many are taking the path of least resistance by deferring salary reviews until the end of Q1 2021 – just to give them a bit of breathing space.   If your company is under pressure people will understand.  If you do go down this path make sure you have a good plan as to what will trigger salary reviews and what you are going to do at the end of 2021 if you do move forward with a review in Q1.  Don’t go down this path until you’ve it well thought out and have genuine, realistic triggers in place.  Your people will give you the benefit of the doubt but if they feel they are being taken advantage of you’ll lose hearts and minds… things not so easily bought back.
• Using hard salary benchmarking facts from the external market to inform their conversations – nobody should walk into a salary review without this base covered.  Salary inflation has been negligible in most areas in 2020 – that’s hard to argue with.
• Premising the conversation with people around the value they create rather than the level of experience they have (beware the trap of confusing years of experience with value creation).  If the job someone is doing today is creating more value for the business than the job they were doing yesterday, then there is a conversation to be had.  If not then your starting point is the base rate of inflation (approx 0.4% in 2020) – value creation does not have a linear relationship with years of experience… it’s time people started to recognise that.
• Where an increase is justified but company performance uncertain, some are tying increased compensation with company performance through a “company performance” payment separate to base salary. “Expecting a 10% increase that’s warranted?  OK, so your base remains the same but you will be paid 2.5% of your base salary quarterly in 2021 assuming the company hits an acceptable level of performance during each quarter.  When we come to the end of  2021 we can talk again using 2019 salary +5% as the starting point. “ This is only one example of how to apply this logic – there are many others.
• Asking, ahead of time, who in the company might consider more flexibility (annual leave, reduced working week etc…) in exchange for monetary compensation – might free up a little more budget for you to use where you need it most.  Flexibility is currency these days.  Make sure you use it wisely.

These are just some ideas – in Barden we have many more.    Just drop us a line if we can help.  That’s what we’re here for.

We are delighted to announce the appointment of Sarah Murphy as Director within our Accounting & Tax recruitment practice in Dublin.  Sarah is a founding member of the Barden team and, since joining Barden in 2015, has been instrumental in supporting Elaine Brady and Ed Heffernan in shaping Barden into the business it is today.  Sarah is the first ever person to be appointed a Director with Barden.

“I cannot imagine life in Barden without Sarah Murphy. Over 5 years, Sarah has shaped the culture in Barden and lives and breathes our values every day. Sarah supports, yet challenges, leads from the front and is never too busy for anyone in need of an ear, a hand… or a glass of wine! Sarah is one of a kind.. she exudes everything that it is to be Barden, and I would be lost without her.”  –  Elaine Brady | Managing Partner | Barden Dublin

As Director, Sarah will support the broader needs of the business as Elaine’s right hand person in Dublin, continue in her coaching and support of people across Barden, expand her brief as HR business partner to the national team, and continue to work on key mid to senior accounting assignments with select Barden clients in Leinster.

 “Sarah was one of the very first people to take a chance on Barden.  When she joined, we were but a few people in a windowless room with a dream that we could do recruitment differently.  Sarah has been instrumental in shaping that dream and in bringing it to life.  Sarah is smart, hardworking, loyal and caring – all of the things we hold dear in Barden.  She is also, mostly, a pleasure to work with😊.  Congratulations Sarah – I’m very proud of you” – Ed Heffernan | Managing Partner | Barden Ireland

A little about Sarah…

After completing a BComm in UCC, Sarah trained in tax with PFK before moving into accounting recruitment in 2012.  Since then Sarah has held a number of leadership roles in recruitment, both locally and internationally, culminating in her being a founding member of the Barden team in 2015.  The rest is history…)

Has your business been thinking of taking on professional contractors in the finance space? Are you trying to weigh up the pros and cons and make the right decision for your business and teams? Here, Jimmy Sheehan FCPA, Commercial Director with Contracting PLUS gives us an update on the contracting market when it comes to finance contractors.

A Growing Sector

While finance contractors account for just a few hundred of our almost 4,000 active contractors, it is a sector which has been growing at about 10% per annum year on year over 2018 and 2019. This growth dropped to just 6% for the year to July 2020, which is no surprise given the shockwaves the Corona Virus sent through our economy.

Interestingly however, the total new entrants to finance contract roles in August 2020 accounted for 16% of our new business that month.

To put that in context, IT Contractors and Pharma/Med device Contractors accounted for 10% and 22% respectively. These 2 sectors alone typically account for over 50% of all Professional Contractor clients with Contracting PLUS.

A Consistent & Valuable Part of the Workforce

Professional contractors have been a consistent and valuable part of the overall workforce in many companies in Ireland for years. As an accountant myself, and having previously built up and successfully sold my own accountancy practice, I’m somewhat surprised why more companies haven’t yet realised the benefits of using finance professionals on a contract basis!

Outsourced financial control was a substantial part of my own accounting revenue for years, and the reality is while this service was delivered professionally and expertly, for a similar investment, the company could well have contracted a professional accountant who would have been in a position to dedicate more time to the company.

There will always be a place for a company’s external accountant to act as a valuable advisor and an external source that keeps the directors focussed on future profitability, but companies of different sizes can contract in the right advice for certain projects and/or growth spurts.

A Role to Play in All Types of Companies

Whether an early stage start-up, an established company looking to break into new product lines or markets, or just a company who needs a safe pair of hands to oversee the finance function or lead a project, finance professionals can be deployed in many areas of a business as their expertise tends to cover a broad base.

Industries and Roles

There appears to be no one industry dominating the use of finance professionals. They are spread across multiple clients operating in Banking, Insurance, Education, Telecoms, Transport, IT and Pharma. There are also a small cohort of professionals consulting with, or through, some of the top 10 accountancy practices in the country.

The work these individuals are doing covers Accountancy (unsurprisingly) but also Compliance, Risk, Business Analysis and Operations. Accountants it seems are also great Project Managers with over 20% of Finance Professionals listing this as their current role.

New Ideas & Fresh Perspective

The advent of cloud technology means much of the accountancy grunt-work is largely automated, and any 3^rd or 4^th year trainee accountant worth their salt should be able to pull monthly income statements and balance sheets together for the directors. What they can lack though is the experience and possibly confidence to hold a board of directors to account. This is where a contracted professional can bring new ideas and a fresh perspective.

A Few Insightful Stats

Across all sectors, the ratio of male/female contractors is 74%/26% respectively. However, in finance, the proportion of females accounts for just over 40%.

Given the need to be able to hit the ground running, it’s no surprise that almost 70% of finance contractors are in the 36-55 age group. They have enough experience built up to put themselves forward as a viable alternative to full-time employees or indeed, accountancy practices.

You Can’t Put Profit & Growth On Hold

For companies delaying full-time hires due to economic circumstances I’d strongly suggest considering a contractor. You can’t put profit and growth on hold. Driving forward with new projects and having a focus on constantly improving your business are necessary for survival. Professional finance contractors give you the comfort of not committing to an unknown future without compromising on your strategic plans.

Speak to your recruitment partner about the best way to source and engage a finance professional in a contract role.

 About Jimmy Sheehan & Contracting PLUS

Jimmy Sheehan | Commercial Director | Contracting PLUS

Jimmy Sheehan is a Fellow of the Institute of Certified Public Accountants (CPA) Ireland and holds a corporate Finance diploma from the Institute of Chartered Accountants Ireland. He also holds a number of qualifications in IT networking, software development and design.

Prior to joining Contracting PLUS as Commercial Director, Jimmy was the Head of Commercial Development with a Top10 Accounting Firm in Ireland and successfully build and sold his own accountancy practice.

Contracting PLUS

Contracting PLUS are Irelands largest and longest established provider of umbrella companies, accounting services and tax advice to professional contractors. When contractors use Contracting PLUS both they, and the clients they work with, can take great comfort in knowing they are tax compliant, have proper commercial insurances in place and have a compliant contract for services. For more information visit www.contractingplus.com.

Annual survey from Chartered Accountants Leinster Society shows 1 in 10 have had salary reduced due to COVID-19.

The average salary package (including such elements as base salary, pension scheme, health insurance) for a Chartered Accountant in Leinster remains steady at €109,989, a marginal decrease from €112,582 last year.

The survey of more than 1,000 Chartered Accountants, published today by Chartered Accountants Leinster Society in partnership with Barden, Ireland’s leading partner led expert recruitment firm, and in association with Coyne Research provides the most up-to-date guide to Chartered Accountant salaries and employment prospects in the Leinster region.

While overall salary packages have remained steady for the majority, the survey, conducted during August, reveals some evidence of pay cuts among employees – just over 1 in 10 members claim to have had their salary reduced as a result of COVID-19, over half of whom had their salary reduced by more than 10%.

Almost 4 in 5 say they their employers have been “good” or “very good” in adapting to working from home arrangements. At the same time, many employees working from home have felt an increase in workload, with almost 1 in 2 report working longer hours than when they were office-based.

Overall, the resilience of the profession comes across reasonably strongly among respondents, demonstrating the importance of a strong accountancy function in organisations at a time of such uncertainty. Only 18% of members are “quite” or “very” concerned about job security at the moment.

The annual survey also highlights the importance of other types of remuneration to members. Over half of respondents (51%) say they had the ability to work from home before COVID-19, while 49% say they could avail of flexible working arrangements (including flexitime and time in lieu). 85% of members report having a pension scheme and, of those, employers contribute to 91% of them. Just over half of members receive health insurance as an employment benefit.

Key findings include:

• 84% of respondents place value on work / life balance or flexible working arrangements, and would sacrifice between 5% and 10% of their wages for a better work life balance or to have flexible working arrangements. (86% in 2019.)
• 56% of respondents say they are satisfied or very satisfied with their work / life balance. (62% in 2019.)
• 82% of Chartered Accountants have received a salary increase within the last three years (85% in 2019), with 3 in 10 of members obtaining an increase of over 25%.
• 51% of respondents have been promoted in the last three years. (51% in 2019.)
• 22% have moved to a new job in the last 12 months, on par with last year.
• 25% of members believe the market for Chartered Accountants is buoyant (85% in 2019). 36% believe the market is contracting (5% in 2019).

Commenting on the findings, Áine Crotty, Chairman of Chartered Accountants Leinster Society, said: “The 2020 Leinster Society salary survey shows that pay remains consistent for Chartered Accountants in this unprecedented and challenging time. It is reassuring to see that many members are satisfied in how their employers shifted to remote working and flexible working arrangements, which is key as we head into the future and deal with the realities of COVID-19.

“This survey gives employer firms, recruiters and those who may be considering a career in Chartered Accountancy a reliable insight into the profession. Chartered Accountants Ireland offers a range of flexible entry-routes into the profession so that students can work and learn in a way that best meets their individual needs, which is increasingly important in the current environment.”

Elaine Brady, Managing Partner, Barden, said: “We are delighted to partner once again with the Chartered Accountants Ireland Leinster Society annual salary survey. For us in Barden it’s absolutely critical for us to be able to provide our clients with cutting edge insights on reward so that they in turn can make informed strategic decisions on talent attraction and retention and managing their teams. 

“The insights gained from this survey, especially at this challenging and uncertain time for Irish business, will help to drive key decisions especially when it comes to businesses and their teams. It is very positive to see that in the main remuneration remains consistent, however at this stage it is difficult to see the true impact of this pandemic on Irish business. Another positive outcome of the survey is the excellent flexibility amongst employers, who in the main have been quick to adapt and facilitate their teams working remotely, which no doubt will shape the future of how we work.”

Bernadette Coyne, Managing Director at Coyne Research, said: “This survey highlights the fact that the average pay has remained similar to last year’s survey, however we see some members having their pay cut since the onset of COVID-19. While most members say their company transitioned well to working from home arrangements, this has to be taken in the context of many having to work more hours at home than they would have in the office.”

Where Chartered Accountants Work

The survey highlights the wide range of industries and sectors that Chartered Accountants work in. Of the 15% of members employed in practice, 47% work in a Big 4 practice and 53% in a Non-Big 4 practice. 83% of those working in practice are in a Manager or Director role.

The majority of those who do not work in practice are currently working in financial services at 25%. Members also work in IT & Telco (14%), Government and Public Sector / Education (9%), Construction and Property (7%), and many other sectors including manufacturing, not-for-profit / charities, food industry and more.

Of those not employed in practice, 37% work for companies that are a subsidiary of a foreign-owned multinational compared to a private Irish company (28%) or the business unit of an Irish plc (12%).

Most members surveyed work in Dublin (82%).

ENDS  

For more information 

Jill Farrelly

Chartered Accountants Ireland

087 738 6608

Jill.farrelly@charteredaccountants.ie 

Fiachradh McDermott

Gibney Communications

087 655 7070

fmcdermott@gibneycomm.ie

Notes to editors 

This survey of more than 1,000 Chartered Accountants was conducted by Coyne Research on behalf of Chartered Accountants Leinster Society and Barden between 12 August – 27 August 2020.

Chartered Accountants Leinster Society is a district society of Chartered Accountants Ireland, representing over 13,300 Chartered Accountants throughout Leinster.

Chartered Accountants Ireland is Ireland’s leading professional accountancy body, representing 28,500 influential members around the world and educating 7,000 students. The Institute aims to create opportunities for members and students, and ethical, sustainable prosperity for society. An all-island body, Chartered Accountants Ireland was established by Royal Charter in 1888 and now has members in more than 90 countries. It is a founding member of Chartered Accountants Worldwide, the international network of over one million chartered accountants. It also plays key roles in the Global Accounting Alliance, Accountancy Europe and the International Federation of Accountants.

Chartered Accountants Ireland members provide leadership in business, the public sector and professional practice, bringing experience, expertise and strict standards to their work for, and with, businesses in every sector. The Institute engages with governments, policy makers and regulators on key issues affecting the profession and the wider economy.

Barden is a partner led expert recruitment firm consumed with supporting companies that really know the value of their people. Barden’s expertise covers Accounting, Finance, Tax, Legal and Financial Services recruitment. Our people are trained/qualified in their specialist areas, and our approach is consultative not transactional.

Barden has proudly partnered with the Chartered Accountants Ireland Leinster Society, for the last 3 years, to bring you the annual salary survey.

Over the next 3 years Barden will also be working closely with Chartered Accountants Student Society of Ireland (CASSI) to make sure their members get access to the right information, at the right time so when they qualify they can make the right decisions about their professional future.