Episode 37

full

Published on:

1st Aug 2022

Where are all the good accounting grads?

According to the AICPA record numbers of students are graduating with accounting degrees, but accounting firms at graduate job fairs aren't seeing these candidates. In this episode we discuss what might be causing this dearth of graduate talent for public accounting firms. A common theme throughout this podcast has been that same as last year (or SALY) will not cut it when it comes to finding and keeping good people.

If you're a firm owner you have the opportunity to give up-and-coming accountants an exciting career helping business owners better understand and get more from their business. You will have to be very intentional about about the clients you want to work with as well as the services you want and don't want to provide. And recognize that part of your employees career path might mean going elsewhere to gain new experiences (you never know they might come back).

So the question is not what are you doing to keep your talent, but what are you doing to continually develop your talent and giving them challenging, engaging responsibilities.

To ask us any questions or share any feedback, please connect with us on LinkedIn or Twitter.

Penny Breslin - LinkedIn | @PennyB57

Damien Greathead - LinkedIn | @Damien_GH

Next Episode All Episodes Previous Episode

Listen for free

RSS Feed Apple Podcasts Spotify

Show artwork for Strategy and the Virtual Controller

About the Podcast

Strategy and the Virtual Controller

Helping accounts and bookkeepers build the firm they want, their way

Your hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead have more than 30 years of combined experience in the accounting industry. This podcast is to share their experiences of working in, and consulting to accounting and bookkeeping firms of all sizes, helping them grow.

Nothing discussed will be rocket science, instead they'll be discussing 'how' firms have successfully, and not so successfully, pursued growth. Penny and Damien will be sharing their insights on how firms can be successful by focusing on their people (clients included), their technology, and their processes and systems.

Ultimately how successful an accounting business will be depends largely on how the owners manage change, which alongside taxes appears to be the only constant.

We do want to acknowledge David Maister's great read Strategy and the Fat Smoker: Doing what's obvious but not easy as the inspiration for our title. Buy it on Amazon - https://amzn.to/3dhcUFC

Subscribe today for an upbeat and practical conversation about what's working and what's not in accounting businesses around the world.

About your hosts

Penny Breslin

Penny Breslin is the founder of MoneyPenny, a consulting firm specializing in helping accounting firms and other businesses embrace the power of technology to simplify their operations and increase their profit margins.

Drawing on her years of experience and her knowledge of what it takes to run a successful business, Penny oversees the development of back office processes for her client firms. From the initial evaluation of the firm’s workflow, to technology selection, and assisting in the on-boarding of the firm’s clients, Penny works with her clients to maximize the benefits of a paperless and cloud-based firm.

Damien Greathead

Damien has been working in the accounting industry for more than 15 years. In addition to getting his hands dirty preparing tax returns and doing bookkeeping, but the bulk of his experience comes from consulting to both accounting firms and the technology companies that serve the industry.

He set up 2020 Group USA which was a membership group for small and medium sized accounting firms and then went on to set up Receipt Bank (now Dext) in North America.

He regularly speaks to industry bodies on technology, marketing and change management.