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Accountants: link skills management and operational challenges!
Change Management
Resource management

Accountants: link skills management and operational challenges!

Agathe Placet
Content manager
March 2, 2023
5 min

New trends in the audit and accounting market

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The audit and accounting market is a sector in constant evolution, it is a very competitive market and to remain competitive, these companies must constantly innovate and improve their services. In fact, over the past few years, we have witnessed the appearance of neo-firms like Pennylane and my accountant that are forcing traditional firms to retrofit, to se renew.

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And for good reason: the accounting and auditing professions are In motion, and must deal with new trends in the world of work, just like consulting firms and NSEs.

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Employee engagement as a priority

With an employee resignation rate of 20% between the 1st year and the 5th year of integration into a firm, it is urgent to do what is necessary to offer a better environment and working environment to your teams.

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It starts with the establishment of a work organization that values the human and allows you to give A meaning to their job.

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Accounting and audit firms need to be aware that employee commitment is essential for improve their performance, promote the Loyalty collaborators and improve the quality of life at work. Because it is in their interest! A study by the Observatory of the Quality of Life at Work revealed in 2021 that companies that invest in employee engagement have 2 to 3 times better financial results than companies that do not attach importance to it.

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The importance of skills and training management

Service companies generate their turnover by selling the skills of employees to their customers. Do you see where we're going with this? To stay competitive, you need to invest in the progress of your teams And the developing their skills ! This is the only way you will remain in perfect harmony with needs current and future customers of your customers. In addition, accounting firms have a legal obligation to maintain a certain level of technical expertise.

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The projectification of the economy

By 2027, 88 million people will work in project management around the world, and the value of project-based economic activity will reach 20 trillion dollars. It's not from us, it's from the Harvard Business Review.

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What should we remember about it? Simply that more and more businesses are going to operate on the project mode, and therefore, recruiting their collaborators for their skills rather than filling out a job description. The challenge will therefore be to attract employees with the skills most sought after by your customers. But to do so, do they still have to be able to identify them!

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Audit and accounting firms are already operating on a project basis, and will increasingly have to support their own clients in setting up this new organization. Because according to a study by the Observatory of Business Transformation in 2020, 60% of French companies consider projectification to be an important challenge for their competitiveness, and 25% of companies have implemented a specific strategy to develop their ability to manage projects.

The rise of the feedback culture

The annual evaluation, it's outdated: all employees will tell you that. And for good reason: a study by the OpinionWay Institute in 2021 revealed that 92% of French employees consider that Feedback regulars improve their motivation And their involvement at work.

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This trend, which is commonly referred to as Feedback culture, is intrinsically linked to skill needs And at the Projectification. Employees, like their employers, want to stay at the best possible level and continue to learn throughout their careers.

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By setting up regular feedback and feedback in your office, you offer your teams the opportunity to be in continuous progress, to regularly review their progress and Professional development wishes. It's a win-win: your teams feel evolved in your office, are more motivated, and stay perfectly in line with the needs of your customers.

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However, the observation is clear: firms are not equipped to respond to these new trends.

Many businesses in this sector are struggling to adapt to these new trends and, in this way, make the link between skills management and operational challenges.

The result?

No global visibility on the skills of teams across the company

  • One Wrong allocation Resources
  • An fLow commitment employees who do not feel considered enough
  • The possibility of missing out on opportunity

The β€œblind” assignment of customer files to employees

  • One average or ineffective case processing if an employee receives a file that he is not in a position to handle (if he does not have the skills).
  • One feeling of injustice from some employees who feel that their experience and skills are not recognized.
  • Of dissatisfied customers

Perfectible support for employees in their progress

  • Employees will be less engaged and Motivated, because their interests and aspirations are not Not listened to enough

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Fortunately, solutions exist

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However, there is a simple solution to solve this problem: The staffing software And of skills management.

This tool will allow you to link skills development issues to operational challenges of your office very easily since you will be able to identify the skills, the availabilities And the aspirations of your teams and that will boost your performance at all levels:

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You will have the weapons to meet your legal obligations

Using this tool will allow you to:

  • Reply to The obligation of continuing vocational trainingΒ 
  • Achieve the accurate tracking certifications
  • Fulfill the obligation of Audit of the order of chartered accountants, to be able to prove that he is following the skills/training/evolution/evaluation
  • Identify internally the skills needed to meet the Mission acceptance questionnaire.

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One mapping therefore makes it much easier for you to answer the regulations of the Order of Chartered Accountants. In case of control by the Order, the competency map can be used as support to prove the investment dedicated to maintaining the level of skills of the teams and the quality of service required.

You are in control of the planning of your customer files

The Staffing software is the guarantor of:

  • One effective planning based on availability and the size of your wallet. All firms fill out timesheets that they complete with billing. The software allows you to centralize all of this data and to ensure your financial follow-up
  • THEconsistent assignment of your collaborators on the right projects
  • La supervision of all work and customer files. It helps you in your role as coordinator and Of evaluator

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This millimeter planning allows a optimal management time and avoid seeing your employees overwhelmed by urgent tasks or near deadlines and thus prioritize your tasks due to complexity.

It also allows for a better communication with clients and inform them of deadlines and upcoming steps, notify them of the progress of their file. This reinforces the trust And the employment relationship with the customer.

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You will be able to offer real personalized career plans to your employees

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  • Accounting expertise is a Job in tension, you have to withhold the collaborators, the build loyalty and improve sourcing, the staffing software makes this task easier for you thanks to its functionalities such as the Like on project and the vision that it offers on all current and future projects.
  • You can make annual interviews with the tool and know their motivations And their training wishes
  • In short, the software helps you get them done Make progress And the build loyaltyΒ 

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Offering personalized career plans plays a major role in motivation, The investment And the Loyalty of your employees, who feel recognized at their fair value and therefore increase their operational performance.

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The benefits of a solution like Napta

So, once your Staffing tool in hand, you will be able to:

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βœ… Accurately track certifications on the platform

βœ… Assign the right collaborators to the right projects

βœ… Help employees progress and retain them

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Set up a software dedicated to Staffing management And skills Guarantees you a significant impact on your performance. You will finally be able to link skills management with operational challenges of your business, and thus, meet the requirements of all emerging trends.

You will notice real improvements in terms of motivation and quality of the services provided internally.

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That's good!

That's Napta's promise: to help organizations by project mode to maximize the commitment and performance of their employees, by facilitating informed, transparent and human project planning.

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Do you want to go deeper into the subject? We have lots of resources at your disposal to help you go further.

In addition to this subject, find our white paper”What metrics should you follow to properly manage your staffing and improve your decision-making?”.

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Also discover our guides, templates and checklists in the Resources tab.

See you soon at Napta!

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