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How 3 firms tackle the audit talent crunch

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Summary

Accounting firms across the US are facing staffing shortages, so three firms have implemented strategies to tackle the talent crunch. These strategies include nontraditional career paths, international expansions, and automation. Cherry Bekaert has a dedicated team to address staffing concerns, Moss Adams has a personalized approach to how and where professionals work, and Dannible & McKee has nonpartner tracks for professionals who don't want a path to partnership. They are also expanding their recruitment options by focusing on students from underrepresented communities, opening an office in India, and investing in technology tools. Automation is a key element in the AICPA's Dynamic Audit Solution and is helping firms to enhance productivity and minimize staff time spent on repetitive work.

Q&As

What strategies are firms using to tackle the audit talent crunch?
Firms are using nontraditional career paths, international expansions, and automation to tackle the audit talent crunch.

What are some of the approaches to enhance audit team member engagement and retention?
Firms are providing coaches and career advisers, offering resources on working in a hybrid environment and gaining better work/life balance, allowing staff to get involved in areas they love, and giving people more ownership and responsibility for their careers.

How can firms expand their recruitment options?
Firms can focus on students in underrepresented communities, develop partnerships with organizations such as Junior Achievement, and expand their borders by opening an office in India.

How are firms utilizing technology to improve audit processes?
Automation is being used to enhance productivity and minimize staff time spent on repetitive work, improve on random sampling to quickly identify clear risks, map trial balances, and ingest general ledger data seamlessly and easily.

What career paths are available for auditors besides the partner track?
Nonpartner tracks, principal roles, director roles, shareholder roles, income partner roles, nonequity partner roles, partial equity owner roles, and transitional roles are available for auditors besides the partner track.

AI Comments

👍 This article provides a comprehensive overview of the strategies firms are using to tackle the audit talent crunch and ensure they have the best talent to provide their services.

👎 This article could have gone into more detail about how the firms are utilizing automation to reduce staff hours and increase efficiency.

AI Discussion

Me: It's about how three firms are tackling the audit talent crunch. They use nontraditional career paths, international expansions, and automation.

Friend: That's interesting. What implications does the article have for the accounting industry?

Me: Well, it suggests that firms need to look to the horizon and start implementing strategies now to bring in more accounting graduates and manage recruitment, retention, and career development of audit talent. The article also suggests that firms need to be flexible in their approach to career paths, and create non-partner tracks for those who don't want to become partners. They also need to focus on recruiting students from diverse backgrounds and expanding their global presence to tap into new talent pools. Finally, they need to invest in technology to automate repetitive tasks and make the audit process more efficient.

Action items

Research and implement nontraditional career paths for audit professionals.
Develop partnerships with organizations that promote awareness of accounting among high school and college students.
Invest in technology tools to automate repetitive tasks and improve efficiency.

Technical terms

Nontraditional career paths: Career paths that are not the traditional route of working up to a partner position.
International expansions: Expanding a business to other countries.
Automation: The use of technology to automate processes and tasks.
Audit talent crunch: A shortage of qualified auditors.
Junior Achievement: An organization that educates children about entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial literacy.
Center for Audit Quality’s Bold Ambition program: A program that promotes awareness of accounting among high school and college students.
Dynamic Audit Solution: A fully integrated software application that incorporates a new risk and data-driven methodology to transform the financial statement audit.
CPE Self-Study: Continuing Professional Education self-study courses.
HR Functions: Human Resources functions such as recruiting, onboarding, payroll administration, compliance, and benefits management.