Finding qualified tax professionals is tough across all industries for a number of reasons. What’s working for and against your company as you work to find the folks to help with your sales tax compliance?
First, realize that you’re not alone. Even though overall employment is expected to hover around its current 4.2% for most of this year, unemployment among accountants has historically been less than half of that. And in this TaxConnex survey of financial professionals, it showed that more than three out of five struggle to attract and retain staff with sales tax expertise.
Another survey indicated that 83% of financial hiring managers believe the talent crisis will continue through 2025, if not longer.
Just as important, around half of respondents to our survey use internal sources to prepare and file returns, calculate sales tax and handle correspondence and notices from tax jurisdictions, and even more (56%) utilize internal resources to track nexus and taxability requirements.
More than a third of respondents (35%) added that the major reason they’re unsatisfied with how they handle sales tax is lack of internal expertise (their biggest subsequent worry: lack of preparedness for a sales tax audit).
The professional staff shortage even in accounting, to name the biggest field almost exclusively dependent on tax and financial experts, is lengthening and growing to legendary status. Factors include the newly mandated (and expensive) years of college; an impression of the field as staid; starting salaries below those of investment banking, private equity or similar fields; and the perceived encroachment of such advanced technology as AI.
Attracting candidates
Good tax help doesn’t come cheap. According to talent and business consulting firm Robert Half, tax specialists can expect to earn some $64,000 a year for the barest entry level to, for the most senior tax managers and directors, well into the six figures annually. These figures obviously vary by region of the country, particular expertise and, especially now, the competition of multiple jobs for one candidate.
Among other trends in tax, accounting and finance:
- About half of finance and accounting managers say hiring quickly enough to land top talent is one of their top recruiting challenges.
- For jobs that can be done remotely, 65% of managers are willing to increase starting salaries for hires to work in the office full- or part-time. Of those, 55% are offering workers up to 20% more to come in four to five days a week.
- Many accountants leave public accounting for a better work-life balance.
Thinking outside stereotypes
To find the right people, you’ll have to think creatively – and toss some of the stereotype ideas of accounting and tax work.
Everybody must file taxes, and once upon a time this requirement created career-long job security for accountants. It also created severe crunch-times of filing in the first quarter and, more lately, the fall of every year. These days accounting professionals may be looking to take their skills to new industries and new kinds of tax – such as sales tax.
When interviewing, think about the work world your candidate might look to leave behind.
- You might point out that sales tax doesn’t generally come with a 70-hour-a-week busy season, allowing for more of that desired work-life balance.
- Firm partnership has been the holy grail for accountants and tax specialists in accounting. Offer them other career paths with a clear road to management, unconventional perks and an opportunity to think outside the box.
You may find your company is more attractive than you think to even a scarce tax pro candidate. Make the right match and neither of you will care as much anymore about the unemployment rate.
As sales tax increasingly becomes more difficult or more of an obligation for your company, don’t let it overwhelm you or your team. Contact TaxConnex to learn what it means when sales tax is all on us.
Publisher: Source link