Industry Insights

A New Zealand company has developed a test for prospective accountants that can identify whether they are “backroom number-crunchers or strategic business advisers”.

What do you do when two outstanding candidates are vying for the same position at your firm and they have been neck and neck throughout the recruitment process, how do you decide which person to hire? Here are four strategies to consider:

To our male readers, thanks for opening rather than deleting this one after reading the subject line. This isn’t a twittersphere pointless rant on gender, but rather the findings of extensive research that could be putting fifty percent of the job seeking population off applying for your vacancy based on the words and phrases you use in your job advertisements and position descriptions. Accountants and bookkeepers are hard enough to find already, without unconsciously removing half of the applicant pool, so keep this article handy whenever you’re writing job advertisements.

Trust as the backbone of ethics in business is explored in the 2019 Edelman Trust Barometer Report and gives some fascinating insights into trust, specifically in the workplace. Transparency and ethical practice are front of mind for customers and colleagues alike.

Want to see if Accountests will work for your firm? Click on the button for a FREE trial - use it on a candidate or get one of your staff to give i...

Starting a conversation about under performance is never easy. Acknowledging the role you play in this person’s success (or otherwise) is crucial to setting the stage for a constructive discussion

Guest author Ed Chan from Wize Mentoring walks us through the 3 top principles to get the best out of your accounting staff. This is the key to working ON your business and not IN it.

Hilary Briggs shines a timely light into the perplexing subject of whether to invest in Team Building during tough economic times, and recommends an effective approach to match budgets and circumstances

In a candidate short market, the increasing time pressures and lack of talent are forcing some quick hiring decisions. But lowering the standards of your selection process is not the solution. Selecting the wrong candidate costs more than time and money. As one firm owner recently found out, bypassing valuable steps in the hiring process cost him not just money, but time, reputation, and even his own wellbeing.

Maintaining a robust selection process with choosy candidates in a labour shortage is just another day in the challenges of management. Here’s a guide for landing great selection decisions in a tough job market.

With the working lives of so many impacted by COVID-19, it’s understandable that candidates’ priorities are changing too. Adjusting your approach can help you to attract talent despite industry challenges. Here’s a look at what to consider, and how to ensure your people strategy stays strong.

How many interviews are too many? Who else needs to be involved in the decision?  How long do I keep a candidate waiting? In a world where your candidate is also a fully engaged social media commentator & quite often a customer too, here’s some practical yet essential steps to follow to avoid abusing candidates and getting the negative reviews that some employers thoroughly deserve.