• Christian Müller, Chief Financial Officer at Moss


• 23.02.2023 05:45 am
#finace #accounting

The global skills shortage is undoubtedly a topic amongst many businesses' boardrooms of late, and reality is hitting hard as three-quarters (75%) of companies confirm that they can't find the skills they need – a 16-year high. 

This figure is even more shocking in the UK, with 78% of companies struggling to hire the right people, 3% more than the global average.

Finding and retaining talent has been a thorn in the sides of organisations worldwide for the last few years, heightened by the global pandemic, which prompted workers to reflect and rethink their careers. 

Many employees realised that the 'old' ways of working crazy hours with little work-life balance were not the life they wished to lead, amounting to a hefty handing in of notices and a hunt for better flexible and remote working practices, more generous benefits and an overall focus on work-life balance and wellbeing. 

Employee priorities have certainly shifted, and it has become more apparent than ever that piquing interest from potential candidates is about more than just the brand. In today's competitive labour market, a positive end-to-end experience is no longer a 'nice to have' for employees or even a priority but a non-negotiable.

Recent research reveals that CFOs at the most prominent British companies are already battening down the hatches in preparation for a recession, adding even more hurdles to the hiring challenge.

Towards the end of 2022, it was reported that accounting and finance were among the top seven most challenging roles to fill. So the big question is, what more can finance leaders do to attract professionals to the team and, most importantly, keep them? 

Introducing automation, digital taxation, transaction visibility, and streamlined invoice management not only creates enormous benefits for businesses but frees up finance and accounting staff to do what they do best. 

This article will examine the rise of spend management platforms and how businesses can make themselves more attractive to finance and account candidates by empowering them with new digital tools.

Understanding the skills shortage and its impact on accounting 

The finance and accounting industry relies heavily on skilled workers and, as such, has been struck by the need for more available talent. Almost a third (30%) of financial services workers say they need more digital and technological skills.

Several factors have contributed to the skills gap across the sector, from macro trends like digital transformation to demographic changes and shifting mindsets towards careers. 

Unfortunately, the future of finance teams looks gloomier still, as many predict the gap will widen further as we see the effects of a declining birthrate and increasing numbers of senior executives taking early retirement. And with more than 700,000 over-50s having left the workforce since the pandemic hit, this has taken a considerable career's worth of skills and experience away from the industry.

Adding more fuel to the fire yet are the rising digital expectations of customers. Nowadays, clients expect and demand the most up-to-date tools and techniques. As client requests shift towards a more digitalised accountancy service, many firms need help to keep their heads above water and stay afloat with their tech-savvy SME customers. 

This has led to finance leaders feeling the strain to fill an already widening skills gap amongst teams, not just with the tools required to attract a new crop of business but to ensure they have the right staff with the right skills to complement these tools and allow them to operate at their fullest potential.

Hiring and recruiting digitally literate candidates is a task that has yet to be mastered. According to new research from Deloitte, despite CFOs reporting an easing of recruitment difficulties, almost a third say their businesses experienced severe or significant recruitment difficulties or labour shortages. With this in mind, it will be critical to empower existing teams with the tools they need to adapt to a changing workplace. 

With the arrival of digital payments, the demand for AI-based accounting software has increased. As a result, many new, easy-to-use solutions have entered the market, using emerging technologies – AI included. These tools are set to change the face of accounting operations through automation, delivering efficiencies, reducing errors and optimising workflows. According to our research, more than half (57%) of accounting professionals predict that accountancy will become automated within the next few years.

Technology can help firms need help to secure more dynamic skill sets. But from a hiring perspective, it can also assist in making themselves more attractive to skilled workers by simply making their work lives more manageable. One such technology is the spend management platform.

The rise of spend management platforms 

Spurred by the rapid change in business payments, spend management platforms are becoming increasingly popular for businesses of all shapes and sizes - particularly in the context of rising costs and drying market liquidity.

These platforms seek to digitise and automate finance processes, such as receipt capture and expense reporting, that have traditionally been handled manually by finance teams. 

Essentially, there is a massive opportunity for efficiency gains that can give companies valuable time to focus on their core business needs. For employees, this means the ability to spend time on more meaningful, analytical, and value-add tasks that lead to greater job satisfaction in the long run.

Whilst almost a third (32%) of finance professionals confirm that their greatest issue with spend management is data accuracy, there has been significant interest in implementing a solution that works reliably to solve major pain points for finance teams.

For example, through a smart spend management platform, issuing corporate cards to employees has always been a challenge. Still, virtual cards can be created in seconds for any employee who is expected to have a business expense.

These cards may be customised for limit, purpose, expiry, and vendor. At any time, a finance team can see who is spending how much and for what purpose - both at the individual card level and the company level. 

This means that getting cards in the hands of employees is easier without loss of control or visibility, which for many employees, is a highly revered perk. According to a survey from Divvy, a spend management solution in the US, 25% more employees agreed with the phrase "my company empowers its employees" after being issued a company card.

In a new era of modern, innovative spend management solutions, all spend processes - from invoicing to reimbursements to card issuance - can be brought into one platform. 

And by combining the right tech with the right talent, companies can ensure they have the best processes in place whilst ensuring they remain attractive to the skilled pool of workers and retain those they already have.