Episode 51

full
Published on:

18th Jul 2024

Freelance Staffing: Recruitment 2.0 for Accounting Firms

Is your accounting firm struggling to find talent? Could freelancers be the solution you've been overlooking?

Rob Brown interviews Jeff Phillips, CEO of AccountingFly, about the critical role freelancers play in winning the war for talent in the accounting world. Jeff reveals that a staggering 30% of the labor force now identifies as freelance, and this trend is rapidly reshaping the landscape of knowledge work, including accounting.

Jeff introduces the concept of the "talent stack," a new approach to building modern accounting firms. This strategy involves compressing the traditional organizational pyramid and supplementing core full-time staff with offshore talent and freelancers. 

Jeff also discusses three types of freelance arrangements: interim, fractional, and project-based, each serving different needs within accounting firms. Throughout the conversation, Jeff addresses common concerns about hiring freelancers, such as maintaining brand consistency and data security, while offering practical solutions to mitigate these risks.

Key Takeaways:

✓ 30% of the labor force identifies as freelance

✓ The "talent stack" concept for modern accounting firms

✓ Three types of freelance arrangements: interim, fractional, and project-based

✓ Mitigating risks when hiring freelancers through clear expectations and SOPs

✓ Freelancers as business owners seeking to build their brand and deliver excellent work 

Quotes:

"You can't win the race for talent without hiring freelancers." - Jeff Phillips

"Your new talent stack is a combination of central full-time people who might be in the office or might be remote, supported by project-based freelance interim staff." - Jeff Phillips

SHOW DETAILS HERE

You can watch this specific episode on our YouTube Channel here: https://youtu.be/8q_TRj7-k6Q

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This is the Accounting Talent Podcast, dropping every Thursday to accounting professionals, finance specialists, software vendors, tech providers and influencers in the accountancy, CPA and bookkeeping space. If you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore.

The Accounting Influencers Roundtable (AIR) runs regular international virtual speed networking events to build your personal brand and make valuable industry connections network in the accounting, finance and tech world: Book your place at our next gathering here: https://accountinginfluencers.com/events

More Accounting Influencers content here:

https://www.youtube.com/@accountinginfluencers for all of our podcast episodes

https://www.linkedin.com/company/accountinginfluencers for our events and posts

Thanks to our sponsors:

ACCOUNTINGFLY. Accountingfly connects employers with top U.S.-based accounting talent through a variety of services including dedicated searches, Always-On Recruiting, and freelance placements for seasonal or temporary needs. They specialize in remote accounting recruitment, recognizing early on the significant advantages that remote work offers to employers, job-seekers, and their own operations. They pride themselves on their track record of matching the right candidates with the right opportunities and building a robust team of industry experts. Additionally, their partnership with Going Concern—an esteemed source for accounting news and insights—further enhances their ability to stay on the cutting edge of remote recruiting by tapping into a natural pipeline of job seekers.

TOA GLOBAL. TOA helps you hire elite talent for your accounting firm. Join thousands of leading firms empowering their teams with job-ready outsourced accountants & bookkeepers. They work to unlock your firm’s potential with strategic accounting outsourcing services. The "TOA Global Difference" is simple - build a flexible, scalable outsourced accounting team to align with your firm now and as you grow. Crush the talent crisis and outsmart your competitors by adding highly skilled accounting professionals to your firm faster. Permanently increase your firm’s capacity with a dedicated outsourced accounting team in weeks, not months. Access elite professionals and discover a hidden pool of elite accounting talent ready to enable your firm’s growth with additional capacity. Build a dedicated team of highly skilled outsourced accountants and bookkeepers for your firm today.https://toaglobal.com

If you'd like to sponsor the show and elevate your brand with our audience, reach out to show host Rob Brown on LinkedIn and his team will reach out to fix up a chat to explore.

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About the Podcast

Accounting Talent Podcast
Exploring talent, people, recruitment, retention and succession in the accounting profession with high level panels, expert interviews, commentary and insights.
The ACCOUNTING TALENT PODCAST is hosted by Rob Brown, co-founder of the Accounting Influencers Roundtable (AIR) along with Jeff Phillips of AccountingFly and Going Concern. The show explores talent, people, culture, employer brand, recruitment, retention and succession in the accounting profession with high level panels, expert interviews, commentary and insights. Key topics include soft skills, examinations, qualifications, leadership, mental wellbeing, the brand of the profession, employee value propositions, engagement, capacity and headcount in accountancy firms, career development, HR, L&D, the great resignation, quiet quitting and a range of talent issues in accounting.

Host Rob Brown is a renowned presenter, facilitator and chair of high-level conferences, panels and events globally for the accounting and fintech profession. He is also a dynamic speaker and accomplished expert on trust, reputation, employer brand, talent, career development, succession, gen z/generations, employee advocacy and executive presence. https://www.linkedin.com/in/therobbrown/
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About your host

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Rob Brown

Rob Brown hosts the multiple accounting podcast and chair conferences, panels and events globally for the accounting and fintech profession. He is co-founder of Accounting Influencers Roundtable (AIR) which helps vendors, experts and influencers serve the accounting and finance world. He is a dynamic speaker and accomplished expert on trust, reputation, employer brand, talent, career development, succession, gen z/generations, employee advocacy and executive presence. Rob is author of the bestselling book Build Your Reputation (Wiley) and his TEDx talk ‘The Personal Brand of You’ has been viewed 400,000 times on YouTube. He is a stroke survivor, has epilepsy, is a committed Christian and has a black belt in kickboxing. He is based in Nottingham UK, home of Robin Hood, plays chess and backgammon, loves orange chocolate and is allergic to grapefruit.