The accounting and financial industry has one constant – change. Ensuring your teams are always current on regulatory and compliance changes can be challenging.
Ongoing labor shortages and recruitment challenges coupled with overburdened staff is the perfect storm that could see your business unable to meet compliance requirements.
However, with easy access to specialized finance professionals, your business can rest assured that your teams have adequate training and that your business reputation is safe.
Challenges faced in the finance and accounting industry
On the surface, financial departments run without a hitch – but under the surface, CFOs face myriad challenges. Financial leaders’ most significant challenge is finding and recruiting the specialized people they require to ensure the business remains compliant while ensuring day-to-day tasks run smoothly.
Another significant hurdle CFOs and CROs face is keeping financial teams trained and current on the latest regulatory and standards compliance required for the countries they operate in. This knowledge is in addition to all the typical tasks performed by financial teams, including:
- Bookkeeping – Recording and organizing business transactions, as well as ensuring financial records are accurate and up-to-date
- Financial analysis – Identifying trends in financial data to help the business make informed decisions. This work can include creating financial reports and forecasting.
- Tax preparation – Preparing and filing tax returns, ensuring relevant tax law and regulation compliance
- Budgeting – Creating and managing organizational budgets, monitoring expenses and revenues and adjusting where necessary
- Auditing – Reviewing financial records for accuracy and compliance
- Financial planning – Strategy creation and implementation to achieve business financial goals
- Risk management – Identifying and mitigating financial risks to protect business financial stability
- Management accountant – Aiding business leaders in strategic financial planning to increase growth.
Consistent demand peaks
No matter where in the world you operate, demand spikes at specific times during the year. These include:
Tax Season
Tax time varies from country to country. It’s typically the busiest time of year for accounting firms and adds extra pressure on internal business finance teams.
From increased client demand on the accounting firm side to businesses rushing to prepare and file tax returns, double and triple checking for accuracy – as well as potentially producing VAT reports and taking care of fringe benefit tax (FBT) – it’s stressful.
End of the financial year
Like Tax Season, the end of the financial year can vary from business to business. Many coincide with the end of the country’s fiscal year, whereas others align with the calendar year. This period can lead to increased departmental and firm stress as they try to close their books and prepare financial statements.
Other financial demand spikes
All finance departments and accounting firms can prepare for tax season and the end of the financial year – though other unforeseen events could put your teams under additional stress. Ensuring your teams have the proper training for all potential demand spikes is crucial.
Mergers and acquisitions
In many mergers and acquisitions, internal teams aren’t privy to the purchase or acquisition of a company until the last minute. These events require significant financial due diligence, and additional accounting work must be done, putting internal teams under pressure.
Economic changes
Whether the economy begins to boom or we see a recession, accounting and finance services often see an increase in demand for their services. Requirements for an economic change may include:
- Business finance or budget restructuring
- Financial consulting
- Advisory services
Regulatory changes
In most circumstances, you’ll know of upcoming regulatory changes and have plenty of time to prepare for them. An extensive preparation process ensures teams are trained for the latest compliance. During training, accounting firms and finance teams may see a spike in demand as they adapt to changing standards or new software.
Overburdened staff
One of the most critical factors CFOs and CROs must be aware of is the increased stress on internal teams as businesses seek to recruit new team members.
Introducing training to a team already under an overburdened workload can create a breaking point.
Ensuring you have enough people in place at all times, well ahead of seasonal spikes in demand, is critical to ensuring high employee satisfaction while reducing turnover.
Why is training essential in accounting and finance?
Your finance and accounting team is the glue that holds your business together. Ensuring your team members are fully trained and up-to-date on the latest regulatory guidelines is vital to your success. Keeping financial teams trained impacts the following:
- Compliance
Financial compliance is essential for every global business. Awareness of the latest regulations and laws affecting accounting teams should be standard practice for all organizations.
Financial regulations and laws change frequently. Failure to comply can result in financial penalties, legal issues and damage to your brand reputation. - Accuracy
Financial tasks, such as bookkeeping, budgeting and financial planning, require attention to detail and efficient accuracy.
Regular training can help finance teams stay current with best practices and be comfortable using the latest financial technology – improving their accuracy and efficiency.
- Risk management
Managing market and credit risk is part of the finance team’s day-to-day operations. Regular training ensures staff are up-to-date with the latest risk management developments and are aware of appropriate steps to take to manage risk effectively. - Reputation
A business’s financial position directly impacts its reputation. Financial teams are often responsible for managing this. Regular training ensures teams provide accurate information and make sound financial decisions – enhancing the organization’s reputation and financial health. - Professional development
Developing employees is key to promoting from within.
Regular training helps teams develop new skills and advance their careers – helping your business benefit. It also increases job satisfaction and productivity while lowering turnover. It’s a win-win for businesses worldwide.
Outsourcing: The key to hiring highly trained accounting and finance professionals
It’s no secret that hiring is hard right now. The number of open global positions far exceeds the number of job seekers available, and businesses are struggling through time-consuming, often expensive recruitment processes.
Outsourcing is the remedy – pairing remote workers and companies without the resource-heavy recruitment drive.
For more than a decade, Cloudstaff has been instrumental in democratizing access to experienced accounting and finance staff. We partner with global businesses of all sizes, providing the skills and talent they need to thrive.
How does partnering with Cloudstaff help keep your business up-to-date?
Experienced, trained remote staff should be on top of your priority list. There are essentially two ways to ensure your Cloudstaffers are up-to-date on the latest compliance regulations and evolving industry requirements:
- Hiring Cloudstaffers who’ve successfully completed our Fast Track courses:
- Junior Accountant
- Intermediate Accountant
- Junior Bookkeeper
- Intermediate Bookkeeper
- Opt to have your Cloudstaffers attend one or more of our Cloudstaff Academy or Ignite courses
What is Cloudstaff Academy?
Our teams work across the world in various industries. Ensuring we have the training to keep them abreast of industry changes, up-to-date on the latest guidance and knowledgeable about emerging technology is vital. It enables us to support our customers’ growth while providing personal development to our teams.
Cloudstaff Academy is significantly more cost-efficient than other in-house or external training programs for our customers. It adds value to your organization immediately by giving your internal team the time and space to focus on business-critical tasks. In addition, it provides:
- Stronger team retention
- Pathways for skill tracking and assessments
- Peace of mind for compliance
- Individuals who are ready to hit the ground running from day one
Cloudstaff Academy Fast Track courses
Our Fast Track courses provide all the essential knowledge and skills accountants and bookkeepers need to be proficient in their roles.
Industry professionals run our Cloudstaff Academy courses. We regularly update our courses to ensure they cover the evolving industry requirements, software development and the latest compliance and regulatory guidance.
Standard course details:
- 8-week full-time course
- All students must have a qualified degree with 3+ years of experience
- 12-month training bond for eligible participants
- Software certification included
- Students must achieve an 80% minimum pass grade on all module assessments
- Courses are created and led by industry-leading professionals and include:
- Real-world examples using software such as Xero
- Hands-on experience with relevant topics, such as:
- Bank reconciliation
- Invoicing
- Personal and corporate taxation
- Payroll
- Financial statements and reports
- Superannuation and SMSF
- And so much more
Contact us for a brochure for further details.
Regional compliance education
Every country’s compliance and regulatory requirements are different.
We ensure no matter where you operate, our Fast Track graduates have the knowledge needed to support your business’s compliance, protect your reputation and avoid legal or penalty risks.
Solve staff shortages and ensure comprehensive team training with Cloudstaff
We aim to help our customers succeed. Cloudstaff Academy enables our teams to provide the highest accuracy, compliance and productivity levels – helping you meet your business objectives.
Cloudstaff is the industry’s trusted next-generation remote staffing partner. We use top tech, cutting-edge training and expertise to help your business achieve its goals. For more information about Cloudstaff Academy, speak to a member of our team today.