How to Hire an Accountant? [Steps & Evaluation Criteria]
To successfully run a company, you require an experienced Accountant who can provide immense value through financial strategies and guidance. An Accountant provides valuable financial insights, strategic guidance, and analytical support that help a business operate efficiently and reach its full potential.
However, hiring the right Accountant requires a strategic process. This includes identifying your needs to attract top talent through a well-crafted job description and choosing the right candidate with both technical and interpersonal skills. In this blog, we will cover how to hire an Accountant along with their essential technical expertise and soft skills to be a perfect match for your needs.
What Does an Accountant Do?
Accountants play a vital role in ensuring the financial stability and welfare of businesses and organizations. Some of their key responsibilities include:
- Ensuring financial stability and compliance with regulations.
- Analyzing, recording, and interpreting financial data.
- Offering advice on finance matters.
- Providing financial expertise for decision-making and profit optimization.
- Handling taxes, audits, analysis, statements, planning, and record-keeping.
- Identifying opportunities for cost savings and revenue growth.
How To Hire an Accountant?
Hiring a competent Accountant is key to managing your company’s financial health. Follow these steps to find the right accounting professional for your needs.
Step 1: Define Why You Need an Accountant
When hiring an Accountant for your business, it is important to keep the following points in mind:
- Determine your accounting needs (record keeping, taxes, advising).
- Find an Accountant that specializes in the areas you wish to hire. This could be managing financial records, tax preparation, or providing strategic financial advice.
- Choose someone with experience in your industry and make sure their work style fits your needs (Staff Accountant, Investment Accountant, Auditor).
Step 2: Write a Job Description
Crafting a detailed and appealing Accountant job description is an essential step of the hiring process. A well-written job description conveys the key details of the role and helps attract qualified applicants. Follow these tips when drafting your Accountant job description:
- Clearly explain the core responsibilities of the Accountant role, such as financial reporting, budgeting, payroll, taxes, audits, etc.
- List the hard and soft skills you require, like attention to detail, communication, teamwork, customer service, etc.
- Specify your preferred qualifications and certifications, such as a CPA license, Bachelor’s degree in Accounting or Finance, years of experience, etc.
- Highlight your company culture and the aspects of the role that make it rewarding.
- Provide additional details like location, salary range, and benefits.
Step 3: Use a Job Portal or Seek an Accounting Firm
When deciding how to hire an Accountant, there are two primary ways to attract qualified candidates; these include:
- Post the job description on popular online job boards like Internshala, LinkedIn, or your company’s website to reach a wide pool of potential applicants directly. This allows you to screen candidates yourself based on qualifications.
- Partner with an established accounting firm to access their network of seasoned accounting professionals. The firm pre-vets candidates based on experience and skills.
You can choose the sourcing method that best suits your hiring needs in terms of time, resources, and candidate qualifications.
Step 4: Review Applicants’ Technical and Soft Skills
When assessing how to hire an Accountant for a small business, it is important to assess both their technical skills and soft skills. On the technical side, evaluate the candidate’s knowledge of accounting principles and experience with accounting software.
Some of the technical skills you can look for include:
- Proficiency in financial reporting methods and standards.
- Understanding of tax laws and ability to ensure compliance.
- Experience with accounting software programs.
- Ability to report and prepare financial statements.
- Ability to use specialized spreadsheet software, like Excel.
- Knowledge of tax preparation software, such as ProConnect, Lacerte, and Drake.
- Ability to conduct internal and external audits.
Some of the soft skills you can look for include:
- Strong communication abilities for explaining complex financial data.
- Attention to detail to minimize errors.
- Problem-solving skills to address financial issues.
- Interpersonal skills to collaborate with various stakeholders.
Step 5: Ask the Right Interview Questions
To understand how to find an Accountant, it’s important to assess their performance and ask the right accounting interview questions. Inform them about their technical skills and problem-solving abilities. Ask specific scenario-based questions that allow them to demonstrate these abilities.
Some of the questions you can ask potential candidates are given below.
- Can you tell me about a time when you made an error in Accounting or Finance? How did you fix it?
- What was the most difficult hurdle you faced as an Accountant and how did you overcome it?
- Which Accounting software are you familiar with and can use without any trouble?
- What types of financial reports do you create regularly?
- Share your experience about how you dealt with a complicated work situation and explain how effectively managed it.
Step 6: Select and Onboard
A well-structured onboarding process helps ensure a smooth transition for the candidates. Providing training, clear communication, and support when onboarding new staff will allow you to equip them with the necessary skills. Keep the following points in mind while onboarding candidates:
For training and communication:
- Review company policies, procedures, and expectations.
- Provide hands-on training for accounting software and systems.
- Explain their job duties and responsibilities.
- Introduce to team members and establish open lines of communication.
- Assign a mentor for ongoing guidance and advice.
- Encourage questions and feedback.
For support:
- Check on them regularly to ensure understanding and address challenges.
- Provide additional resources or training as needed.
- Build relationships to integrate into team culture.
Conclusion
To enhance your business, it is essential to learn how to hire an Accountant. Accountants play a critical role in securing the financial stability and prosperity of your business. Choosing the right Accountant involves defining what your financial needs are, creating a comprehensive job description, and evaluating their technical abilities and interpersonal skills. With these steps, you will be able to land a competent Accountant for your team.
Hire talent from Internshala by posting jobs for free. Also, check out strategies for sourcing candidates in India.
