By Jessica Mudditt

With labour shortages making it difficult to attract and retain skilled accountants and auditors, some firms are trying new things to create an appealing employee value proposition. Three firms explain the secrets of their success.

In 2021, Auckland accounting firm BetterCo received a job application through a direct message on Instagram. A senior accountant had looked at the firm’s profile and liked what she saw: its posts were about client wins, its social club and podcast, staff volunteering activities and some of its financial products.

“We weren’t actually hiring at the time, but we said to her, ‘Let’s bring you in for an interview because you’re so proactive,” says BetterCo director Alister Siew CA, whose firm took out Xero’s NZ Advisory Partner of the Year Award in 2022. “She has been with us for a year and she’s one of our star employees.”

Siew has long believed the way BetterCo projects itself in its online presence is important and one of the reasons why there is a waitlist of professionals hoping to join its high performing team.

“These days, we know that people are looking for purpose in a firm. We practise what we preach every day and that brings in a lot of good applicants,” he says.
BetterCo promotes continuous improvement and learning, and gives its team members the space to try new things and make mistakes. “We’re up with technology, but we have a human element as well. We care about Kiwi businesses,” he says.

Some of BetterCo’s clients have built their wealth in emerging sectors, such as non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and trading cryptocurrencies, and some are as young as 18. Meeting the needs of gen Z requires a different approach, explains Siew.

“They are demanding. They want the best possible customer experience and I don’t blame them because giants like Uber, YouTube, Amazon and Netflix have conditioned them to expect immediate answers. They want the information at their fingertips. It has allowed me to dissect our customer journey and to identify any bottlenecks or pain points.”

Brevity is also crucial. A lengthy email with a detailed spreadsheet from a BetterCo accountant is likely to get a one-word reply of ‘TLDR’ (the acronym for: too long didn’t read).

Instead, BetterCo uses apps such as Loom to exchange pre-recorded videos containing instructions. If a client has questions, the team member will jump on Slack or Discord to answer them.

“We use Loom for pretty much every aspect of our client touch points, including accepting proposals, onboarding and welcome emails,” says Siew. “We also use it to talk through our clients’ numbers and their monthly results. We use it for business coaching too.”

BetterCo only reverts to emails for formalised proposals to meet compliance requirements.

“Can you imagine if you wanted to order an Uber, you’d need to write a letter to their office before they’d send a cab over? It sounds absurd, right? Sending an email to the next generation could be seen in the same way. Gen Z and alpha expect an omni-channel style of quick communications.”

“Gen Z and alpha expect an omni-channel style of quick communications.”

Siew’s first client at BetterCo was Shane Liu, founder of Sumthin Dumplin in Auckland.

“Back in 2018, he came to me and said, ‘I’m going to quit my job as a marketing manager tomorrow. I’ve got this cool idea to do a modern take on dumplings with ingredients like tofu and truffles using my mum’s recipe.”

Siew helped Liu build a thriving business that has expanded to a chain of four outlets. His client also recently purchased something of a dream car: a Range Rover. “He’s a true entrepreneur and it’s been a fun journey,” says Siew.

Pictured: Alister Siew CA (left), director of BetterCo has been advising founder of Sumthin Dumplin, Shane Liu since day one

Businesses that adapt will see growth

In 2022, Siew joined other chartered accountants for a panel discussion at XeroCon 2022 in Sydney. Facilitated by head of accounting for Xero and a Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand councillor Sue Pak FCA, the panellists discussed using innovative techniques to build engaging work cultures where employees can thrive.

The truth is, accounting firms in New Zealand and Australia are facing acute skills shortages and are struggling to attract and retain young workers. The reopening of international borders has been too slow to meet existing demand for accountants and auditors, and firms struggling to hire talent are finding their growth plans hampered as a result.

“The key challenge I’ve heard from CA firms this year is a lack of capacity,” says Pak. “Three contributing themes are evident: insufficient time, difficulties finding the right talent and the need to evolve skills as technology and client expectations change,” she says.

But Pak says it’s not all doom and gloom. Some firms are responding by doubling down efforts to satisfy their existing teams by offering more flexibility, well-articulated career paths and extra training around soft skills such as communications. Others are outsourcing certain functions to gain efficiency. “Some have invested heavily in culture and values, others have worked on empowering their team, creating a psychologically safe environment for more junior members to spearhead new things,” she says.

Pak adds that streamlining processes by using automation and apps, and other forms of digital tech, teams can focus on higher value work. This in turn helps to attract top graduates as they enter the workforce.

Everyone’s in it together

When Aly Garrett FCA set up All In Advisory in 2018, she wanted to replicate the best parts of the work culture she experienced at Deloitte, which she applauds for having a fantastic work culture.

She also sought to avoid some of the not-so-great work cultures at other organisations she had come across over the years.

All In Advisory regularly receives unsolicited job applications and last year the firm won Xero Cloud Champion of the Year. Clearly, Garrett is doing something right.

Pictured: Founder of All In Advisory Aly Garrett FCA at Adelaide restaurant and bar Fino Vino with co-owners Sharon Romeo and chef David Swain (pictured from left)

She attributes part of her firm’s success to a careful selection process. Choosing people who are the right fit for the culture is more important than whether they possess the technical skills. Garrett recently hired a trained teacher because she needed an excellent communicator. The new recruit received on-the-job training.

Garrett’s workforce of 10 people are all aged under 35 and one of the things she has noticed is there is no enforced distinction between work and personal lives. This resonates with Garrett. “My Instagram page is a mix of my family life and my work life. I don’t separate it,” she says. “We keep it real and we’re authentic at work. We allow space and safety for people to be their real selves.”

Garrett has observed that gen Y and gen Z have slightly different motivations. Gen Y are seeking new opportunities at work and gen Z are more focused on gaining new experiences. “They both want opportunities for their development and advancement,” she says, adding storytelling helps with communication.

To foster advancement Garrett works with her team to develop a career plan to ensure staff make the most of the time they spend at All In Advisory and it also means having a highly engaged team.

“Don’t put them in a box and keep them there. Give them opportunities and experiences.”

During the COVID-19 lockdowns, Garrett worked with her client Sharon Romeo of restaurant and bar, Fino Vino, to help rejig her business strategy. The business emerged at the end of lockdowns with revenues intact and Romeo recently won the Gourmet Traveller Restaurant Personality of the Year award. “I engage with [Fino Vino] on why they are doing it and empower them to get there. It’s not just about the numbers. We are the ghostwriters to their financial story,” says Garrett.

Mostly for farmers

Accounting firm Stem Rural is located in the North Island in the small town – population 9780 – of Te Puke, self-described as the ‘kiwifruit capital of the world’, so its clients are mostly farmers.

“We’re fairly laid back. We reflect the nature of the people we deal with,” says director Trudi Ballantyne FCA. “Some of our clients leave their gumboots at the door – that sort of thing.

Pictured: Trudi  Ballantyne FCA, Stem Rural

“We’re fairly laid back. We reflect the nature of the people we deal with.”

“We’re not like a city firm where we’re all dressed up in suits. We want our clients to feel comfortable when they’re here.”

Ballantyne recognises that work takes up a big chunk of peoples’ lives, so she wants Stem Rural to be a place where her team of 12 enjoy being there. Staff can work from home if circumstances necessitate it – such as having a sick child – but are otherwise expected to work from the office. “We want a culture where people want to come to work and feel comfortable being here. Being able to bounce ideas off one another is important,” she says. “If someone’s got a problem or can’t figure something out, we have what we call a ‘pop quiz’ where everyone gathers into the breakout area.”

Stem Rural introduced the six-hour workday four years ago as a way to entice talented employees to make the 30-minute drive out from the closest main town of Tauranga.

Employees are paid for a 7.5 hour workday and are encouraged to shave off any unproductive time from their day in order to fulfil their client duties. Chatting in the tearoom for half an hour is out. Instead, the team carves out social time to get to know each other on a personal level. They spend one Tuesday after work each month doing an activity: it could be taking a walk in a park or playing pool or darts.

And every three years, Stem Rural takes its employees and their partners on an all-expenses paid weekend retreat. “This is part of our culture: it’s about getting to know people and their partners too,” says Ballantyne. “The partners need to be onboard with our culture, strategy and vision. It just makes life easier.”

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