Retention Strategies for Accountants: How to Hold On To Your Top Talent

There’s a whole bunch of things that have caused some dramatic changes in the financial recruitment market; covid (yes, we’re still going to have to talk about it sometimes), economic uncertainty, political instability. Salaries have surged, but at the same time, businesses are under immense financial pressures, dealing with increased costs and disjointed cash flow.

With what feels like a shortage of qualified finance professionals, business owners and hiring managers must focus on retaining top accountants, rather than solely competing for new hires. It’s more financially viable to keep your current staff happy and up to date with the industry, rather than recruiting someone new. With that in mind, here are our top tips for accountancy employee retention, which will help your business reduce turnover and keep your finance teams engaged and committed.

1. Be competitive: you have to pay your team what they are worth

We’ve seen some whopping salary increases across the sector, particularly for newly qualified accountants. A decade ago, salaries for these candidates ranged from £38k to £45k; today, they’re commanding between £50k and £58k. You need to recognise this shift. Avoid lowballing external hires – if you want the best talent, you’re going to have to pay for it. You also need to make sure your internal salaries keep pace with market rates, or else your loyal employees who know the ins and outs of your business will start looking elsewhere. Working with expert finance recruiters on salary benchmarking exercises can help make your key talent more secure, and they’ll be able to give you tips on retaining top accountants.

2. Get with (flexible start and end) times: flexibility and hybrid working are here to stay

You’ve heard it all before, but the pandemic entirely reshaped workplace expectations and put work-life balance at the top of a lot of people’s priority lists. Offering hybrid options where possible and providing adjustable start and finish times to your finance team will encourage employee loyalty. There’s also the fact that we see many talented accountants seeking four-day workweeks or condensed hours to help balance their lives. These are all things to think about when considering employee retention.

3. Don’t be basic: benefits matter these days

Attracting candidates in the first place is hard enough; when you’ve got them through the door, you want to keep them there. Polish your benefits packages – your employees expect more than just a paycheck. Consider benefits such as a minimum of 25 days of holiday (anything less can be unappealing), private medical insurance and mental health support, robust pension contributions, enhanced maternity and paternity leave for companies with the resources to support working parents, and initiatives to help people prevent stress and burnout. Your employees are your biggest asset, so look after them – it can be the biggest way of reducing accountant turnover.

4. Plan for progress: make progression and succession plans

Your finance team want to be able to see a future with their organisation, and if you fail to provide clear progression opportunities, you’re really at risk of losing your top talent to competitors who will. Start with structured career paths that are individual to each hire, and encouraging internal promotions to those who’ve grown and developed in their role will help retaining top accountants in the long term.

5. And the rest: more tips to help with reducing accountant turnover

What else can you do to keep hold of your hard won finance talent? Investing in technology will help streamline processes, and making sure you’ve got sufficient resource in your team will make workloads manageable. Encouraging your team to share ideas will encourage innovation and process improvements – people work well in environments where feedback and new ideas are welcome, and change-resistant culture can drive talented professionals elsewhere.

In today's competitive finance job market, you really can’t afford to lose your best finance talent. Reducing accountant turnover requires a combination of things, and tactics that includes competitive salaries, flexible working, strong leadership, and a commitment to employee well-being. By implementing these strategies, you can attract, retain, and develop the best accounting talent for your team, helping you ensure long term stability, happy staff and commercial success.