Overcoming the Nonprofit Accountant Shortage
The accountant shortage has made it significantly harder for nonprofits to attract and retain skilled accounting staff. This hurts organizations’ ability to engage in financial planning, provide accurate financial reports to funders, get a clean audit, and otherwise maintain good financial health.
Fortunately, 501(c)3s can overcome this shortage in ways that can quickly pay for themselves.
Retaining Skilled Accountants
The accountant shortage makes retaining exceptional staff crucial. The cost and difficulty of finding suitable replacements should make holding onto them a top priority. Bend over backwards to keep your talented accountants, as turnover could cost you much, much more.
This bears repeating: If you already have good accountants on staff, it will typically pay for itself many times over to invest in competitive pay, good tools, and other areas described below.
Offer Competitive Pay and Benefits
To attract and retain top accounting talent, nonprofits must provide competitive compensation packages. Additionally, enticing benefits and opportunities for professional development can make the difference between a talented accountant choosing your organization or another.
If you already offer health and dental insurance, consider adding disability and life insurance. These cost relatively little and can add significant value to many candidates because they can provide significant peace of mind and have a very high price to purchase privately.
Generous paid leave and paid holidays can also make your nonprofit attractive. More and more people put a high value on time spent with friends, family, relaxing, or other pursuits outside the office.
Cultivate a Healthy Culture
A positive work environment plays a pivotal role in employee satisfaction and retention. Nurture a healthy culture that fosters collaboration, open communication, and appreciation for employees' contributions. A supportive culture can go a long way towards keeping accountants engaged and committed to your organization's mission.
Prioritize Work-Life Balance
Recognize the importance of work-life balance in the well-being of your accountants. Avoid overloading them with excessive work hours or unreasonable demands, as it can lead to burnout and reduced productivity. Strive to strike a balance between fulfilling organizational needs and supporting employees' personal lives. If their routine duties require 60 hours of work, then you’re asking one person to do the work of 1 1/2 people.
Pro tip: work-life balance does not have to cost an arm and a leg. If your accounting and finance staff have good tools (see below), that can help them accomplish more in less time for a fraction of the price of adding staff.
Right-Size Responsibilities
Avoid expecting accountants to be "Swiss Army Knives" with a wide range of unrelated responsibilities. Clearly define roles and responsibilities, allowing accountants to focus on their core expertise and align their duties accordingly. Overburdening them with unrelated tasks can lead to inefficiency and dissatisfaction.
I frequently find organizations who have a “Chief Financial Officer” performing basic clerical duties, like paying bills, on a routine basis. If that person truly has CFO skills, then the nonprofit either pays them too much to do bookkeeping work or has massive risk of their CFO getting hired away for peanuts.
Invest in Good Tools
Equip your accountants with the right tools to excel in their roles. Ensure they have access to dependable computers, high-speed internet connections, and reliable accounting software. These tools can streamline their work, boost productivity, and make their tasks more manageable.
Pro tip: this investment frequently pays for itself through improved productivity, morale, and retention.
Outsource Part-Time Functions
Too often I’ll see organizations with just one accountant who also has hands-on responsibility for such things as human resources, technology, facilities, and more. If all those depend on the accountant’s own skills for successful execution, then you have a ticking time bomb on your hands. Staying up to date on any one of those fields can take a full-time commitment, so this will either create a lot of stress for your accountant or something important will slip through their fingers sooner or later.
Consider outsourcing certain functions, such as CFO services, HR, and Managed IT, on a part-time basis. This approach can provide specialized expertise without the need for full-time, in-house staff. By tapping into external resources, your organization can access top-tier skills without overburdening your existing accountants.
Pro tip: Seasonal surges to cover the year-end close, audit, and NICRA calculations can also burn out your accounting staff. Seasonal staffing can prevent these needs from becoming the proverbial “straw that broke the camel’s back.”
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