It’s no secret that the Finance and Accounting field is being transformed by technology. In a study from EY (formerly Ernst & Young), 58 percent of Finance leaders are focused on combing leading-edge technologies with process improvement. Furthermore, where organizations once relied on their IT leaders to drive these changes, CFOs are now reporting their increased involvement in the decision-making and adoption of these new technologies. According to EY, there are a number of technologies that significantly impact hiring in the Finance function.

​The Accounting and Finance sector is under an extraordinary amount of pressure to respond to a shifting talent landscape. The root cause of this shift is multi-layered – a combination of generational differences, technological advancements, and economic growth. When it comes to the hard data, CareerBuilder’s Talent Intelligence tool reveals a Hiring Indicator score of 34 for Finance and Accounting positions, which suggests “relative difficulty” in hiring for jobs in the field. Over the past year, there have been just under 1 million job postings in this industry in the U.S., with only 128,609 active candidates. That number is comprised of only 6,387 entry-level candidates and 7,375 candidates with management experience, and represents a 16.3% decrease in candidates year-over-year.

Ask an employee or customer to describe your organization in one sentence and their response is the current state of your employer brand. As the skills shortage in Finance and Accounting increases the difficulty of hiring, corporate image is more important than ever. For business leaders, the top objective of employer branding is to secure high-quality talent to work for their company. When all else is equal, including compensation and benefits, the deciding factor for candidates comes down to an organization’s image. In order to attract Finance professionals with better employer branding, there are a number of steps to take.

​The change currently underway in the makeup of the Finance and Accounting field is nothing short of a total transformation. With 10,000 Baby Boomers retiring each day, a chasm has formed between the most experienced generation and the youngest ones in the workforce or poised to soon enter it. Compounding the industry skills shortage problem, the generational gap in Finance and Accounting must be explored in order to uncover ways to effectively hire in spite of it.

​It’s no secret that Finance and Accounting talent is difficult to locate and even harder to hire. At companies all over the country roles are going unfilled, CFOs are left shorthanded, and over time the shortage begins to effect every department in an organization. Despite the widespread acceptance that there is a problem, very few take the time to investigate the root of why the skills shortage in Finance and Accounting exists and, most importantly, how to solve it.