Finding a qualified and professionally competent accountant for your business is a very important step, as the accountant that you hire will become a part of the team as well as your organization and will therefore have to play a key role to add value and manage the books and help you grow your business.

The process of looking for an accountant is not a simple one, there needs to be a systematic approach based on the role, duties and the responsibilities that the accountant will be required to take on in the organization. Employers need to keep in mind that the accountancy profession is a broad based profession with different competencies and specializations. it is possible to hire entry level and mid tier level accountants who can handle most o the book keeping, finance and accounting related roles but for specialized planning and decision making roles the employers will need to carefully weigh and consider their options.

For this reason, the selection criteria will depend on the type of service required along with a few other factors that should also be carefully considered.

Financial Statement Preparation

If a business published financial statements then the services of a professionally qualified accountant will be required, ideally the accountant should be affiliated with a recognized body of professional accountants, in order to maintain a professional standard. Accountants who aren`t affiliated with any accounting body may not possess the required skills  and competencies needed to follow the regulatory and reporting requirements for published financial statements.

Internal Audit

If an organization needs an accountant for the internal audit function, then the criteria for hiring should include a background of financial audit and assurance because internal audit is an area that requires specialized auditing skills in addition to accounting skills and experience.   

Tax Services

Will the accountant also be required to look into tax matters? Some organizations segregate the accounting and tax functions as tax in itself is a separate specialization but all professionally qualified accountants do have basic and advanced taxation knowledge. However a tax specialist may be required to head the tax department and look over the process of tax preparation for the business. Small organizations usually bunch together their accounting and tax departments and so the accountants must at least have the basic tax knowledge so that they can file business tax returns and handle all tax related areas in addition to this they must also have personal financial and business financial management skills so that costs can be reduced in order to minimize the tax liability.

Knowledge of computerized accounting systems

Depending on the type of computerized accounting software used by the firm, the business should look for potential candidates who have past experience in working with computerized accounting systems, preferably with  hands on experience of different systems. 

Professional Qualification

The level of qualification required depends directly on the role that the accountant will be required to take. If the size of the business is small and the accountant is only needed for basic book keeping then entry level qualification should be enough. However if the accountant is going to undertake the responsibilities of the finance department and will have a considerable role in planning and decision making then the accountant should at least be professionally qualified with some experience in a relevant role and in addition to core competences in accounting, the potential candidate must also have understanding of business finance.

Experience

Once again if the role of the accountant is going to be linked with planning and decision making then experience will matter as well. The standard practice is to look for professional accountants with prior experience of working in an accounting and audit firm. The number of years will depend on the complexity of the role. Finding professionally competent and good accountants is not an easy task but narrowing down the choice by the number of years of experience can help.

Outsourcing the hiring process

Apart from these factors, the accountant may also need to play the role of a financial advisor as well as a decision making. Organizations can either look for potential candidates through their own HR departments or they can simply outsource the whole process to an accounting firm that provide hiring and recruitment service in addition to accounting services that can identify, shortlist and assess the candidates on behalf of the organization. These accounting firms, go through different rounds of face to face interviews and group sessions to recruit the best talent possible. Using an accounting firm may be a good idea as doing so will not only cut the cost but it will also allow the organization access to a larger pool of candidates.