Have you thought about how you can change the way accounting hires staff? In this post we are going to discuss the high turnover rates for accounts payable clerking roles and why human resources should take a proactive role in modernizing the accounting department.
If you work in Human Resources for a company with multiple locations, you might have an accounting team that is frequently hiring new Accounts Payable Clerks. It's just a job that sees high turnover.
You can bet your accounting managers are tired of it, but they might not know there are new software options to tackle this challenge.
Within the last few years, things have changed dramatically. Accounts Payable software tools from just two years ago are far less effective than those that are being developed since the AI boom started last year.
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The fact is that the industry is currently in a talent shortage as ‘accounting clerk’ has been a difficult position to fill in recent years.
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment of bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks is projected to decline 5% from 2021 to 2031.
“Despite declining employment, about 197,600 openings for bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks are projected each year, on average, over the decade,” said the BLS. “All of those openings are expected to result from the need to replace workers who transfer to other occupations or exit the labor force, such as to retire.”
Why is it hard to hire AP clerks? The answer probably varies, but it’s a fair bet that much of the problem is due to the fact that it is a tough, tedious job that gets little prioritization from the executive suite. It's fairly entry-level and most people don't want to be an AP clerk forever.
The reality is that the job of AP clerk is primed for high turnover. After a while, it becomes a mundane job that puts a premium on attention to detail.
“This role is primarily focused on data entry and management to ensure that all aspects of a company's accounts are maintained correctly which can make the job difficult because minor mistakes can have extreme consequences,” said an article at Zippia.com, a job placement company.
These days, most clerks only intend to stay in the role a short time until they advance or leave to a new field. As this continues to be the case and acquiring talent to fill the role becomes increasingly difficult, it's time to rethink what roles are really necessary to drive value for the organization.
There is often a stigma associated with replacing humans with technology, but is that the right way to look at it in this case?
"This doesn't mean job elimination. It means more money to hire analysts or train-up existing clerks to take on a more strategic role."
With the right software solution, businesses can seriously decrease accounting overhead and improve efficiency too. This doesn't mean job elimination. It means more money to hire analysts or train-up existing clerks to take on a more strategic role.
With that in mind here are…
"Adaptability, this is becoming extremely important. As we move from a more manual process to a more automated process, this is going to require additional skills--new skills--as we learn new technology and there's more analytical skills required of us."
Change like this often starts from the top, and in recent years thought leaders have been discussing the changing role of CFOs and other accounting leadership roles.
There is no shortage of demand for accountants and analysts, but strategists, data scientists and tech pro's will become increasingly important to financial teams and many of these skills are going to fall on leadership to master.
As this trickles down, those who traditionally filled clerk roles likewise need to adapt.
"As time goes on, the ability to enter data as quickly as possible will be less in demand while other skills will become more important," said Mary Schaffer, founder of AP Now in a recent video. "Adaptability, this is becoming extremely important. As we move from a more manual process to a more automated process, this is going to require additional skills--new skills--as we learn new technology and there's more analytical skills required of us."
In a nutshell, Human Resources pros can help reduce high turnover numbers for the AP clerk role. While there has been a lot of hype about AI tech lately, accounts payable invoice processing is one of the most obvious and easiest places to start for many companies.
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