Published by Fidesic on
Human Resources pros love to hire people, but it might be time to reconsider how to maximize Dynamics GP lifetime value.
In this post we explore the difficulties businesses face in hiring accounting clerks and what alternatives there are to hiring clerks. We will discuss some of the expert projections on staffing shortages in clerking positions as well as the new premium being placed on soft skills in the accounting function. Additionally, we discuss the new roles the accounting function is being expected to fill in the face of rapid tech advances.
A Microsoft Dynamics GP customer recently came to Fidesic because they were facing an increasingly common problem--they were struggling to hire an accounts payable clerk. More on this story later but it brings up an important point... 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 job that gets little prioritization from the executive suite. It's entry level and most people don't want to be an AP clerk forever.
“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.
Why You Should Hire an Analyst Instead and Let Software Do Your Clerking for You
Change 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 will still be demand for accountants and analysts, but strategists, data scientists and tech pro's will become increasingly important to financial teams and these skills are going to fall on leadership to master. As a result, accounting teams will require a different mix of skillsets and employees to fill the analytical gaps left by the "new CFO." CFOs who embrace their new role as a company visionary are expected to be more successful than those who don't.
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."
Check it out: Fidesic Virtual AP Clerk for Microsoft Dynamics GP
Nobody Wants to be an AP Clerk Forever
As you probably know, the job of AP clerk is primed for high turnover. Let's face it, this is a mundane job with a premium on attention to detail and most clerks are only in the role until something better comes along, 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 necessary to drive value for the organization.
To this point, our new customer we mentioned at the beginning of this post just needed a way to input vendor invoice data into their Microsoft Dynamics ERP system. They were looking to hire a clerk to do this, but after weeks of investing resources into a fruitless search, they set their sights on a software solution.
They were looking to hire a clerk to do this, but after weeks of investing resources into a fruitless search, they set their sights on a software solution.
While the customer wasn’t ready to implement an end-to-end accounts payable automation solution, they needed a data capture solution fast.
We set them up with Fidesic OCR.
Getting started with Fidesic Optical Character Recognition for Vendor Invoice scanning was easy and affordable. Now they are able to focus their staffing investment on more strategic roles.
If they decide later they want to add functionality to improve AP efficiency, Fidesic will be there to help again.
Conclusion
We are seeing an increasing number of Dynamics ERP customers who are struggling to hire accounting clerks. While automation eliminates the need for many manual job functions like vendor invoice data entry, it doesn't necessarily eliminate jobs. Rather, automation frees up resources so businesses can hire analytical accounting pros to drive value and better position the company for future growth.
"...it doesn't necessarily eliminate jobs. Rather, automation frees up resources so businesses can hire analytical accounting pros to drive value..."
Introducing Virtual AP Clerk™ for Dynamics GP
How Will You Maximize Accounts Payable Value?
