Insights

For individuals who aspire to become future partners, it is crucial for accounting firms to proactively foster the development of leadership skills from an early stage. By doing so, the firm ensures these groups are capable of functioning together at a higher level, and the continuity and long-term success of the practice is assured when current leaders eventually transition out of their roles.

Many participants have simply never experienced an engaging, high-quality online training program. Leaders are weighing the benefits of in-person training (like networking and personal interactions) against the cost savings and convenience of virtual training, while often operating under the assumption that the training aspect of the event will automatically be better if it’s delivered in person.

“We’ve just tripled our workforce overseas” is a statement we have heard quite a few times over the past few years. The immediate challenge is providing an offshore accounting staff training program that gets this rapid influx of internationally based employees on the same page with the accounting firm’s personnel in the United States.

Soft skills for accountants are important throughout their careers, but the CAAS professional in particular, needs to become proficient in things like empathy, presentation skills, executive presence, persuasiveness, and flexibility sooner than those who come up through the ranks in audit or tax.

Some firms may view SAS 145’s definitional and procedural changes as simply line items to add to their checklists, but leaders in the profession will understand the changes resulting from the standard are intent on enhancing audit quality to meet the demands of the future.

With so much riding on the training that a firm provides to its professionals, how can learning and development (L&D) teams make the best use of their finite time and resources?