According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, about 20% of new businesses fail during its first two years. As time passes, this failure rate goes up.

• 45% fail during the first five years.
• 65% fail during the first 10 years.

By year 15, only about 25% of these businesses survive.

Alarmingly, a 2019 OnPay study found that only 30% of small business owners use an accountant. While we can’t be certain that these companies closed their doors precisely because no one maintained their books, we can’t dismiss the importance of having an accountant either.

Especially if you consider that the inability to control expenses is a major reason why businesses fail.

Why hire a virtual accountant

These days, however, it’s not enough to simply hire a traditional bookkeeper or accountant to manage your company’s finances. To gain a competitive advantage in your niche, you need to work with a virtual accountant.

A virtual accountant is a self-employed professional who specialises in providing accounting services on an entirely remote basis. Here are a few compelling reasons why you should hire one:

• They’re more cost-effective than traditional employees.
• You’ll pay only for the work needed. That means you won’t have to worry about their superannuation or health insurance.
• They’ll keep track of your financial details and transactions for you. This includes your payroll, employee taxes, invoices, utility payments, property taxes, etc.
• Because your virtual CPA handles key business processes, you can focus on your core competency.

Finding a great offshore CPA

If you’re already convinced that you need a virtual accountant to help run your business, how do you go about looking for and hiring one? Here are several proven recruitment strategies you can use.

Tip 1: Create a compelling job description

Making a job description is critical in identifying specific skills and credentials that are necessary for your virtual CPA role.

A good job description will inform applicants what the position requires; a great one informs applicants and sells your company as a great place to work.

The latter is particularly important because applicants will have to either:

• Choose your company over others with similar open roles.
• Leave their current employer.

Here are some ways to make your job description more compelling.

• Summarise why your company is awesome (e.g. job benefits, work-life balance).
• Include career advancement opportunities within your company.
• Reveal the virtual accountant salary. Doing this will help applicants decide if the role is for them and weed out those looking for higher pay.
• State your company’s why and the importance of the role to attract candidates who identify with your goals.

Tip 2: Go where your candidates are

If you want to hire for a certain role, you can’t wait for applicants to come to you; you have to find them where they converge online.

Your surest bet is to visit niche job boards and post your job ad there. Note, however, that different professions gather at different places. For example:

• Writers and bloggers hang out at ProBlogger’s job board.
• If you’re filling programming positions, visit Stack Overflow.
• For remote freelance jobs, check out sites like PeoplePerHour or Guru.

Certain niche boards might not receive the same amount traffic volume as large websites, but you’ll find the quality workers you’re looking for.

Tip 3: Establish an employee referral program

An employee referral program allows current employees to refer qualified candidates for open roles within your company. But why should you start such a scheme? Because referred employees:

• Stay longer than those hired through other channels.
• Reduce your recruiting costs.
• Take the shortest time to hire.
• Have the lowest turnover rate.

Tip 4: Recruit passive candidates

Did you know that the most qualified candidates are usually out of the job market in 10 days or less? So unless you can source, screen, interview, and offer a job at an even shorter time, you’ll probably miss out on the top talent.

Fortunately, there’s no such limitation when recruiting passive candidates who are employed but aren’t actively looking for a new job. According to a LinkedIn study, 85% of employed people around the world are open to leaving their current job for greener pastures.

Since passive candidates are already employed, they

• Likely have the skills, experience, and work ethic you’re looking for.
• Don’t really have to lie about their qualifications.

Tip 5: Pitch a competitive salary

If you want to attract highly skilled professionals, you need to make an irresistible offer. You may be hiring an offshore CPA to lower you costs, but that doesn’t mean you should lowball the salary.

So what’s a good place to start? For virtual accountants, the average rate is about 8 USD or 10-12 AUD per hour.

Note: Our pricing guide shows that remote bookkeepers are paid around 6 USD or 7.72 AUD per hour. Some may use “bookkeeping” and “accounting” as interchangeable, but these two functions are different. CPAs command even higher rates.

Tip 6: Hold a panel video interview

When organised and conducted properly, panel video interviews are more effective than one-on-one video interviews. Here’s why:

• The assessment by several panelists in a structured panel interview are usually more accurate.
• The biases of individual interviewers are offset by others in the panel.
• Speaking with more than one person from your business helps candidates be more familiar with the company and how potential colleagues interact.
• Weaker interviewers are given an opportunity to express their views in a structured setting.

Tip 7: Ask the right interview questions

To help you recognise the best candidate, you’ll need to ask the right questions during the interview. Just remember that every role has different key qualities to look out for.

When it comes to virtual accountants, look for the following traits:

• Attention to detail (e.g. How do you minimise the risk of errors in your work while ensuring that you finish and turn it in time?)
  
  
• Strong client focus (e.g. Tell me about a time you solved a client’s complex financial concern. What steps did you take to solve it? How would you explain these steps to clients with no accounting background?)
  
  
• Highly ethical (e.g. How would you handle a situation where you saw something unethical in your line of work? Have you ever faced such situation? If so, tell me more about it.)
  
  
• Strong financial knowledge (e.g. What have you implemented at your present/previous company to reduce costs, increase revenue, or save time?)

Tip 8: Run a background check

A HireRight employment report found that 85% of employers caught candidates lying on their applications or resumes. The most popular lies used by applicants include:

• Inflating their salary or title.
• Exaggerating past employment dates.
• Falsifying their credentials.

This means you need a background check, especially when hiring a remote employee. It lets you verify that the information provided by candidates are accurate.

You can conduct a background check by:

• Going through a candidate’s work experience and contacting their previous employers.
• Looking at a candidate’s social media to see how they’re like personally and professionally.
• Having a candidate submit a police clearance from their country.

Partner with us

Here’s a bonus tip: A virtual staffing agency can help you cover more ground in your search. To make your recruitment easier and more effective, team up with Remote Workmate.

Unlike freelancing marketplaces where you do everything yourself, we handle all the heavy lifting for you, including processes like screening, recruitment, and payroll.

Finding a great virtual accountant has never been so much easier.

You can actually choose from our pool of top candidates right away. Simply click the button below to browse a wide range of profiles on our Hotlist page.