Certified Public Accountant: What is the cost of hiring?

Why hire a certified public accountant?

Hiring new staff can impact your existing team and your bottom line.

A great certified public accountant can help your business:

• Prepare and analyze financial statements
• Monitor and manage bookkeeping and accounting functions
• Oversee tax preparation and planning and ensure your company abides by federal regulations

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance certified public accountant

Depending on the size of your business, you may want to consider hiring a full-time certified public accountant. For large companies, a full-time CPA can assess necessary and discretionary spending, monitor payroll and file the company’s taxes. This may take up enough time in large businesses that it justifies hiring a full-time employee. 

However, smaller businesses may not benefit from a full-time CPA. Hiring a freelance accountant to take care of financial matters may save the company money due to lower overall pay when compared to a salaried employee. Companies may also hire a freelance CPA temporarily to get their finances under control. 

What are the types of accountants?

There’s a large number of specialty areas in the accounting field. Some of these jobs include:

• Certified public accountants: CPAs are mostly known for their experience with preparing and filing taxes. They have additional experience in examining business spending, creating budgets and managing audits.
• Staff accountants: Staff accountants typically work underneath a certified public accountant. They’re usually responsible for creating financial reports and examining the data. 
• Investment accountants: Investment accountants use clients’ money to invest in specific opportunities in order to earn a significant return. 
• Forensic accountants: Forensic accountants analyze the financial records of suspect individuals and corporations to locate any omitted data, errors or fraud. They also act as expert witnesses in trials. 
• Auditors: Auditors work to ensure businesses are correctly recording their assets, costs and profits. They examine financial statements, accounting systems and payroll records to look for fraud and errors. 

Where to find certified public accountants

To find the right certified public accountant for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Post help wanted notices. Hanging help wanted signs in the building and around the neighborhood may attract quality candidates who have an interest and experience in the field. 
• Promote from within. There may already be an employee in your financial department who has the skills and qualifications required to become a certified public accountant. Conduct interviews with potential applicants to find a good fit. 
• Search for candidates online. Some certified public accountants may be advertising their services online. Reach out to these individuals to gauge their interest in a salaried position. 
• Post your job online. Try posting your certified public accountant job on Indeed to find and attract quality certified public accountant candidates.

Skills to look for in a great Certified Public Accountant

A great Certified Public Accountant candidate will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting or equivalent field of study
• CPA certification
• Familiarity with commonly used accounting and tax preparation software such as Quickbooks
• Attention to detail
• Highly organized
• Multitasking

Writing a certified public accountant job description

A compelling job description is important for finding highly qualified certified public accountant candidates. A thorough certified public accountant job description includes a complete summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your certified public accountant job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting. These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on certified public accountant jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Accounting 
• Accountant
• CPA
• Tax
• Senior accountant
• Controller
• Staff accountant
• CPA firm
• Tax accountant
• Accounting manager

Interviewing certified public accountant candidates

Strong candidates for certified public accountant positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• Accounting and tax preparation software
• Questions from clients who don’t have an accounting background.
• How they manage multiple clients and priorities

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of certified public accountant interview questions for examples (with sample answers).