By Rich Bond
A CEO friend of mine told me that a lot of business owners not only rely on their CPAs to take care of the financial side of their businesses, they also use them to recruit financial talent, like CFOs or Controllers.
I shook my head and chuckled when I heard that. Many CPAs are really good at what they do. Hey, that’s why I use one to do my taxes. It makes sense to outsource to experts the jobs you can’t or don’t want to do yourself. I don’t fix my own car. I take it to a mechanic.
So why would a CEO or business owner rely on their CPA to recruit financial talent? Is it only because a CPA’s expertise is on the numbers side of the business? Or is it because the owners don’t want to pay a recruiter?
Here are some things to think about before asking your CPA to do your financial recruiting:
- The FREE referrals from your CPA firm will consist almost entirely of active job seekers found through Internet searches. Such candidates are mostly unemployed or soon to be.
- Maybe the CPA won’t bother to help their clients hire the BEST Controller, because as a truly competent Controller would reduce the amount of work the CPA would need to do, thus lowering their fees. (I realize I’m being snarky, here.)
- Our recruiting process uncovers passive job seekers – people who aren’t actively looking – but will more than pay for themselves when they are hired. There is a cost for our services, but we are a better VALUE.
If you’d like to discuss the difference between how a CPA recruits vs. working with a recruiter with expertise in finance, contact me. Email me at: Richard.bond@bondandcompany.com. Call or text me at: 203-216-0618.
