The ongoing shortage of qualified accountants, coming as experienced accountants retire and not enough new graduates come to replace them, has left CFOs in a quandary.

On the one hand, they need to do more with less: to run leaner teams that can close the books faster, cut down expenses and support growth during a time of continued economic uncertainty. On the other hand, they need to ensure that they can entice and retain skilled financial talent, which includes not creating unrealistic expectations that may lead to burnout.

Creating those “lean” teams means CFOs need to be strategic about how they support their accounting and finance employees, from the technologies they integrate to how they think about upskilling and mentorship, Mahati Mukkamala, SVP of finance and operations for accounting tech platform HubSync said. In short, they need to change the way they think about return on investment here.

“I think sometimes we only look at ROI as, are you making a money back on this software based on hard costs?” Mukkamala told CFO Dive in an interview. “And I think ROI should be measured based on: is it making my employees better? Are they doing more with less?”

Pinpointing the tech use case

The accounting talent shortage has occupied a prime place of concern for finance chiefs for many years, especially as CFOs are increasingly looked to by their companies to drive strategy as well as take stewardship of the numbers.

The growing number of states that have passed legislation to create alternative certified public accounting licensure pathways, nudged enrollment in accounting programs upward last year, CFO Dive previously reported. However, several other roadblocks remain in place to reverse the years-long slump in skilled talent, such as higher starting salaries in other professions or the uncertain role of AI and automation in accounting — putting more pressure on finance leaders that need to attract and retain accountants, Mukkamala said.

“In a world where you're seeing a shrinking workforce, what you want to do is empower people that are in your workforce to enjoy doing the work and become more analytical,” he said.

Mukkamala’s “bread and butter has been post-transaction and/or post fundraise” in private equity, he said, with roles in treasury and financial planning and analysis. He joined HubSync in his current role last October, previously serving as VP of FP&A for Digital.ai, according to his LinkedIn profile. He has also served as principal, FP&A consultant for Seed 2 C Consulting and as treasurer for Asian Women for Health.

Approaching technology with an eye toward empowerment, rather than replacement, can be one way to change that ROI perspective and better support the team. Mukkamala sees technology as a great equalizer, but “I think we still have to get back to the root cause of, what is it that you're using technology for,” he said.

“Whether it's fixed asset software, whether it's ERP software, whether it's procurement software, whatever it is, write down the problem that you're trying to solve with it and actually see if it solves the problem,” he said.

Resetting realistic expectations

Another challenge finance leaders face when it comes to finding top talent is pressure to meet unrealistic goals from the top of the organization that is now falling on the finance team itself, Mukkamala said.

For instance, a company that has raised money and now finds itself racing to meet growth targets that justify that valuation will likely turn to the CFO, he said. In the private equity space, the team will look to reduce expenses or improve margin, but “all of those are stop gaps for the fundamental problem, which is, you signed up for growth that may or may not be realistic,” he said. “I think if you're not able to have that conversation, that pressure now builds downwards on the accounting team: ‘Hey, why are you guys closing the books fast enough. We're not able to make decisions sooner.’”

That’s only becoming more of a challenge in a world where there's a “voracious hunger for data and data quality and speed,” and it oftentimes falls to the accounting team to fulfill that want, he said.

“There's not that many decisions that you can make if the accounting close is done, versus five days versus 11 days, but it's a thing that people can point to and say, ‘well, if only I was able to close the books in four days, maybe I could have done something different, right?’” Mukkamala said.