Work/Life Balance

CPA Firms Use Creative Incentives to Retain Workforce

By Joy Ward, CPA

Without question, a firm's most important asset is its employees. Successful firms realize a combination of benefits and incentives work together to keep the staff productive, motivated, and feeling appreciated. Even little things can help create a beneficial working environment for everyone within the firm. Following are examples of some creative incentives employed by CPA firms of various sizes.

Flexible work schedules (which cost nothing) allow employees to choose to work during the time of day in which they are most productive.   By structuring their own workday, an employee can also work around planned time with their families. Flexible schedules can prolong a firm’s daily operating hours, which in turn provides greater client convenience.

Social Time

Kirkpatrick, Phillips & Miller, CPAs, PC (KPM) in Springfield, Missouri hosts a firm social on the last Friday of each month. Work stops at 4:30 p.m. KPM caters in refreshments and staff members are invited to stay as long as they choose. In addition, KPM caters monthly luncheons throughout tax season for all employees. During the summer, a family picnic or outing is planned. Some of the activities have included “tailgating” at a baseball game, a trip to Branson, Missouri to enjoy putt-putt and “Ride the Ducks,” or a float trip on the Buffalo River.

The staff of Barrett & Associates, PA of Overland Park, Kansas, looks forward to their “Dark Weekend” during busy season each year. On the Friday after March 15, they leave the office in the early afternoon and go bowling, play putt-putt, scavenger hunt, or participate in some other activity all employees enjoy. There are cash prizes given to contest winners, and those not wanting to go home right afterwards are treated to food and drinks. No one is allowed to work that weekend and it provides a little break before the final push.

Extra Perks

During tax season, Barrett & Associates, PA provides its own “concierge service” to the professional staff. Someone is provided to do errands, go to the bank, get prescriptions, be at the employees’ home to let in a repairman, pick up kids, do grocery shopping, or whatever else their staff needs. The firm’s goal is to provide a service that will reduce stress as much as possible during the difficult busy season. This can have a significant impact on employee morale and motivation and allows staff to remain focused on their work.

Edward Mendlowitz in his article “Nine Ways to Make Your Firm More Exciting” (Journal of Accountancy, March 2001) notes that when a staff person in his firm completes his or her first financial statement, they are presented a bound copy of the statement as a memento. After a particularly difficult assignment, they treat their employee and his or her spouse to dinner at a fancy restaurant.

Monetary Incentives

Bonus plans can be structured to meet the individualized needs and specialties of the staff. Mayer Hoffman and McCann, P.C. in Kansas City, Missouri, base their evaluations on a balanced scorecard to determine an employee’s share of the bonus pool.   The scorecard focuses on three areas of development: marketing, internal administrative/staff development, and technical competency. Each staff member has input as to the percent allocated to each category and sets personal goals in each area. This way each person's individual strengths become performance measures that get rewarded at bonus time. For example, a strong marketer may put 50% of their bonus on the line related to marketing. This gives the employee more control over how to utilize their time.

Monetary incentives are often given for bringing in new business. Some firms reward employees responsible for obtaining new clients by paying them up to 10% of the first year's fees generated by the new account. In addition, bonuses are given to audit staff when time-budgets are met.

Because finding and retaining staff is often a challenge, Mayer Hoffman and McCann offers a “staff-hiring bonus.” Employees receive a bonus for bringing in a new employee that stays longer than six months. This kind of incentive lets employees know they play a part in maintaining the firm’s long-term stability.

A firm will often get the best from its staff by giving back. By tailoring its monetary and nonmonetary incentives to the needs of its employees, a firm can increase productivity, improve client services and bring out the best in their staff.