It seems the new Australian government is refocussing on restarting the permanent skilled workers, giving them top priority. However, reading further into this, the government is going to prioritise the processing of almost 60,000 permanent visa applications lodged by skilled workers based overseas, in a bid to rapidly reduce areas of dire shortage such as health, education and aged care. …
Geographical and geopolitical risks for outsourcing Australian accounting and tax returns
Post COVID there has been significant global and economic factors contributing to upheaval of the traditional ways of doing business. COVID contributed to significant pressures on the global supply chain, for which the world has not yet recovered. There’s a shortage of everything from shipping containers to microchips. China continues to establish an increasing presence in the world stage, and …
Australian accounting firms’ new norm: remote working is in
The June 2022 Hays Salary guide recently released had some auspicious information for Australian accounting firms struggling to find employees to man the computers in the Australian accounting compliance space. The majority of employers (88%) are going to be increasing the salaries of their employees in the next review. And 77% say the skills shortage has forced them to offer …
ABS Census data: what it means for Australian accounting firm owners
The annual Australian Bureau of Statistics 2021 census data was recently released, and there are some nuggets of information for Australian accounting firm owners. Some of the stranger numbers must be attributed to Covid, and the particular states approach to lockdowns. Many city dwellers have moved to regional locations away from the cities, especially those that had tough long lockdowns. …
Job vacancies at all-time high
It’s a difficult time to be looking for more accounting resources. We’re seeing increased pressures on accounting wages domestically due to the three prong factors of limited skilled short term and long term immigration exacerbated by budget cuts in the home affairs department (responsible for processing skilled visas), reduction of international students in the Australian universities, and high job vacancy …
The worker shortage continues
Australian accounting, finance and legal professional services staff are being offered pay rises of up to $40,000 (on a $90,000 salary) to stay in their current jobs, and up to $100,000 sign-on bonuses. Costs of hiring have more than doubled and employers are forced to wait an average six weeks to hire new employees, potentially delaying growth plans for some …
Why Australian accounting firm owners need to get out of the office (permanently)
The successful practice does not need the Australian accounting firm owner to be present in the office, and should not need the owner to be contributing to the bottom line. Allow me to explain by way of the evolution of the accounting firm. In the first quadrant, an accountant gains experience through working for another accounting firm as an employee. …
How Australian Accounting Firm Owners Are Managing Cybersecurity Challenges in the Post COVID-19 World
Impact of COVID-19 on cybersecurity The global pandemic significantly intensified fraudulent activities as many people become more vulnerable to cyber threats while working remotely. According to the Annual Cyber Threat Report 2020-21 from Australian Cyber Security Centre, there were over 67,500 cyber-attacks reported, an increase of nearly 13 per cent from the previous financial year. During the fiscal year 2020-21, …
Return-To-Office Full Time Is Not Happening Anytime Soon
Close Contact Isolation Rules Currently, all Australian states and territories require close contacts to isolate for seven days from the last time they were in contact with someone with COVID-19. According to the Department of Health, over the past week, there have been an average of almost 40.5K new cases reported each day with 396.3K active cases. Based on an …
Balking at Pay Rise, Accounting Firm Leaders Are Seen Doing More Low-Level Work
Australian accounting firms have started to realise the impractical nature of raising pay to hire and retain staff. First, it is not financially beneficial, especially for mid-tier and small firms. When considering the hourly charge rate and the revenue generated, firms have begun to see that it is not profitable when paying a junior staff as high as $85k. Second, …
