Accountants look in vain for talent shortage silver bullet

Outsourcing will be part of the answer for some, but finding a senior locally will remain a problem, says Trent McLaren. The accountancy profession looks in vain for a talent shortage silver bullet and some firms face a tough decision about whether outsourcing is part of the answer, according to the co-founder of marketing and sales consultancy, Journey, Trent McLaren. "When we say there is a shortage of accountants, we're saying there's a shortage in Australia, right?" he said on the latest Accountants Daily Insider podcast. "There are people in other countries that are happy and willing to do the work that our new generation of people don't want to do. "This is something that some people will have to either bite with, say either I don't want to do any more work, I don't want to win any more fees … or they're going to see more people embrace this global, remote teams type environment, where my team member is just based wherever they need to be." "There's no silver bullet. That's the thing. Even if I go and load up on offshoring outsourcing, there's still a capability piece that I'll have to draw a line on at some point. "I'm still going to need a senior at some point locally."