Provisional Accounting Blog

Looking for talented accounting professionals to fill open positions at your company? Or perhaps you’re skilled worker seeking a fulfilling new challenge?

Accountingpros is here to help with all your staffing needs. We’re an independent specialized accounting and finance recruiting and staffing firm serving the Seattle business community since 1994. We use a consultative approach to provide customized accounting and staffing services to fit the specific needs of our customers. At Accountingpros, we offer nothing but the best personalized recruiting service.

Our firm is directed by Erick. C. Fahsholtz, a native of Bellevue, Washington. Erick holds a BA in Finance from the University of Washington and an MBA in Accounting from Seattle University. He’s also an inactive Certified Public Accountant and has experience working in the areas of audit and taxation for big six accounting firms.

Areas of Specialty
Our specialized industry specific recruiting managers match top candidates with leading employers in the Puget Sound region in the areas of:

• Accounting & Finance — accounting manager, controller, credit manager, payroll manager, financial analyst, senior accountant, staff accountant, and FC bookkeeper.
• Audit & Taxation — audit manager, audit accountant, tax manager, and tax accountant.
• Cost Accounting — cost accounting manager and cost accountant.
• Analytics & Reporting — analytics and reporting.
• Accounting Support — accounting clerk, accounts payable clerk, accounts receivable clerk, payroll clerk, collections clerk, and bookkeeper.

Reasons to Partner with Us
At Accountingpros, we strive to satisfy both of our clients — our customers and our employees. We understand that our clients build our reputation and serve as the foundation to our success.

We bring the companies we work with a wide-range of benefits and services, including:

• An extensive talent pool filled with candidates exhibiting specific industry knowledge and skills.
• A variety of recruiting and staffing services designed to fit diverse needs, including — temporary/contract, temp-to-hire, and direct-hire candidates.
• Experienced recruiting managers with proven industry experience.

Our talented group of job-seekers enjoy advantages such as:

• Career counseling, training, and excellent benefits for our contract professionals.
• Abundant recruiting resources, including — social media, online job sites, local media sources, local university and technical schools, and broad employee referral network.
• Working with experienced recruiting managers industry-specific expertise.

Whether you need assistance finding the best candidate for the job or in making the next step in your career, contact Accountingpros today to learn more about our recruitment process.

Personal branding is essential to landing your dream job. The way you manage your social media platforms can make or break your chances of success. It’s important to tailor your content to align with the message you’re trying to convey and to position you as a leading professional in your field.

If you think companies don’t check your social media accounts prior to making a hiring decision — think again. Mashable reported that social media monitoring service, Reppler surveyed more than 300 hiring professionals to see how recruiters are screening candidates on social networks.

Results showed that 91 percent of respondents used social media networking sites to screen candidates, 69 percent have rejected candidates based on the information they found, and 68 percent have hired candidates because of the content on their social sites. The top three social networks gaining attention from recruiters were Facebook — at 76 percent, Twitter — at 53 percent, and LinkedIn — at 48 percent.

Rules for Personal Branding on Social Media
While it’s quick and easy to post content on social media, the impact of your messages can have a lasting impact on potential employers. Use these tips to create a strong personal brand on social media:

• Share Relevant Content.
  Post content relevant to your personal brand to demonstrate your industry expertise. For example, if you’re trying to find a job in analytics, posting content related to new updates to Google Analytics shows you’re engaged in what’s going on in the industry.
• Diversify Posts.
  Display your ability to use your expertise in a variety of creative mediums, by posting a mixture of images, video, and infographics. This shows that you’re able to present helpful information in many different ways, to speak to diverse audiences.
• Post Regularly.
  Show that you’re actively engaged in your industry by posting content on a regular basis. You won’t be viewed as an influencer if you only post once a month. However, it’s important to find a proper balance as over-posting will also make you appear unprofessional.
• Respond to Comments.
  If someone takes the time to read your posts and leave comments, it’s only polite to respond. Not only will this build your rapport with followers, it also shows potential employers that you’re able to actively participate in discussions with others.
• Keep Personal Information Private.
  While it’s great to share your vacation pictures and thoughts on last night’s TV lineup with your friends, this isn’t information potential employers need to see.

Need help building your personal brand to impress hiring managers? Contact Accountingpros — we’re here to help you with your job search every step of the way.

Spending 40 hours a week with the same group of people can be taxing — especially if everyone doesn’t get along. While you can’t choose your co-workers, you can make a conscious decision to maintain a positive working relationship with them.

It’s true that some people are genuinely very difficult to work with, but matching a combative attitude with an equal amount of aggression won’t get you very far. You may be surprised at how receptive colleagues you don’t see eye-to-eye with might be to finding a common middle ground, to improve your working relationship and minimize tension.

Five Tips to Improve Workplace Relationships
Having trouble working effectively with a colleague? Try these five tips to work towards a more positive relationship:

• Be a Good Listener.
  No one likes to be interrupted. When listening to a colleague talk, show respect by letting the other person finish what they’re saying before chiming in. Listen attentively, then ask questions and give feedback when they’re finished speaking.
• Lend a Helping Hand.
  If a co-worker is swamped with assignments, offer to pitch in and help out so they can better manage their workload. While this may not seem like a big deal to you, it will be greatly appreciated. A little extra kindness can go a long way in building a strong relationship with colleagues.
• Confront Problems Head-On.
  When you have an issue with a co-worker — whether with their work or of a more personal nature — it’s important to talk to them about it. While it may be easier to vent to other colleagues, that’s not going to get you anywhere besides on the fast track to worsening your relationship with the person. When you have a conversation about the issue, it allows the two of you to hash it out and find common ground, so you can work together peacefully.
• Congratulate Successes.
  If a co-worker gets a promotion, has a new baby, or is celebrating any sort of exciting news, remember to congratulate them. Taking a moment to recognize the success of a team member shows that you’re genuinely happy for them and care for them as a person.
• Hold Team Building Events.
  A manager can work to improve the relationships of their staff by holding periodic events outside the office. This can be anything from a group lunch, to a happy hour gathering, to taking the afternoon off work and attending a baseball game — as long as employees are spending quality time together, that’s what counts.

Need a little help finding qualified workers for your company? Contact Accountingpros. We’re here to help you with all your staffing needs.

Job-seekers looking for work in Seattle may have an advantage over candidates in most other cities. Forbes’ recently awarded Seattle with the fifth place spot on its “Best Cities for Good Jobs,” list.

After analyzing data from the 100 largest metro areas in the U.S., including the 2011 unemployment rate, current unemployment rate, estimated 2013 employment growth, the five-year estimated employment growth, current per-capita income, and estimated five-year income growth, Seattle came out nearly on top.

Forbes explained its choice by saying, “Seattle’s unemployment rate is a little high, but so are the wages in this technology capital, and they’re projected to grow at a 2.6% annual clip through 2019. Boeing employment is holding steady despite teething troubles with the 787, and education continues to expand.”

Seattle Praised as Great Place to Work
Forbes isn’t the only list Seattle has recently made touting the city’s impressive economy. Seattle has also received the following recent accolades, praising it as a great place to find work:

• Second Best City for Women Entrepreneurs.
  Personal finance site, Nerd Wallet bestowed this honor upon the city for a number of reasons, saying “Seattle is one of the most highly educated cities and has a correspondingly high median income and low unemployment rate. With 12.5 businesses per 100 residents, the city is highly entrepreneurial, and women own around four of those businesses. Organizations like CHEW organize events and panels to encourage female entrepreneurs to open their businesses in Seattle. Seattle is also home to one of the world’s most famous and civic-minded businesswomen, Melinda Gates, as well as rising chef and restaurant entrepreneur Renee Erickson.”
• Fourth Place as Global Startup Hub.
  Geekwire reported that The Startup Gnome ranked Seattle in fourth place as a startup hub, behind only the Silicon Valley, Tel Aviv, and Los Angeles. The city beat out New York and Boston, partly due to its breadth of tech talent. Factors like talent capital, infrastructure support, number of new startups created, performance of those startups, and how quickly the communities adopt those talents were taken into consideration in determining the ranking.
• Tenth Best City for Accountants.
  LedgerLink named Seattle the tenth best city for accountants due to benefits like high salaries, reasonable cost of living, wide-variety of businesses to work for, and more.

Whether you’re already located in Seattle or considering moving here, the city is clearly a great place to find a job that you really enjoy. If you’re looking for accounting jobs in Seattle, contact the staffing professionals at Accountingpros. We’ll help to match you with a company you’re excited to go to work for each day.