Provisional Accounting Blog

If you end each day wishing you had accomplished more, never fear, there’s more than a few apps to solve this dilemma. Nearly two-thirds of Americans own a smartphone, according to a 2014 survey conducted by the Pew Research Center, so if you’re one of them, it’s time to maximize this key device.

These five apps are designed to make your life easier, allowing you dedicate more time to your top priorities, so download them today to realize your full potential.

Any.do

Stay organized on-the-go with this app, offering a host of features, including a day planner, space to take notes, and upload files. In addition to the ability to sync tasks across devices, set reminders, and break projects into subtasks, you can also share and delegate tasks with colleagues, friends, and family members. Download the free Any.do app for iPhone or choose one of its premium options.

1Password

If you’re constantly wasting time getting locked out of your accounts because you can’t remember your password, the 1Password app was made for you. Rather keeping track of dozens of passwords, usernames, codes, and other sensitive data, this app holds everything together in one secure spot, so you only have to remember one secret word. A variety of pricing models are available, ranging from $5 per month to $64.99 a year, after a free 30-day trial. Download 1Password on your iPhone or Android phone.

Feedly

Keep up with the latest news from all of your favorite blogs, publications, and YouTube channels in one easy-to-read interface on the Feedly app. You can also set keyword alerts to display news on certain subjects, save stories for later, share content with your social networks, save stories to joint Evernote business notebooks, and so much more. Download Feedly for free on your iPhone or Android device.

Instacart

While essential, making trips to the grocery store takes time out of your day that could be better spent doing something else. Instacart allows you to make a grocery list, let someone else do your shopping at Whole Foods, Costco, Safeway, QFC, PCC Natural Markets, Petco, and Central Co-op, and have the food delivered to your doorstep. The app is available for free on iPhone and Android devices, and delivery fees vary by order size and membership level.

Asana

Managing group projects takes a lot of time and energy, so make this task more efficient by downloading the Asana app for iPhone or Android. Free for teams of up to 15 people, Asana stores all of your team’s conversations in one convenient spot, makes it easy to create task lists, keeps your workflows organized, allows you to effortlessly share attachments, and much more.

Ready to take the next step in your accounting or finance career?

Accountingpros Recruiting + Staffing is here to assist. Our recruiting managers can help you find a temporary/contract, temp-to-hire, or direct hire opportunity with some of Seattle’s top employers. Contact us today to learn more!

The Seattle area is filled with talented accounting and finance professionals, but that doesn’t make the hiring process any easier. Staffing your company with the right people is essential to the success of the business, but knowing if you’re making the right choice can be impossible — until it’s too late.

Running a company is hard work, and becomes nearly impossible when you’re forced to dedicate much of your precious time to staffing matters. At Accountingpros Recruiting + Staffing, filling your open positions with the region’s best and brightest financial professionals is our business.

Whether you’re having trouble finding top talent to join your team or need a little help creating innovative staffing solutions, we’re here to assist every step of the way. Find out more about what a partnership with us can do for your company.

Reduce Turnover

Many accounting firms experience annual turnover rates of up to 25%, according to CPA Practice Advisor. An inconvenience and incredibly expensive, a 2012 CAP study determined turnover costs approximately 20% of a mid-level employee’s salary — rising even higher for executives.

Our skilled recruiting managers are specially trained to find the best fit for your company. We take a relationship-based approach with each client, allowing us to learn more about your unique needs. This allows us to define your ideal candidate and use the information gathered to recommend the right people.

Find Better Quality Hires

When you post a position on a job board, you’re limiting yourself to active job seekers, but sometimes they’re not the best person for the job. We work hard to maintain a talent pool filled with passive candidates only willing to make a career move for a truly amazing opportunity. They’re not searching the Internet looking for jobs, so the only way these people will find out about your open position is through our recruiting managers.

Additionally, each of our candidates are subject to an extensive background screening process, so you can always feel confident in your decision.

Cut Costs

If you’re employing a full staff year-round to ensure you have the talent needed to get through your busy season, you’re spending much more money than necessary. Increase your bottom line by partnering with us to fill your accounting and finance positions with leading professionals when you need them, with no obligation to keep them on staff when business slows down. You shouldn’t have to pay for talent you’re not using.

Fill Positions Faster

It takes an average of 52 days to fill an open position, according to Bersin by Deloitte. In the interim, you’re forced to pay current employees overtime, let some tasks go unfinished, and deal with a decrease in morale from an overworked staff. When you work with Accountingpros Recruiting + Staffing, our carefully cultivated talent pool allows us to fill your positions almost immediately, resulting in minimal business disruption.

Need a little help finding Seattle’s top accounting and finance talent? Partner with Accountingpros Recruiting + Staffing. Our talented, hardworking recruiting managers are committed to helping you find the best person for the job, every time.

Paying your employees a very competitive salary is a great way to retain top talent, but that alone isn’t enough to entice the best and brightest to stay with your company. If you want to compete with top employers, you need to offer at least some of the most highly-coveted perks of 2016. Paired with a marginal salary increase, these benefits can hugely impact employee satisfaction rates.

4 Non-Monetary Benefits Your Employees Want

Add as many of these perks to your list of offerings as possible to make your organization an outstanding place to work.

Healthier Work-Life Balance

Gone are the days of employees coming into the office at 9am each day and remaining at their desks until 5pm. In today’s tech savvy era, it’s easier than ever to give your team flexible working options, so they can enjoy a balanced life. When possible, let staffers set their own hours and work remotely, so they can truly do it all.

Maternity/Paternity Leave

A subset of a work-life balance worth highlighting on its own, only 12% of private sector employees have access to paid parental leave, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of June 2015. Retain employees with growing families by providing them with time away from the office to focus on their new addition. As a Washington state employer, you’re not required by law to provide paid leave, but doing so can help you retain top talent. Allow employees who want to take extended time off to do so, and hire temporary workers to fill in during the interim.

Healthcare Perks

If you already offer your employees health care coverage, this is certainly appreciated, and if you’re not able to do so, there are plenty of supplemental benefits you can provide. People really value perks like fitness memberships, wellness programs, and health savings accounts, as way to stay healthy and keep out-of-pocket healthcare costs to a minimum.

Educational Assistance.

The cost of education has skyrocketed to unimaginable levels, so helping your employees realize their educational goals in any possible way is greatly appreciated. If you can afford to cover or supplement tuition costs, this benefit will be highly regarded by your staff, but if not, there’s many other ways to assist. Paying for CPA or MBA prep programs, the tests themselves, or graduate school application fees are great perks that put a little extra money in your employees’ pockets and makes them feel valued.

Searching for the best accounting and finance professionals in the Northwest?

Partner with Accountingpros Recruiting + Staffing to find top talent every time. Our expert recruiting managers use a personalized approach to find the right fit for your accounting and finance, audit and taxation, cost accounting, analytics and reporting, and accounting support positions.

Taking on a heavy workload is a huge adjustment — especially when it seemingly happens overnight. If you went from having barely enough work to stay occupied throughout the day to an exceptionally full plate, you need to enhance your mental tough to handle it all. Instead of viewing your ever-increasing workload as intimidating, consider it a challenge you can’t help but accept.

Use these tips to boost your mental stamina, so you’re fully equipped to take on a workload of any magnitude.

Create New Habits

Having the motivation to charge through a rapidly expanding amount of work is important, but even more essential is the ability to keep moving forward at this pace. To do this, you’ll need to create a new routine, so working harder — and maybe keeping longer hours — eventually becomes your normal.

Strive for Small Wins

Pushing yourself to make drastic changes at once will do nothing but make you feel discouraged. Instead, gradually work these adjustments into your life, celebrating every milestone along the way. Even the smallest wins are a huge accomplishment, and garnering them will do wonders for your self-esteem.

Practice Positive Thinking

You’ll never be able to tackle a daunting workload if you don’t truly believe you can do it. When the going gets rough, refuse to let yourself become discouraged. The mentally tough don’t have all the answers, but they’re able to shine because they know they can overcome any obstacle in their path.

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

Learning how to stop being controlled by your emotions is a huge part of being mentally strong. Toughen up by forcing yourself to tolerate discomfort, so eventually things that once bothered you will no longer feel overwhelming. For example, if you’re uncomfortable losing control of tasks assigned to you, force yourself to delegate at least one assignment per week to a colleague. Eventually, it will become easier for you to loosen the reigns and allow others to assist.

Searching for a new challenge?

Accountingpros Recruiting + Staffing is committed to helping top accounting and finance talent find rewarding positions with Seattle’s leading employers. Contact us today to learn more about our temporary/contract, contract-to-hire, and direct-hire opportunities!