These days, financial leaders are having trouble finding qualified accountants. However, the current accounting shortage is "not necessarily a talent shortage," said Anees Pretorius, co-founder and CEO of Bean.
The Cleveland, Ohio-based company is a SaaS-based marketplace and workflow solutions provider for accounting services. Talented accountants with the skill sets, experience and the desire to do the work are still out there — the big shift is when it comes to their work, those individuals don't "necessarily want to do it in the way that they've always been told that they have to do it."
Bringing Creativity Back to Accounting
The turnover rates and the growing shortage of accountants has been a pervasive problem across the industry for quite some time. Pretorius — who himself "cut his teeth" at Big Four accounting firms — understands the challenges firsthand.
Anees's Background
Pretorius began his career at Deloitte as an auditor, before logging a two-year stint at Ernst & Young, first as a management consultant and then as an audit and assurance manager. This experience gave him unique insights into what accountants truly need.
The Core Insight
It's not that there aren't talented accountants available—it's that the traditional way of working no longer appeals to them. Bean is changing that by offering flexibility and modern technology that empowers accountants to work on their own terms.