An open role in Accounting and Finance is not an HR problem. It is a controls problem.

When a senior Accounting and Finance role sits open for two months, that is not an HR inconvenience. That is a two-month gap in your financial close, your controls, and your peace of mind.

Planning season is here. Budgets, headcount, targets. And most of those plans treat finance and accounting talent like it will be there when you need it.

It will not.

The numbers are not subtle:

The people who can run a clean close, own SOX, and survive an audit are harder to find and slower to land than they were even two years ago. Recruiting data suggests roles requiring a CPA now take roughly 40 percent longer to fill than comparable roles without it.

Here is what makes this a boardroom issue instead of an HR one. A gap in the wrong seat is a gap in your controls. An empty controller chair during close is risk, not just inconvenience. An overstretched team is how errors, restatements, and burnout happen.

The cost of the vacancy almost always dwarfs the cost of the hire.

This is not a hunch. When you read the material weakness disclosures public companies actually file, one of the most common root causes named is a lack of qualified accounting personnel. Analyses of SEC filings by firms like Baker Tilly and Moss Adams find the same thing. Companies say it in their own words, that they failed to maintain a sufficient complement of personnel with the accounting knowledge and experience to keep controls effective.

Thin finance teams are not just stressful. They show up in the audit.

I would love to name specific companies here, but I will protect the innocent and the relationships. So I will just tell you what I keep running into.

I ask about bench strength and succession, and I hear, well, at least we have people in the seats now. I probe on turnover, and a well-intentioned leader assures me they have it under control.

No offense, but past performance predicts future performance, and hope is not a strategy. Unless a company has actually identified the root cause of why people leave and fixed it, the turnover continues. Turnover in finance is how you end up with significant deficiencies and material weaknesses. I have watched it happen over and over.

I see the opposite mistake too. Some PE-backed teams will nitpick a candidate to death while their finance organization quietly atrophies, the business leaders wait on financial data, and decisions are slowed down company-wide.

One hire is never a silver bullet, and a perfect hire made too late is still too late. Speed and getting ahead of the problem make an enormous difference.

Internal equity matters, so do not break the bank. But do not get stuck in “we have always done it this way” either. The people hiring for these roles are sharp. Let’s put that same sharpness into landing the talent, because that is what mitigates risk across the whole organization.

Most companies do the opposite. They react. The seat opens, the panic starts, and the search begins from zero under pressure. That is the most expensive way to hire, and the most likely to end in a compromise candidate.

The teams that get this right do three things

They build the bench before the seat is empty. They know who they would call tomorrow.

They separate the roles that must be permanent from the work that can flex. Not every gap needs a full-time hire. Interim talent buys time and keeps the close clean.

They treat talent as a continuity plan, not a req. The same discipline they apply to systems and vendors.

The call to action

As you build your 2027 plan, look at your finance and accounting org and ask a simple question:

If your best person left in January, how long until the seat is filled, and what breaks while it is open?

If you do not like the answer, now is the time to fix it. Not in January.

The talent will not be easier to find next year. It will be harder.

About the Author

Rich Diaz is CEO and owner of Advanced Resources. For over 15 years, he has helped more than 2,000 companies successfully execute over 40,000 projects, with a focus on Accounting & Finance and HR talent and business solutions.

About Advanced Resources

Advanced Resources partners with leading organizations, providing talent solutions that address specific challenges directly impacting human resources and finance & accounting.

Over the past 30+ years, Advanced Resources has been recognized as a perennial Top Workplace while helping clients secure the best talent to meet their strategic goals.

To learn more, visit www.advancedresources.com, or follow us on LinkedIn.

Sources

  1. Lindsay Ellis, “Why So Many Accountants Are Quitting,” The Wall Street Journal, December 28, 2022. Link
  2. AICPA, 2025 Trends: A Report on Accounting Education, the CPA Exam, and Public Accounting Firms’ Hiring of Recent Graduates, as reported by the Journal of Accountancy, October 2025. Link
  3. “The Accounting Profession Is in Crisis,” The CPA Journal, August 15, 2025. Link
  4. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Outlook Handbook: Accountants and Auditors, 2025-35 projections. Link
  5. Eagle Rock CFO, “The Accounting Talent Crisis 2026: Data, Trends & Business Impact,” citing Talentfoot data. Link
  6. Baker Tilly, “Trends in Public Company Material Weaknesses.” Link
  7. Moss Adams, “Trends in Public Company Material Weaknesses,” June 2025. Link