Accounting temps: do you really need them for your business? Around 42% of businesses across the United States use temporary employees in some capacity and chances are your business also can benefit by using temps. For accounting firms, working with temps can provide a number of important advantages.

1. Find someone to fill in when an employee goes on long-term leave

From maternity leave to disability, there will be times when your current employees simply cannot fulfill their job responsibilities for a period of time. You do not necessarily need a permanent hire to fill that position. Instead, you will need a temporary employee who will ensure that the work gets done in spite of the permanent employee who needs to take leave time. By working with a recruiting firm, with access to a wide pool of qualified candidates, you will find that it is easier to fill that position on a short-term basis. This way, the job gets done without making long-term commitments to an employee.

2. Get a better idea of how many employees your business really needs.

Sometimes it is hard to know whether your business really needs to hire another employee, or if you just need to redistribute the work. When you hire a temp to take on some of those responsibilities, you will learn whether or not you really have a need to hire another employee. This will help scale growth, as you can test out how a larger team would function.

3. Fill in during busy times.

During some seasons, tax season for example, your accounting firm may see a substantial increase in the number of customers you have coming through the doors. Even if you do not have enough work for another employee throughout the rest of the year, during that busy season your employees may find themselves with too much to do and not enough time to do it. By hiring a temp, you can take much of that load off of your employees and allow them some breathing room during a difficult season.

4. Get help with special projects.

In addition to busy times during the year, your team may need an individual with specialized skills to help as you move through a very specific project. You might not need to hire a full-time individual to take on those tasks, but you do need someone who will help you complete the project effectively. Temps can also bring a new skill set to benefit the project that you do not usually need for your business. This individual can offer the skills you need on a temporary basis, rather than forcing you to hire a full-time employee with skills you may only need for a single project.

5. Temp-to-hire to find an employee that is a good fit for the company.

Hiring a new employee is always a gamble. Many people have the skills to fake their way through an interview or put out a great resume but fall far short when the time comes to start working for your company. If you have been burnt in the past, you may be more reluctant to hire a full-time employee in the future. By starting with a temp employee, however, you can determine whether the hire is a good fit for your company before extending a formal offer of employment.

Temporary employees in the accounting field can offer several advantages to many businesses. If you want to work with a recruiting firm with access to a wide pool of candidates who can help find the right temp for your open jobs, contact us today to learn how we can help.