TRENDS IN TRAINING FOR TAX

PROFESSIONALS: Employer training plans for 2016

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In order to remain competitive in today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving tax and accounting landscape, it’s critical for professionals to keep both their knowledge and skills timely and relevant. From a firm’s perspective, an ongoing commitment to implementing the right learning and development strategy is essential to nurture and manage the internal talent pool. Engaging the team in training helps to maintain currency of both technical and non-technical skill sets. At the same time, consistency in delivery, testing and learning, and being open to adapt and customise a program are critical in ensuring all individual learning needs are addressed across any organisation.

We take a look at some strategies tax and accounting firms are implementing to leverage training for their talent, and the latest trends in learning innovation. We also take a look at how firms are monitoring, encouraging and rewarding tax and accounting professionals through their learning and development (L&D) programs.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

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“We get representatives from banks, law firms and other external parties in, as well as experts from other divisions of the firm who are doing different things, to help us see how we can look after our clients better,” she explains. “We try to do some form of training at least once a month. We also try and ensure the theoretical skills and knowledge we train on can actually be applied in practical scenarios.”

In this regard, implementing regular training is critical to ensuring all tax and accounting professionals across the organisation understand that L&D is an integrated component of the firm’s working culture. Director in charge of Perks’ Tax Consulting Division and qualified Chartered Accountant Neil Oakes says they also hold training monthly for their staff, which usually occurs in business hours on a Wednesday morning.

“We do technical tax issues, accounting issues like profit improvement, asset protection and succession planning – all of those sorts of areas where you can add value to clients,” he explains. “We run training sessions for our junior staff on how to deal with the ATO, ASIC and other regulatory bodies. We also have a structured mentoring program and run soft skills training throughout the year to build things like networking skills and working cohesively with other staff.”

From a tax-technical perspective, Smith says Grant Thornton’s training sessions cover topics such as GST, loans, Division 7A, family trust elections and issues that have surfaced which are proving increasingly complex.

Experts agree when it comes to training, there is no one-size-fits-all approach. Getting the training mix right is about ensuring teams remain updated on both soft and hard skill sets. National director at Grant Thornton Stacey Smith says its program includes a mix of soft skills and non-technical training, regular tax updates concentrating on specialised topics, as well as programs nurturing commercial skills.

LEVERAGING THE TRAINING MIX

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“There’s a mix of training issues at different levels and they all have needs, but for different reasons,” she explained. “In order to determine their training needs, we talk to them, get their feedback and try to work out from a practical sense any trends that are happening that need addressing.”

“Our teams go through the CTA program, but the challenge is how to capitalise on that moving forward,” Grant Thornton’s senior manager Linda Farmer adds. “It’s all about ensuring the time we’re spending on training continuously bridges the theoretical and practical gap.”

Meanwhile, with the rapid changes in digital capabilities, cloud-based accounting software and rapidly evolving client expectations, experts highlight the importance of ensuring tax and accounting professionals have regular technological updates. At Perks for instance, Oakes says training includes technology-driven value-add skills, particularly from junior level upwards.

“For instance, our accountants at a step above graduate level need to do more than just journal entries and crunching numbers,” he said. “They need to understand the capabilities of technology. So that is one of the biggest areas of training in our firm. We also run a lot of advisory training at managerial level.”

PUTTING KNOWLEDGE INTO PRACTICE

At a junior level, Smith agrees training is more about building their knowledge base and practically applying it. With senior level, however, she says it’s more about keeping up to date.

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“That way we can determine who needs any additional training,” he explains. “This analysis then goes to a sub-committee which reviews it. We also consult with managers and senior managers to see how their teams are progressing in certain areas.”

Conducting a regular gap analysis is also crucial for firm Grant Thornton. In order to increase engagement and fill potential skill gaps there, Smith says the firm has recently introduced online quizzes at the end of each session.

“This also helps us determine whether there are any gaps in the training or areas they don’t understand,” she says. “It’s all about striving for improved application and better understanding.”

According to Farmer, one of the key challenges for Grant Thornton moving forward is how to determine what truly supplements the fundamentals of technical training.

THE TEST-AND-LEARN METHOD

When it comes to tailoring the training within a firm, experts agree a customised approach can be achieved through measuring testing and learning. At Perks, Oakes says the firm runs an annual skills gap analysis, which involves getting feedback from staff to be able to tailor the training program accordingly.

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THE TEST-AND-LEARN METHOD

“At the moment, all the groups get together the week after and look at the questionnaires,” she says. “But then there’s the challenge of how to build a cohesive training program where everyone is gradually increasing their knowledge. For us, that is a work in progress. It’s all about having cohesion and building a content-rich program, rather than just having all these separate topics.”

Training takes time and effort and resources, Farmer adds, so collaborating across the managerial and partnership level is critical to ensuring a value-added and cost-effective strategy.

“Training needs to be delivered in an easy way and to give people the opportunity to discover and learn for themselves,” she says. “Training should move towards more facilitation rather than just presentation, but without overloading individuals with too much information. At the same time, creative use of technology through training can also be very effective.”

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“Training needs to be delivered in an easy way and to give people the opportunity to

discover and learn for themselves. Training should move towards more

facilitation rather than just presentation, but without overloading individuals with

too much information.”

THE TEST-AND-LEARN METHOD

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TOP TIPS TO LEVERAGE YOUR TRAINING STRATEGY

Keep your program regular and fresh

Listen to your team

Reward and encourage post-training

Conduct a skills-gap analysis

Customise training via feedback and

suggestions

Create the right mix of technical and

non-technical training

Collaborate and keep training consistent

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CONCLUSION

Having a cohesive training plan that delivers both technical and non-technical training requires dedication, commitment, time and resources. Value-added L&D programs need to be customised to ensure all individual needs within a firm are effectively catered for, from graduates to managerial level as well as the executive suite.

Fostering a culture of training is critical to ensuring individuals across all touch points in a tax and accounting firm value the importance of training, and embrace the firm’s L&D offerings.

The Tax Institute is the only professional organisation dedicated solely to tax, and our programs are focused on the latest core taxation issues. All our subject lecturers are working tax practitioners. They are dedicated to providing you with timely, practical and relevant training that can be tailored to the needs of the talent in your organisation.

At The Tax Institute, we have over 70 years’ experience as Australia’s leading educator and professional association in tax. With over 13,000 members, we exist to enhance the credentials of tax professionals through the right training and education, knowledge products and our internationally respected Chartered Tax Adviser (CTA) designation.

For further information on the range of programs and subjects available or to become a member please visit our website taxinstitute.com.au or call 1300 829 338.

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