Number crunchers proving hard to find

MORE than half of Scotland's leading accountancy firms are finding it increasingly hard to find and retain qualified chartered accountants (CAs), with specialists in audit, insolvency and financial services the hardest to recruit.

Of the country's top 50 firms, 57.1 per cent admitted they were facing "serious challenges" when it came to recruiting skilled number crunchers, according to a survey carried out by respected journal CA Magazine.

The remainder of those polled conceded they were having "some" challenges in securing appropriate staff.

Finding newly-qualified staff was reported to be a problem for 73 per cent of respondents.

The situation was less problematic at partner level, but there were still 45 per cent of firms saying the staff challenge was "serious".

CA Magazine editor Robert Outram said: "There is a mismatch between supply and demand and that is making recruitment and retention very challenging."

He added: "It's good news for CAs looking for a move, or a salary hike, but bad news for their employers."