When the firm's own figures say it is time to hire
How an accounting firm reads its capacity, utilisation and workload figures to decide when to hire, and whether to recruit directly or through an agency.
By Achekam · · 5 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
Every growing firm has the same argument at some point. One partner says the team is drowning: deadlines are slipping, staff are working late, and two good clients have complained. The other says it is just the busy season and things will calm down after the filing deadlines. Both are partly right, and neither has the numbers to settle it.
Hiring too late burns out the people you have and puts quality at risk. Hiring too early adds a salary the fee base cannot carry. The way out of the argument is to look at the firm's own figures on capacity and workload, over months rather than days, and to treat hiring as a planned decision rather than a reaction to the latest resignation.
Plan the workforce, don't just fill the gap
The CIPD says good recruitment ensures the workforce has the skills and abilities the organisation needs now and in future, and that effective resourcing uses workforce planning data rather than simply filling an immediate vacancy. Its recruitment factsheet covers defining the role, attracting applicants, selection and making the appointment.
For an accounting or audit firm, workforce planning means asking three questions before advertising anything:
- Is the pressure permanent, seasonal, or caused by one large job?
- Which level is short: trainees who prepare, seniors who supervise, or managers who review?
- What will the firm's client base look like in a year, given the clients it is winning and losing?
The answers decide whether you need a permanent hire, contract help for the season, or a change in how work is spread across the people you already have.
What the capacity plan is telling you
In Achekam, staff can compare each engagement's planned hours with the hours logged, and see a people-by-weeks capacity plan. A week with no capacity recorded for a person shows as "not set".
Start by filling in the gaps. A capacity plan full of "not set" weeks cannot tell you anything, because the firm has not said how many hours each person is available. Record each person's available hours for the weeks ahead first, allowing for leave and study time.
Then look for patterns over a full year:
- Engagements consistently running over their planned hours. Either the budgets are unrealistic or the team is short of the right experience.
- The same people carrying the planned work week after week while others are lighter, which suggests a skills gap rather than a headcount gap.
- Pressure that falls in the same months every year. Seasonal peaks may be better met with contract staff or by moving some work earlier.
Utilisation and activity as evidence, not verdicts
Time Reports in Achekam offers ten reports for a chosen period, such as staff time, engagement time and utilisation, exportable as CSV, XLSX or PDF. Utilisation is never based on keyboard or mouse activity; it comes from the time people record.
The Team Activity page shows each person's recorded and captured time against their working hours, and the work due on them next. It states these as facts about the work, not as a judgement of the person. Leaders can ask for an AI reading of the report, which may only rank and explain the report's own facts; findings about anyone's character or effort are dropped.
That framing matters when the question is hiring. A report showing a team recording well above its working hours, month after month, with a growing list of work due, is evidence that the firm needs more capacity. It is not evidence that anyone is slow. Equally, a team with low utilisation and nothing due may not need another person; it may need more of the right work allocated to it.
Hiring is a quality decision too
ACCA explains that a system of quality management under ISQM 1 must address eight components, among them the firm's risk assessment process, governance and leadership, engagement performance, and resources. People are the most important resource a firm has.
Seen that way, chronic overload is not only a staffing problem. Reviews that are rushed, supervision that is thin and files that are signed off late are quality risks the firm is required to identify and respond to. Recording the capacity evidence, and the decision taken on it, shows that the firm treated resources as part of its quality system.
Through a recruiter or in-house?
Once the decision to hire is made, the next question is how. Investopedia describes headhunters as typically filling senior executive positions, often by approaching people who are already employed, while recruiters fill a wider range of roles from people who are already looking for work. The main alternative is in-house recruitment, which it says is more common at larger firms.
On cost, Investopedia says independent third-party recruiters are often paid on contingency, earning a fee only if their candidate is hired, and that the typical fee is 20% to 30% of the new hire's total first-year salary, with a higher range of 25% to 35% for management executives. Those are general figures from a US-based publisher; agencies in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya set their own terms, so ask for them in writing.
A rough guide for a firm:
| Role | Usual route |
|---|---|
| Trainees and juniors | In-house: university links, professional body job boards, referrals from staff |
| Experienced seniors | Either; a recruiter helps when the market is tight |
| Managers and partners | Often a specialist recruiter or headhunter |
When the new person joins
A firm administrator in Achekam invites colleagues by e-mailed link, gives each a role, and can suspend, reactivate or remove them. The subscription's seat limit is checked on every addition, so confirm a seat is available before the start date rather than on the morning the new person arrives.
Make the decision with data
Fill in everyone's capacity, run the utilisation and activity reports for the past year, and bring them to the partners' meeting before anyone writes a job advert. For the capacity plan itself, see planning capacity week by week, and for reading the time figures, utilisation reports.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
