Have you seen a rise in ‘freelance accountants'?

Have you seen a rise in ‘freelance accountants'?

Didn't find your answer?

New research from Elance reveals businesses are shunning the services of firms in favour of 'freelance accountants' that they are sourcing online.

The data shows that between 2012 and 2013 businesses seeking freelancers with specialist accounting skills grew by 71%.

Have AccountingWEB members seen this trend on the ground? Have you or any of your peers decided to go down the freelance route? If so, why?

Are we seeing a new breed of accounting professionals emerge?

Replies (22)

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Stepurhan
By stepurhan
19th Nov 2013 14:04

Definition please

Isn't any accountant that is self-employed a "freelance accountant"? What defines this new breed that separates them from the more traditional term "sole practitioner"?

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By Robert Lovell
19th Nov 2013 14:35

Re: stepurhan

Hi stepurhan,

I’ve been in touch with Elance to get some clarification on the ‘freelancer accountant’ term.

They said they are seeing a rise in the number of UK firms looking to source online accountants on their site – demonstrating a move away from the more traditional firms. So ‘freelancer accountant’ in this context is any individual offering their skill online.

Thanks,

Rob

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Replying to claudialowe:
Stepurhan
By stepurhan
19th Nov 2013 15:47

Not feeling clarified

Opening Post wrote:
The data shows that between 2012 and 2013 businesses seeking freelancers with specialist accounting skills grew by 71%.

robertlovell wrote:
They said they are seeing a rise in the number of UK firms looking to source online accountants on their site – demonstrating a move away from the more traditional firms.
The "data" shows an increase of  71% between 2012 and 2013, but there is no indication where the data comes from. Could it simply be that Elance has become more well known in that time, i.e. a 71% increase in their business generally. The "data" in question just being "number of people using Elance to look for accountants", which is hardly research.

Their latest clarification just seems to be a bunch of buzz words like "online work platforms" and the "cloud". Still doesn't tell us anything about the research. In fact, on the basis of what we have been told so far, this sounds more like the kind of client that likes to hunt around for a low-ball quote has found a way of taking the leg-work out of it. If that is what this "new breed of accountants" are hungry for, then they are welcome to it.

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By MissAccounting
19th Nov 2013 14:43

Freelance?

So basically not a freelannce accountant but any accountant with a website who isnt "traditional"?!

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Stepurhan
By stepurhan
19th Nov 2013 14:58

Basically any accountant with a website

So pretty much any accountant then.

I'm sorry, but this "research" sounds like a puff-piece concocted by a business that I can't help noticing promotes freelancing. What a surprise that their "research" came to a conclusion that supports their business. Have Elance given you access to their research methodology to give some indication how they came to this conclusion? I'm not sure double-blind testing, the preferred method for unbiased testing, would work in this context but I'd still like to know how they came by this figure.

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Stewie
By Stewie Griffin
19th Nov 2013 15:14

Bidding for work

Hmmm,

This approach is prevalent in the graphic design industry.  Basically, a company puts a brief on Elance looking for someone to do their accounts and tax for them and invite bids.  Freelance accountants bid for the work and the company chooses which one they want to pick.  Don’t know for a fact, but I’d suggest the lowest bidder nearly always wins!!

 

It’s ok for those who want to treat their relationship with an accountant as “throw away and transactional”, but does nothing to build a relationship which will help the client through their business journey.  Guess we already have this type of accountant anyway with companies such as Crunch etc.

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By Robert Lovell
19th Nov 2013 15:26

Further clarification from Elance

I hope this helps:

"A freelance accountant does not necessarily have to have a website. They sign up to online work platforms, that enables businesses looking for freelancers with accountancy skills, to source and hire the required talent. Freelancers that use online work platforms simply need to have access to the internet to enable them to communicate with their employer, to submit the work commissioned and to receive payment. These online work platforms also enable the freelancer to work with companies based anywhere in the world via the ‘cloud’."

 

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By andy.partridge
19th Nov 2013 15:39

So

We are not talking about the accountancy profession in terms of practice and clients but a new employer/employee relationship conducted online in place of the employer's premises?

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By tonycourt
19th Nov 2013 15:55

Hmmm!

Stepurhan and others hit the nail on the head.

Clarification - not in my book!  "online work platforms"  appears three times in the text.  For me that sort of jargon is an immediate turn off . The discription offered by Elance doesn't help much, and frankly the whole thing  smacks of an attempt to get some free advertising. 

Perhaps if they produced a sensible article on the subject, written properly and free of buzz-words and stock phrases they might muster some more interest instead of wasting people's time.  

 

EDIT: Just to prove the point it seems that Stepurhan was drafting a similar response posted just a few minutes ahead on me.

 

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By JCresswellTax
19th Nov 2013 16:58

what a load of rubbish

nothing else to say on the subject...

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Replying to Expat24:
By mrme89
19th Nov 2013 17:12

.

JCresswellTax wrote:

nothing else to say on the subject...

 

My thoughts exactly!

 

Getting fed various crap is becoming a regular occurance on AWeb unfortunately. Usually through blogs though.

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Euan's picture
By Euan MacLennan
19th Nov 2013 18:24

I think I must be a freelance accountant

... judging by the number of PMs I get on AWeb trying to tap me up for free advice!

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By mhtax
19th Nov 2013 19:06

@Euan

when you demonstrate excellence what else would you expect

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Chris M
By mr. mischief
19th Nov 2013 19:50

quite a decent length

This thread is a decent length for what in essence is a piece of drivel.

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Stepurhan
By stepurhan
19th Nov 2013 20:30

Online poetry on the rise

Research by stepurhan the poet shows that online poetry is on the rise. The data shows a massive 3,660% increase in engagement, clearly demonstrating a move away from more traditional print and spoken poetry. This new breed of online poets, utilising online platforms in the cloud, are the future. Have you noticed this trend on the ground?

 

That statistic is from my last Facebook page update. They send you stats in the hope you'll pay to advertise yourself. The 3,660% increase means I reached a total of 188 people in that week. The reason it is such a massive percentage increase is because I posted something that week, and didn't the week before. That percentage looks a bit less impressive when you know the actual data behind it. I bet the same goes for Elance's percentage.

Plus I have had at least five different poems appear in print, and I perform spoken poetry once a month, so it's not like I'm even solely an online poet anyway.

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Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
19th Nov 2013 22:42

A lot of interim work available.
Since I stepped down from my FD role I have been offered a lot of short term work to do specific projects or tasks in various businesses. I am assuming that is because they don't have the skills within the business and bringing in the external accountant would be too expensive. I have just completed a 3 month stint supporting a company going through a re fiancé where they didn't have enough bodies internally to deal with the process. I have seen also a local authority offering a 6 week appointment to assist with their year end as I am assuming as they cut down on staff they just pay extra to bring people in to support at key times, as must be better than carrying full time staff. So I think this type of work is on the up, although I do agree the article is poor and the website not he best.

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Replying to bernard michael:
Stepurhan
By stepurhan
20th Nov 2013 07:47

True place for freelancing

Glennzy wrote:
Since I stepped down from my FD role I have been offered a lot of short term work to do specific projects or tasks in various businesses. I am assuming that is because they don't have the skills within the business and bringing in the external accountant would be too expensive.
This doesn't surprise me, and I'm sure that being able to bring freelancers in for such roles makes sense for a company. But these are specialist roles suited to accountants with specialist skills. It is hardly the "shunning the services of firms" claimed by the opening post. Presumably the external accountant you mention is still someone in the more traditional firm mould.
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By chatman
19th Nov 2013 23:03

Glennzy
Yeah those re fiancés are the worst.

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Glenn Martin
By Glenn Martin
19th Nov 2013 23:34

Ha ha
It was difficult but got through it in the end. Damn this IPad and its predictive text.

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Chris M
By mr. mischief
20th Nov 2013 06:43

It's fair enough

You've got to give your fiances' internal bodies a thorough road check before you take matters to the next stage.

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By ShirleyM
20th Nov 2013 07:57

It's a sign of the times

Freelancers of every trade are becoming self-employed. The jobs are not there, so the job centre pushes people into self-employment.

Elance is just the same as 'People per hour', but maybe a bit more organised and flashy.

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By wilcoskip
20th Nov 2013 10:01

Elance

Just on a side-note, if anyone needs any graphic design/illustration/etc work done, then elance is a great site to go through.  I've used it for the first time this past week.  As ShirleyM notes, it's very organised, and allows you to systematically track a job and work with designers at every stage.

Putting a job on the site also, interestingly, gave me an insight into what might go through the heads of my potential clients.  Plenty of bids came through on my job for silly low money, but I discounted many of those because it just seemed too low a price to get a decent job done (how much time would they really be able to allocate to me?) and I was more interested in a good job with good communication than I was with the lowest price.  I was also very interested in past work so that I could see that they had experience of the type of job I was offering.

In the end I went with a mid-price solution who was professional and whose bid indicated that he'd actually read the job brief.

WS.

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