53% of employees in the DACH region cite stress and excessive hours as reasons for leaving finance professions
FloQast, an accounting automation platform created by accountants for accountants, released the results of a new market study entitled: The role of financial automation in reducing stress and retaining talent in the DACH region. The survey examines the state of automation and digitization in finance and accounting teams in Germany, Austria and Switzerland (DACH) and reveals key insights into the challenges and opportunities facing finance professionals.
The survey was conducted in collaboration with Vogel Research (Vogel Communications Group GmbH & Co. KG) among more than 420 CFOs, heads of accounting and other decision-makers from finance and accounting departments with at least five employees. The results indicated clear trends in terms of stress, heavy workloads and employee turnover.
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Key findings include:
- Heavy workload takes its toll: companies in the region are experiencing significant staff turnover in finance teams due to stress and excessive hours. In fact, 50% of the employees surveyed stated that stress and excessive hours were the reasons for leaving their job.
- Recruitment challenges: these factors could lead to a tighter talent pool in accounting and finance, with 65% of organizations saying they are struggling to find qualified staff. 67% of companies report a high demand for specialists in financial analysis and data interpretation in their finance departments.
- It starts with the closing: 60% of finance professionals say that the root of stress and excessive hours lies in manual and outdated closing processes.
However, the survey also revealed positive developments in how some companies are tackling these challenges:
- Increasing use of automation tools: more than 50% of companies in the region are using automation to increase efficiency and improve employee satisfaction.
- Exploring AI integration: 60% of DACH companies are actively working on AI projects to further improve their financial processes.
“The accounting sector in the DACH region is heavily burdened by high work demands and stress. Organizations that don’t use automation to drive financial transformation risk falling behind in a very competitive market,” said Adam Zoucha, Senior Vice President of International Sales at FloQast. “Manual workflows that only address specific needs do not bring about any real change. A holistic approach that uses artificial intelligence and automation, on the other hand, can reduce workload, increase employee satisfaction and establish accounting and finance teams as valuable strategic resources within the organization.”
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