Our Process

MATCH is a system of best practices that virtually guarantees you hiring success. MATCH is based on a decade of data collection over thousands of hires. I meticulously collected strategies that great companies utilize in consistently recruiting, hiring and retaining great people. The result is MATCH: A Systematic, Sane Process for Hiring the Right Person Every Time.

The MATCH process has proven to be effective across all hiring disciplines. I have been asked to speak to hiring managers around the world – sharing the best practices of MATCH with hiring managers in Paris, France; Beijing, China; and, London, England. But I am helping a rural Fire Department in North Carolina attract, hire and retain a terrific staff of Fire Fighters.

But the area where MATCH has been most widely used is in the Accounting Finance space. MATCH has been instrumental in the hiring process for numerous CFOs, Controllers, Accounting Managers, Audit Managers, Tax Directors, etc., but MATCH is also being utilized in the successful hiring of Clerical Accountants, Revenue Cycle Accountants, Audit and Tax Departments, and even Data Entry Projects.

The MATCH process is the cornerstone of my Recruiting and Staffing Firm – Accountants One. The value of the process can be seen in the stellar success ratings of the firm. Using a twelve-month trailing audit, Accountants One has never dropped below 90%, and has been as high as 98%. This is an industry where a 60% success rate is considered acceptable.

Initially, the process does demand more time from the hiring team on the front-end. Further, the process demands a greater level of mutual trust from both parties, for teams looking to hire exceptional talent, these far outweigh the of an exceptional hire.

Do you need to hire a CFO or controller? Maybe a bookkeeper? Or perhaps you need to staff an audit or an accounts payable team?

Whether hiring or contracting, you don’t want just anyone—you want the right person or team of persons, whose success will help drive the success of your company! That means aligning qualified candidates with your culture.

The MATCH process does this, whether you do it yourself or seek help from a recruiting or staffing firm.

The starting point is to have in mind your mission, your reason for being. Why? Because successful companies don’t look to hire an employee, they look to hire someone who can help them advance the mission!

There is a lot more. For example, have you got a solid job description about the real role you need to fill? Have you articulated key initiatives? Or is it a generic description with a few traits of Wonder Woman or Superman slapped on?

Beyond the role description and the requisite education, skills and experience of the candidate, you want to ensure “fit.” Your company expresses its mission through its culture. You want candidates that fit into that culture—and candidates want to find a culture in which they fit!

Culture is critical. The MATCH process examines both the culture of your company and the behavioral characteristics of candidates to ensure a fit. A truly good fit means a new hire or contractor that will be in sync not only with the mission and vision but with your approach, your way of operating, your attitudes and behaviors—your culture! With cultural fit, they will thrive and contribute.

Maybe your environment is sporting and competitive; maybe it’s a collaborative, supportive team-oriented one, or perhaps it’s something in between. If the company’s culture is like a shark tank, you need a shark, not a blue tang. On the other hand, if your mission is working as a team to find lost fish, a skilled blue tang may be the perfect hire.

But if you hire Superman into an incompatible culture, it’s like putting him in an office made of kryptonite. He’s not going to succeed. On the other hand, right cultural fit is a strengths-multiplier!

So how do you find person that will fit? MATCH.

You want access to candidates—the right candidates. The right candidates want access to you. Unfortunately in spite of our newest technological tools, it’s just not that easy. There are so many companies and candidates out there. How do you find the qualified candidate who’ll fit culturally—a real match?

Sometimes you need help from someone who is already out there looking; who already knows a lot of candidates, and has screened them not just for technical skills but behavioral practices—who knows where they’ll fit.

When it comes to accounting roles, Accountants One employs MATCH best practices and a long-standing, experienced team to match your company with its carefully screened candidates. Our teams comprise staff members in sourcing, administration, junior and senior recruiters, and success auditors. They all work together to achieve and ensure the right match. The firm’s high success rate speaks to their effectiveness. We have been building relationships and trust for decades.

We work closely with you, starting with your mission and moving through the job overview, then creating a behavioral profile and recruiting plan. Once the fundamental pre-hiring practices are complete, we execute the recruiting plan. We develop a pool of suitable candidates, then through careful analysis, winnow that down to the three finalists best suited to the role and your culture. You meet and interview each (receiving behavioral references to review), ultimately leading to your decision on the best candidate.

Accountants One will assist in salary negotiations, transition and on-boarding. Our partnership with you continues through the guarantee period of a year. We will stay connected, monitoring the success of the hire. Our goal is to sustain an ongoing relationship with your organization by helping you succeed. Your success is our success.

Do you need temporary contract staffers to see you through a transition, or maybe longer-term to fill a core operations role with no worry or hassle?

MATCH works just as well on the contract staffing side. Accountants One can provide contractors as a temporary or longer-term solution, aligning talent with your need and culture. The contractors work for Accountants One, relieving you of the responsibilities and costs of people management. It takes a lot of work to find the right people. Our contractors are screened technically and culturally. Let us do that “heavy lifting” for you. It’s what we do.

We have success in providing MATCH contractors to:

• Accounts Payable
• Revenue Cycle Accounting
• Accounts Receivable
• Auditing
• Tax Projects
• High-level financial due diligence
• Fractional CFOs

On a limited basis, Dan or another team member trained in the MATCH process is available for consulting. We can coach you through and provide tools for each step of the MATCH process.

Here is a brief list of the topics we have covered for a variety of companies:

Implementing the Cultural Scorecard to get an objective snapshot of your Company Culture – How to complete this critical step necessary to a true Match.

How to Use Behavioral Questions to Predict Future Activity – Aligning key objectives and cultural norms with scripted behavioral questions; artfully asking behavioral questions; the value of the behavioral reference check; compiling data collected in behavioral sessions to make the best hire.

The Effective Job Overview – Crafting a Job Overview that ties directly to the most important business objectives of your organization as well as clarifying the impact the new hire will have on the organization as a whole; clarifying corporate culture and key competencies in the job overview.

The MATCH process: soup to nuts – A transformative, multi-day session on implementing the MATCH process from start to finish.

On a limited basis, Dan Erling or a team member trained in the MATCH process is available to speak to small or large groups.

Topics include:

The Cost of a Mis-hire – Walk through the mis-hire of Andy the Controller, exploring the ROI of hiring the wrong person. Compare this to the hire of Sandy – the “right” hire. Discuss the strategies necessary for hiring the right person every time.

How to use the mission of your firm to attract, hire and retain GREAT people – While this presentation originated in speaking to the non-profit community, the lesson is impactful for ANY organization. Waving the mission of your organization is key to attracting people who align with the culture of your organization. This hour-long presentation walks you through methods for turning up the volume of your organization’s mission.

MATCH subtopics – We are available to speak on any of the following: clarifying the corporate culture of your organization; creating an organizational chart; structuring a recruiting plan; creating a competency profile; on-boarding; behavioral interviews; checking references; and any other MATCH topic.

The MATCH process: soup to nuts – A transformative, multi-day session on implementing the MATCH process from start to finish.