Welcome to the First Issue!
Thanks for joining Rollforwards — the weekly briefing for assurance professionals who want to stay sharp, lead smarter, and plan better.
Every week, you’ll get:
Free CPE course alerts
New AI and tech tools for audit/firm life
Management strategies for people, process, and clients
Thought-starters to help you lead with intention
Let’s kick things off with one of the most pressing challenges facing firms today…
🎯 This Week’s Focus
How Do You Attract and Retain Gen Z Employees in Your Firm?
If you're running or managing a public accounting firm, you're already feeling it:
📉 Applications are down.
😓 Entry-level hires are ghosting.
🧳 Promising juniors are leaving after 1 busy season.
This isn’t just a recruiting issue — it’s a firm survival issue. And most firms are still using 2005 solutions to solve a 2025 problem.
So, what does Gen Z actually want — and how do you build a firm they’ll want to build with you?
💬 Understanding Gen Z
They are Not Lazy, but Just Different
First, a mindset shift: Gen Z isn’t less ambitious. They’re just playing a different game.
Born between 1997 and 2012, they:
Grew up with Google, YouTube, and TikTok as teachers
Lived through COVID at formative career stages
Are deeply aware of burnout and mental health
Value freedom, flexibility, and impact over prestige
In short, they’re not anti-work. They’re just anti-bullsh*t.
🛠️ 5 Practical Ways to Attract + Retain Gen Z in Assurance Firms
1. Reframe Your Purpose
Don’t just sell audit work. Sell the mission.
“We help build trust in institutions.”
“We protect stakeholders from risk.”
“We’re the guardians of truth in business.”
Tie assurance work to meaning, not just mechanics.
2. Flexibility > Fancy Offices
The pandemic changed everything. If your firm still enforces rigid in-office schedules without strong rationale, you’re losing candidates before the second interview.
Let flexibility be default. Offer:
Remote onboarding done right
Asynchronous review cycles where possible
Results > timecards
3. Growth Must Be Obvious and Ongoing
Gen Z craves clear development paths and fast feedback.
Implement:
Shorter feedback loops (weekly check-ins > annual reviews)
Learning budgets — including non-CPE courses like tech, writing, design
Peer mentorship systems, not just partner talks
4. Modernize the Tech Stack
They don’t want to work in a firm that still faxes engagement letters.
Make sure you're using:
Modern project management tools (Notion, ClickUp, or Karbon)
Cloud-based audit tools
Generative AI assistants (see next issue 👀)
And if you can’t upgrade fast, at least acknowledge the gaps and show a plan to evolve.
5. Pay Attention to Culture Signals
Gen Z notices what you celebrate, tolerate, and ignore.
Ask yourself:
Do we reward overtime or efficiency?
Are our firm leaders visible and human?
Is DEI something we post about once a year or build into decisions?
📚 Resources to Go Deeper
🧠 What Gen Z Wants at Work — Harvard Business Review
🎧 Podcast: Leading Gen Z in Accounting
🎓 Free CPE: “Bridging the Generation Gap in the Workplace” – NASBA (2 credits)
📘 [PDF Toolkit] Coming Soon: Rollforwards Gen Z Readiness Checklist
🔁 Real Talk
Will They Stay?
Here’s the hard truth: even if you attract Gen Z talent, retention is earned, not assumed.
They’ll leave if:
There’s no flexibility
Their voice isn’t heard
You treat "staff" like second-class citizens
The only career path leads to burnout
But they’ll stay if:
You invest in their growth
You lead with vision
You build a culture of trust, not hierarchy
And if they leave well? They refer others. They boomerang back. They become your allies.
💬 Closing Thought
You don’t build a firm and hope great people come.
You build a great firm for great people to stay.
🔜 Coming Up in Next Week’s Issue
🎯 3 CPE courses that help you stay audit-ready
🔍 Tool Review: What AI can actually do (and not do) in assurance
📘 Guide: What goes into a modern firm quality manual (and how to update yours)
Thanks again for being here. Forward this issue to a colleague who’s hiring right now. They’ll thank you.
— The Rollforwards Team
