Sourcing, vetting, and onboarding the right finance and accounting talent can already take weeks or months under normal conditions. With the current accounting talent shortage in the US, that process becomes even longer. In a Spring 2025 CFO Pulse Survey, 49% of respondents (250+ finance leaders) said it takes at least 60 days or more, on average, to fill an open role at their organization. This is a huge problem for high-growth companies. Taking too long of a time to fill a critical finance role means books falling behind, inaccurate reporting, and overdue updates. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, each week of vacancy equates to roughly $3,000–5,000 dollars in lost productivity and delays. But an efficient accounting hiring sprint – and a partner like MAVI – can close those gaps in as fast as five days with high-quality talent that promises maximum ROI.
Perfecting your accounting recruitment process means choreographing your steps around speed, precision, and discipline. Here’s how to build a finance team quickly.
Day 1: Define What You Need
A major roadblock in the accounting hiring sprint happens even before the search begins. There’s a lack of clarity on needs and expectations. Day 1 of the accounting hiring is all about clearing that up.
Start with defining the main responsibilities for the role you’re hiring for. Are you looking for someone to own bookkeeping or reconciliations, or do you need a person with stronger FP&A skills for insights and analysis? Which systems and tools do they need to know how to use? Do you require a full-time hire or a part-time team member? Get this information on paper, then use it as a foundation to weed out candidates that don’t tick off your base checklist.
MAVI has worked with customers who have both vague and hyper-specific requirements, and we make sure to clarify the job description through a quick call so that we can match you with a talent that perfectly matches your criteria – without you having to sift through hundreds of profiles and going back-and-forth multiple emails.
Day 2: Source and Screen Fast
The key to fast accounting hiring is to seek qualified talent in a fast, intentional way. Once you’ve got your JD out there, Day 2 is sourcing and screening your top three to five candidates.
Work with sources like MAVI that can provide pre-qualified talent to save yourself time and resources from verifying and vetting credentials. Use a structured scorecard to evaluate candidates based on technical skills, work ethic, and communication clarity, then set brief initial interviews.
Doing all of this sounds like a lot for one day – but MAVI can take all that work for you and deliver without compromising on quality. All our talents are background-checked, experience vetted, and skill-tested, so we can quickly give you qualified profiles and set interviews within 48 hours since our initial meeting.
Day 3: Assess Skill and Fit
With resume look-throughs and interviews done, Day 3 is about skill and fit assessment. Give a short, custom task that’s relevant and specific to your use case. This could be a short test, mock reconciliations, or scenario-based assignments.
Evaluate how your candidates also fit within your team. See if they can communicate clearly and work in-sync with other members.
MAVI’s vetting process already includes rigorous technical challenges and experience and leadership assessment. This shaves off time for you, and allows you to compare applicants with reduced bias and greater speed.
Day 4: Make a Decision
On Day 4, make a final comparison based on your initial scorecard and any other special considerations that might’ve come up. Decide which candidate you’d like to move forward with, making sure that you’ve first agreed upon schedules and availability, onboarding needs, and expected performance outcomes for the initial period of work.
MAVI helps you speed up this process even more by taking over contracting, compliance, and other related paperwork. That means, you have the freedom to prepare for work so your chosen candidate can hit the ground running.
Day 5: Onboard and Integrate
Your five-day accounting hiring sprint doesn’t end after an accepted offer. It finishes with a successful first day on the job. Day 5 involves creating a structured onboarding experience that can help your hire integrate seamlessly into your team.
That means giving them access to the information, tools, and materials they need to finish their tasks and work with other team members. It’s good to have an onboarding timeline that outlines their accountabilities and milestones, with regular check-ins inserted to oversee progress.
MAVI offers a 14-day trial period for every talent that you hire from our network, giving you the flexibility to fully test compatibility and ensure that you end up with the perfect match. At any point, you can say that it’s not a fit and we’ll give you new profiles ASAP. Otherwise, you can choose to continue working with the talent based on your agreed upon contract.
Implementing a 5-Day Accounting Hiring Sprint
Strategic hiring doesn't have to be slow. With a well-designed sprint, you get speed, rigor, and confidence to help you hire global accounting talent faster than your competition. But condensing the accounting hiring process in less than a week isn’t always a feasible feat, especially for scaling companies whose people are already swamped with other urgent tasks.
With MAVI, you get rapid access to a vetted talent network, structured assessments, onboarding, and management oversight that guarantees the success of the hire goes well beyond the hiring process. We can help you adopt an accounting hiring sprint that matches the pace of your business’s growth. Book a call to know more.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an accounting hiring sprint?
An accounting hiring sprint is a quick, organized process to find, assess, and onboard qualified accounting talent in a set amount of days (usually less than a week). It moves away from drawn-out traditional hiring processes, instead prioritizing quickly filling gaps with confidence.
How long does it usually take to hire an accountant?
Nowadays, it usually takes an average of eight weeks to hire an accountant because of how long it is to source, interview, and approve talent, on top of preparing contracts, compliance documents, and onboarding checklists, plus the ongoing accounting talent shortage. Switching to the sprint approach – and utilizing a pre-vetted talent pool like MAVI’s allows companies to hire as quickly as five days.
Can I hire a qualified accountant in just 5 days?
Yes! With an organized process in place and a partner like MAVI, you can hire a qualified accountant in just five days. MAVI makes this process simpler, faster, and more reliable with a pre-vetted pool of accounting professionals with experience working to US standards, reducing time you would’ve otherwise spent for initial evaluation.
What are the benefits of a 5-day hiring sprint for finance teams?
A hiring sprint allows faster decision-making, decreased hiring costs, prevents delays in your month-end close and reporting, and assures that projects don't fall behind during growth periods. And of course, hiring sprints prevent "candidate drop-off", which happens frequently with slower hiring.
How does MAVI help companies hire accountants in 5 days?
MAVI facilitates hiring fast by offering a pre-vetted network of global finance and accounting talent, structured skills assessments, and seamless communication. From an initial meeting to determine your criteria, we can send you curated profiles in as fast as 48 hours (or even sooner!) and set up an interview immediately. We then support the following steps to make sure you make the right decision, and are with you through contracting to onboarding and beyond to ensure success.
Is an accounting hiring sprint doable for small teams?
Small teams can definitely implement an accounting hiring sprint with the right resources like MAVI. This expedited process can be extremely beneficial in increasing a company’s headcount while maintaining operational efficiency.