News & Thoughts

Whether you're a newly qualified accountant or a seasoned finance pro eyeing your next move, it pays to know what employers are really after. It’s no longer enough to just have the key qualifications for accountants - firms want well-rounded finance people who bring more to the table.

Ai isn’t just a buzzword anymore, it’s actively changing how we work. In regards to HR, we’re seeing AI help HR leadership teams make smarter hiring decisions, use data to better employee engagement, and solve real world work problems. Here’s the top 5 ways you’re going to see AI shape your HR team in the near future – including the pros and cons of each one.

The world we live in moves quickly these days. We’re seeing it everywhere, including in HR recruitment, and if you’re not adapting, you’re falling behind. Heading rapidly through Q2 of 2025, the latest HR hiring practices are being driven by a mix of tech, talent expectations, and smarter strategies. Here’s what’s actually happening in the market, not just buzzwords, but real, current HR industry hiring trends worth paying attention to.

The landscape of the modern workplace never seems to stop changing. Heading into 2025, wellbeing at work has become a cornerstone of organisational strategy and a key focus for HR leadership. The concept of staff health has far bypassed traditional health and safety protocols, with management teams and HR leadership embracing a more holistic approach, one which fosters mental, physical, and emotional health. 70% of people surveyed in our annual HR Salary Survey now work for a business that has an up-to-date and wellbeing strategy.

The last 12 months have seen the rise of the fractional finance director, a highly experienced finance professional who will work with your business on a short term basis; likely part time. We've seen them pop up predominantly in SME environments. Unlike your traditional finance director, who are usually employed full time and tend to come with a high salary, a fractional FD offers their expertise to more than one business, working flexibly and at a fraction of the cost.

Read our top tips for accountancy employee retention, which will help your business reduce turnover and keep your finance teams engaged and committed.

Are you working towards your accountancy qualifications? Chloe has some tips for the most popular worries that come up for part-qualified finance professionals.

12 months of fundraising. 20 colleagues. Hundreds of miles. Some brilliant donated prizes from local businesses. Nearly 200 baked goods. One broken exercise bike. One (nearly) broken Chloe. Tons of donations from our friends, family and colleagues. Endless gratitude from all of us here at Sewell Wallis. Nearly £5,000 raised to help stop this devastating disease. It’s been a cracking year for our fundraiser for Brain Tumour Research. We could waffle all we want about the amazing things we’ve done, but we thought it was better to let Han tell you what this year has been like, and what it means to her.