Rethinking Valuation Workflows in a Talent-Constrained Environment
Accounting and financial reporting teams are under increasing pressure.
Firms are being asked to handle more complex work, tighter timelines, and higher expectations - while continuing to navigate a persistent shortage of experienced talent.
Recent industry reporting makes it clear:
this isn’t a short-term hiring gap. It’s a structural shift.
Which raises a practical question for many teams:
What work actually needs to be done internally, and what doesn’t?
The Shift From Hiring to Workflow Design
For years, the default solution to increased workload was hiring.
But in today’s environment, that approach is becoming harder to sustain.
Fewer professionals are entering the field
Competition for experienced talent remains high
Training new staff takes time - and adds pressure to existing teams
As a result, firms are starting to look beyond hiring and toward how work is structured and executed.
In many cases, the opportunity isn’t just to add resources. It’s to remove friction.
Where Valuation Work Creates Pressure
Valuation is one of the areas where this pressure is most visible.
Not necessarily because of the pricing itself - but because of everything around it:
Managing multiple pricing sources
Navigating contracts and minimums
Handling data collection and formatting
Coordinating communication between teams
Training staff to meet evolving documentation and audit standards
Individually, these tasks are manageable.
Together, they can become a significant operational burden, especially during busy reporting cycles.
A Different Approach to Valuation Support
As firms rethink how work gets done, many are moving toward more flexible, integrated models of support.
Instead of building and maintaining internal workflows for every component of valuation, some are choosing to plug into external platforms that can take on a larger portion of the process.
In the case of Harvest, that approach is designed to simplify both access and execution.
Plugging into the Harvest platform can mean:
Fast, direct access to pricing from multiple sources
No monthly or annual minimums, and no contracts to manage
No need to build or maintain technical interfaces
Reduced administrative coordination between teams
Access to experienced investment professionals when needed
Consistent, well-documented valuation work aligned with reporting standards
For many firms, this allows valuation work to be handled with the same level of rigor - without requiring the same level of internal infrastructure.
Reducing Operational Drag
One of the more subtle challenges in valuation workflows is what could be described as “operational drag.”
This includes:
Time spent managing vendors
Internal back-and-forth communication
Training and onboarding new staff
Maintaining consistency across engagements
These activities don’t always show up in budgets - but they directly affect how efficiently teams can operate.
By reducing these layers, firms can shift their focus toward higher-value work, while maintaining the quality and consistency expected in financial reporting.
Consistency Without Constant Training
Another challenge in a talent-constrained environment is maintaining consistency.
As teams change or expand, ensuring that valuation work meets the same standards across engagements can require ongoing training and oversight.
An alternative approach is to rely on processes that are already built to align with those standards—reducing the need to continuously train new staff on specialized valuation requirements.
Final Thoughts
The accounting profession is evolving.
As firms adapt to ongoing talent constraints, the focus is shifting from simply adding people to designing more efficient ways of working.
Valuation is one area where that shift is already taking shape.
By reducing friction, simplifying workflows, and accessing the right expertise when needed, firms can continue to meet reporting expectations, without placing additional strain on internal teams.
If your team is navigating capacity constraints or looking for ways to simplify valuation workflows, Harvest can provide additional support.
