Finding the right person for a finance role is rarely the hard part. Finding the right staffing solutions to get there is where most South African firms get stuck. So, at Snatch, we talk to CFOs, finance heads and owners every week. Many have tried job boards. Many have tried word of mouth. Most still end up with a seat that stays empty for too long.
This post sets out how proper staffing solutions work for finance and accounting hiring. It also shows why the best agencies look very different to the ones that just forward CV’s. In addition, it opens a short series on hiring in Pretoria, Cape Town and Johannesburg. The basics below apply in every city, even though each one has its own quirks.
Why generic hiring falls short
Most finance leaders do not lack candidates. Job boards and referrals bring in plenty of names. Instead, the real gap is quality at speed. South Africa is short an estimated 20,000 chartered accountants. As a result, firms often change how work gets done just to cope.
When good candidates are this scarce, a job ad will not find them. These people are not job hunting. Someone has to find them, check them, and make the role worth their time. This is the gap that real staffing solutions close.
Staffing solutions: what good ones include
A staffing solution worth paying for goes well past sourcing names. First, it starts with a real chat about your culture, your team, and what a win looks like. This should come first, before any job spec is written. Second, it should also offer a pool of passive candidates: people not job hunting, but open to the right offer. Third, it should include real vetting. You should see interviewed, checked candidates, not a raw pile of CV’s.
Good staffing solutions also come with one named account manager for the whole search. They come with a clear date for your first shortlist, too. At Snatch, that first batch lands within five working days of kickoff. This works because the groundwork happens early, not mid-search.
Matching the solution to the role
Not every finance hire needs the same plan. A management accountant role at a growing firm moves fast. A CFO search for a listed group moves slower and with more care. So the right staffing solution flexes. For high-volume roles, it moves broad and fast. For top roles, it moves deep and quiet, since discretion counts more than speed.
Company size matters more here than most owners expect. Our 2026 salary benchmark shows CFOs at firms with 250 or more staff earn 30% more, on average, than those at firms under 50 staff. That gap beats both the experience gap and the location gap. So if your partner is not weighing pay against firm size, you may lose good candidates late, or pay too much for a role that does not need it.
The cost of getting it wrong
A bad finance hire costs more than the invoice shows. There is the pay during a bad fit. A fresh search also costs money and time. On top of that, there is the drag of a seat that is filled, but not really working.
Our data shows 80% of finance staff feel underpaid, by 22% on average. About a third are job hunting right now. So even a candidate who takes your offer may still be looking, if the pay and the role do not match the market. Getting the brief, the pay and the checks right the first time costs far less than getting it wrong.
How Snatch does staffing solutions differently
We are a specialist finance and accounting agency, built by former finance staff. We know the gap between a job title and a real mandate. Relationships come before deals for us, and we learn your culture before we start the search.
Beyond that, we reach hard-to-find, passive talent that a normal search will miss. Every candidate is checked before you see a CV. We send a first shortlist within five days of kickoff. Whether you need a first financial manager or a new CFO, the rule stays the same. Good staffing solutions are built around your firm, not a database of names.
Where to go from here
If you hire in a set city, these basics still hold, though local factors shift. Our next posts cover what to look for in a recruitment agency in Pretoria, Cape Town and Johannesburg, and how pay shifts by region. For a full view of finance and accounting pay by role and place, our 2026 Salary Benchmark is a good place to start.
If you would rather skip the research and just get moving, our team can talk you through a staffing solution built for your next finance hire.