The block management sector is wrestling with a well-documented strain on property managers; however, a quieter crisis is brewing beneath the surface.
Accounting teams, otherwise known as the backbone of service charge operations, are facing a growing skills gap that could threaten operational efficiency and client satisfaction if it isn’t addressed urgently.
A talent crunch with real consequences
A recent wellbeing survey by the TPI has provided useful insight into the wellbeing of members within the block management industry. Whilst much of the focus was on property managers, an equally pressing concern seems to be emerging: the future availability of skilled accounts staff.
Across all roles, the open vacancy rate was approximately 20%, a significant challenge in an already stretched sector. When we filter this down to purely accounting roles, it is even higher at 27%. The reality is that most TPI members will have at least one open role in their accounts department at any given time.
This gap in staffing is a structural bottleneck; for growth-driven organisations, it’s a hard stop. Opportunities are being turned down not due to a lack of demand, but due to a lack of capacity to deliver. This level of resource constraint undermines client service and halts revenue potential.
The demographic dilemma. However, the sector benefits from a wealth of experienced professionals. The survey revealed that over 40% of accounting staff have been in the industry for over a decade, and nearly 60% have been employed for over 6 years.
This is a testament to the industry’s ability to retain talent; however, this is where the dilemma comes in: 50% of these staff are either considering leaving or planning their exit within three years. Without succession planning, the industry risks a significant loss of institutional knowledge and system expertise.
Meanwhile, turnover from junior staff places a burden on senior employees, increasing burnout risk and contributing to a vicious cycle of attrition. It’s clear that simply backfilling roles is no longer a sustainable strategy.
Both of these challenges can result in non-optimal states with misaligned resources that could be deployed better elsewhere. On top of this, expensive and lengthy recruitment processes and significant time investments are then required for training new staff.
A case for proactive resilience. Instead of waiting for the talent gap to widen, forward-looking organisations are taking three proactive steps to future-proof their finance functions:
1. Technology and training investment
Empowering teams with the correct, scalable technology and implementing a training programme in your organisation is likely to breed operational efficiency and less reliance on specific individuals.
This approach not only reduces single points of failure that typically come from narrow knowledge bosses but also:
- Promotes operational agility
- Fosters a culture of continuous learning and shared knowledge
- Makes onboarding of new staff more efficient by standardising processes.
- Increases adaptability to market changes, regulatory updates, or shifts in client demand.
- Supports scalability as the business grows without proportional increases in headcount
- Ultimately enhances employee satisfaction by reducing frustration with outdated tools or unclear procedures
2. Continued investment in existing solutions
Technologies evolve, any system worth using will have continued development in core functions that allow clients to leverage more and more efficiency over time. Carrying out regular system health checks and investing in incremental configuration improvements can:
- Yield efficiency gains and reduce reliance on headcount
- Continually optimise workflows to match evolving operational needs
- Identify unused or underutilised features that drive further efficiency
- Reduce over-reliance on manual interventions or workaround processes
- Minimise technical debt and training requirements for new staff by maintaining consistency in systems
- Extend the lifecycle and ROI of existing platforms without major reinvestments
3. Co-sourcing with strategic partners
Outsourcing doesn’t have to mean loss of control. Co-sourcing models – where internal teams are supported by skilled, system-literate professionals – can provide scalable, knowledgeable support with minimal onboarding friction.
Rather than relinquishing control, this method offers the flexibility of scaling expertise as needed, while:
- Mitigating the risks of staff turnover or seasonal workload spikes
- Bringing in system-literate professionals with niche skill sets or technical experience
- Allowing internal teams to focus on high-value, strategic activities while routine or time-intensive tasks are shared
- Enhancing knowledge transfer through collaboration, which contributes to upskilling the internal workforce
- Offering a faster, more agile alternative to lengthy hiring and onboarding processes
The future of service charge accounting doesn’t lie purely in recruitment; it lies in rethinking how we structure, support, and scale our accounting teams.
By embracing smarter systems, more flexible resourcing models, and ongoing skills development, the block management sector can turn today’s skills gap into tomorrow’s competitive advantage.
