When businesses bring in a financial consultant, chances are good he or she will be providing general accounting and tax services.

In a recent survey of chief financial officers, nearly one-third of respondents said their companies are most likely to use project professionals for accounting and tax work.

The survey was developed by RHI Management Resources, North America’s largest consulting services firm providing senior-level accounting and finance professionals on a project basis. It includes responses from 270 CFOs from a random sample of Canadian companies with more than 20 employees.

CFOs were asked, “For which of the following functions is your company most likely to bring in consulting or project professionals to supplement workloads or gain specialized expertise?”

Accounting and tax work top the list of responses at 33%. Financial systems consulting was second at 18%. Other responses included: business process improvement, 15%; e-commerce solutions, 14%; and merger or acquisition, 7%.

“The results of this survey are not surprising due the growing need for financial systems consultants and business improvement specialists, particularly in the areas of internal audit, tax compliance and strategic planning,” said David King, regional manager of RHI Management Resources.