more work, more clients, more fees, more profits. so who’s complaining?
by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
despite beginning in chaos and uncertainty with the biggest tax-law change in three decades, busy season 2018 may go down as a banner year in the books for the tax profession – one of the best ever, according to the annual 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer.
kathy j. scroggs, of scroggs & associates in montecito, calif., says, “my team is working like a well-tuned grand piano.”
almost half of all cpas report a busy season better than last year, with more work and higher profits. additionally, two-thirds cite gains in revenue and in the number of clients.
one tax practitioner, reporting a “much better year,” is riding a wave of shifting clientele. “i’m having more people coming in to prepare and use e-file, more than last year,” he tells 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间, “especially new business owners opening llcs.”
a cpa with a santa barbara, calif., firm says, “we had to settle into the new filing requirements for business returns, then we were able to plan tax season. for example, beginning in january, we identified clients that needed extensions and filed them.”
despite the widespread optimism, 22 percent figured this year was about the same as last year—clients coming and going, good staff scarce but locatable, the usual last-minute new rules and regs.
among the 31 percent who say 2018 was somewhat worse or much worse (21 and 10 percent, respectively) expectations of unprofitable drudgery left them less than eager to get into the season.
the leading concerns among all respondents were the two that seem to always walk hand-in-hand: clients late or unprepared, at 43 percent, and tax codes and reg changes, 41 percent.
a cpa named charles speaks for many when he says, “clients coming in later, more returns with incomplete data. many clients still do not understand the paperwork requirements and penalties in obamacare.”
nearly as common as those complaints are a triad of pressures: security and privacy (35 percent), staffing issues (34 percent), and pricing and fee pressures (34 percent).
phrased another way, those three might be formulated as added work + fewer people doing the work + not much commensurate increase in fees = 1 worse year.
on the other hand, only 10 percent thought the economy was going to get worse. it’s no coincidence that competition from others was of minimal concern, with only 11 percent worried about it. a booming economy means more business which means a market big enough for all to share.
the economically pessimistic fear trade wars, tariffs, lack of federal stability, oppressive taxation at the state level, debt, interest rates, immigration, media noise, sabotage by leftists, the presidency, loss of integrity at all levels, and, more often one would expect from a question about economics, gun control.
some see their clients and their region getting clobbered.
“clients are extremely stressed out about the new tax laws, especially small service-based businesses,” says margaux milchen, a forensic accounting specialist in denver. “i have two farmers who don’t know if they will continue due to the trade instability with china (i’m in colorado). several small business owners are stressed at the lack of available employees and will need to sell or close their businesses if things don’t open up.”