accountants show new signs of optimism as fears of covid chaos wane.
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by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
the turning of a terrible tide of covid pessimism has been neither quick nor clear-cut as the endless busy season of 2020 drags on, according to new findings and analysis from the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer.
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the outlook certainly isn’t back to where it was in the sunny days of february. but hopes for a better year have edged up from 23 percent in april to 27 percent in may.
cpas certainly aren’t replacing bottles of sanitizer with bottles of champagne, but while only 15 percent dared hope for a year at least as good as last year, by the end of may, that cautious cohort had increased to 25 percent.
victoria martin, the managing partner at north carolina firm martin starnes & associates, explains why she thinks that, on the whole, business is about the same as before.
“work has been delayed, and even though we were projecting revenues to be up,” she reports, “the pandemic has slowed the turnaround. also, efficiency is way down due to working remotely and pushing projects out so that staff won’t have to work the long hours, etc. since the deadlines were extended.”
cleveland-based sole practitioner margarite harkness is also among those optimistic enough to believe the year will average out better than expected in the covid catastrophe.
“i was ahead until late march,” she says. “then stopped dead while i kept up with covid-law and educating clients and colleagues about how to handle the loans. we still have a backlog to finish by july 15. some clients aren’t in yet. some haven’t responded to requests for info. i think i will have some dropouts, who think they can’t afford me. but really, with the loans and forgiveness available, they can’t afford not to continue working with me.”
economic concerns
the chief concern continues to be the general economic conditions. the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 survey shows a minor drop in economic worries, from 67 percent in april to 64 percent at the end of may—statistically insignificant but at least a bump in the right direction.
april’s second-biggest concern, irs operations, have eased off a bit, from 48 to 44 percent. in may, tax code and regulations changes rose to second place, shooting up from 33 to 50 percent.
late clients, staffing issues, personal and family issues, and pricing concerns all remain statistically constant.
william j. simon sees a headache coming down the pike, as do many other practitioners whose busy season is becoming a dragged-out year. “clients are confused and much of my workload has not yet been received,” simon says. “workload compression will be awful in june and july.”
the boom in cpe
one company is experiencing a much better year. it’s gary zeune’s firm, “the pros & the cons,” which provides cpe courses. “cpas and tax professionals still have to get their cpe hours,” he says. “so they’re taking our 3,000+ online webinars.”
elaine kovner, a partner with san antonio’s kruppa nelson & kovner, has also figured out how to have a much better year. “we flattened our curve—our april 15 curve, she says. “we didn’t have to drop everything and work on estimates for extensions. we won’t have to double back on those that we did estimates for. we are up in billings and down in hours.”
that said, kovner’s advice is worth some attention. “don’t stress over what you can’t control, and do the best you can over what you can control,” she advises. “take the extended due date as a gift. think of others less fortunate and give to the food bank.”
cpe was a good idea back in the slow, work-at-home days of april and may, but now, as offices start to open and clients finally come up with their documents—and july 15 looms—it’s catch-up time for cpas. it’s time to get back to work and see if we can still make this year better than expected, or at least not as bad as feared.