you can read the tea leaves in who’s getting hired today because they’re the generation that will re-define the tax and accounting firms.
by steven e. sacks
the new fundamentals
the accounting profession is at a crossroads: increasing pressure on keeping up with technology to serve more varied and complex clients, while a quick peek at the landscape indicates the ongoing struggle to attract and retain talent.
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but what is meant by this, actually?
what will be the type of necessary talent? will it be a mixture of technical gaap and gaas know-how and technology-driven knowledge like artificial intelligence? or will the necessary technical expertise be superseded by a deep understanding of blockchain technology and data analytics? if that, then how will firms draw the right people to deliver the value-added services that leverage technology?
“it is not the strongest or the most intelligent who will survive but those who can best manage change.” – charles darwin
salary and work-life balance will still be major concerns. if firms see they are behind the curve, will this mean rather than making major investments in new and existing personnel, they will acquire (or be acquired) by non-cpa consulting firms that specialize in the new growth areas?
succession planning is a big concern these days. will technology force the unavoidable to move at a faster clip? i suspect it would. i cannot imagine partners with 25 years or more of experience going back to school to learn the latest in technologies. they may seek only a cursory level of understanding. and if there is no desire, then the existing client service mix won’t be sufficient; it will be diminished in value.
at the beginning of this millennium there was talk about government takeover of the audit function in the aftermath of enron, worldcom and other major financial frauds. this caused a big hullabaloo. but what if this were to be revisited today? would it make sense for firms to transition from a compliance-orientation mindset to become true business consultants, a la mckinsey, bain & company and boston consulting group – they of the far end of the business consulting spectrum?
will the cpa designation, the exam and the education that supports it evolve into a more master’s-level education at the undergraduate level?
the public accounting profession owns the audit franchise. but will this be the case five or 10 years from now, especially in light of alternatives to banks for loans, such as asset-based lenders such as crestmark and commercial capital llc? many asset-based lenders will not require a financial audit, though they will exercise a comprehensive due diligence study of a business’s operations. with netsuite, xero and quickbooks being major players in the cpa space and driving down fees for producing financial reports, where will this leave the cpa? the doctrine of “bill, bill and bill some more” can’t be maintained if new trends and the accompanying tools will make work more efficient, resulting in a reduction of hours to be billed.
there are other challenges for the cpa, to be sure, and technology is just one of them.
so many threats abound:
- growth and profitability demands,
- retirement,
- broader and more diverse skill sets needed,
- increased competition to battle to gain a foothold in serving small and middle-market clients,
and on and on. let’s not forget that the next generation(s) of business owners will have no history or preconceived notions about working with a cpa or non-cpa consultant. the formula for success 20 years ago or even 10 years ago is different from today, and will be even more unrecognizable in the next several years. what is tomorrow’s new thing will be yesterday’s old hat in the blink of an eye.
the profession and practitioners will have to be positioned to prove relevance. with the advent of artificial intelligence, cpas will have to become more adept at providing value-added services, as well as employing more innovative thinking.
2 responses to “how today’s staffing crisis can forecast your future”
david bergstein
i agree with the article that the cpa profession is changing, a cpa will always be high up in the “trust” category as long as the profession moves into the broader array of “advisory services” accounting will never go away. it is a process that will not change.
accounting is a process of recording, sorting, summarizing, and analyzing data to permit informed judgments by the end-users.
the part that will change is how the accountant “cpa” changes into offering advisory services of all kinds to those that compile accounting information.
cpas must market themselves as the quarterback to having a successful business because they can orchestrate helping the business be more liquid, solvent, and profitable than any other.
leroy w mitchell
very thought provoking. we are looking at the complete retooling of a staid profession.