accountants don’t want just more clients, they want better ones.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
some interesting early results from the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 outlook 2024: emerging issues, opportunities, and trends:
- 57 percent of respondents say staffing and retention are their biggest challenge.
- 48 percent say burnout and the work-life balance is their biggest challenge.
note how these two most common challenges relate to each other. a shortage of staff is linked to an excess of burnout and imbalance.
more: are you offering the right services? | which niche’s the best niche? | women-owned businesses upbeat but need help | 42% of accountants turn away work over staff shortages | accountants to the rescue as startups struggle | talent gap widening: be very scared | accountants hopeful, concerned and confused about ai | looking for recent grads? good luck
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
now look:
- 34 percent say getting better clients is their biggest challenge.
- 31 percent say raising prices and billing rates is their biggest challenge.
again, two challenges (the fourth and fifth most common) walking hand in hand. better clients tend to be those who pay more.
and here are two more interrelated findings:
- despite the shortage of staff, only 19 percent say controlling salary costs is their biggest challenge. that’s roughly one third of those concerned with staffing and retention.
- only 12 percent say managing profit and income is their biggest challenge. that’s roughly one third of those challenged by raising prices.
and look how all the above relate to this little stat:
- barely 8 percent say getting more clients is their biggest challenge.
all these numbers interrelate as cause and effect, action and reaction, and a shifting of challenges and objectives. and cpa firms are scrambling to adjust to the new reality. it’s a pretty good reality – rising revenue, increased profit and too many clients. but, as evidenced above, the reality is not without its challenges.
a pipe dream
john “skip” sullivan jr., the principal at ask tax international, who’s hoping to see his firm’s net income rise by 20 percent in 2024, is hard pressed to make it happen.
“i need more staff,” he says. “before the pandemic, i had a staff of 18. there was a mass exodus near the end of 2021. now i’m working with a staff of only four.”
leaders are deploying various strategies to keep staff happy.
another respondent, concerned about burnout, will meet the challenge by “encourag[ing] our staff to take needed time off for refreshing themselves.”
another with the same concern will react with “more outsourcing to manage us staff hours and burnout.”
another, who names both staffing and burnout problems, says the firm will “downsize until proper staffing and people who want to learn and work can be found,” then goes on to add, “this is a pipe dream.”
sylvie cote-hasegawa, with florida’s strategis, is working smart to onboard staff. her trick: “strengthening our relationship with local colleges and universities. we have hired interns who have worked out well. but, we need to figure out how to keep them long-term.”
battling burnout
paul g. grossi, battling burnout, is offering “flexibility in staffing regarding hours, home vs. office. benefits.”
cyndie barone, whose challenges are finding better clients and raising rates is “saying no to people who let you know who they are right from jump.”
burnout is the main issue for clay collum, at oklahoma’s robison gary, who’s taking the cull-the-clientele approach – and it’s working.
“last year we finally and very intentionally started disengaging with clients that are no longer a good fit for the firm,” collum says. “and for those whose billings were simply out of line, we re-bid those. almost none of those have left, even given material fee adjustments.”
jay joshi, with jnj accounting, is taking the tech road away from burnout. he’s “implementing automation for managing workflow. still not sure about how to get better clients.”
paul miller’s firm, business by design, is acknowledging that staff might have different motivations for staying on board.
“we have to be better at setting objectives for our staff and allow them to choose what type of work life they want,” miller explains. “do they just want a job and balance? or do they want to pursue something more in the firm?”
do these figures and quotes reflect the challenges your firm’s facing? there’s still time to take part in the outlook 2024 survey. just click here.