busy season barometer finds many cpas in transition

dropping services … and clients. help wanted.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the 2023 cpatrendlines busy season barometer generally looks for the status of firms as they dig into this year’s tax filings. practitioners tell us how things are going, how well they’re doing, what their main concerns are and what they see happening in local and national economies.

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at the end of the survey, we ask what else we should know about their firms. this year, we’re receiving hints of firms in transition – slowing down, branching out, shifting gears, moving on, revamping business models and generally looking for a better business life.

some are dropping certain services and offering others. some are specializing. some are shedding clients. some want to retire but can’t. one’s getting into weed.

dropping attest services

one anonymous respondent says, “i am transitioning to general bookkeeping, payroll and tax services and will be dropping attest services over the next 3-5 years. providing client accounting services is where it is at. small business owners want to run their business and outsource the accounting.”

susie beck says, “i also am an insurance agent and medicare specialist/consultant. i enroll people in medicare advantage plans and sell medicare supplements along with life and health insurance.”

writing in from murphy, tex., jaclyn j. mcguinness tells us, “i am only taking on newbies when we lose some legacy clients (good riddance – not tech-savvy at all and very inefficient to serve this cantankerous group of fogies …).

kelli cox, a partner with cgc accounting and advisors in palm desert, calif., looks to be making a big shift. “we are working towards making advisory our largest service,” she says.

and another anonymous respondent reveals a big more: “intend to move to cannabis accounting.”

unusual comments

we also got hints of a lot of staffing problems.

“we’re really far behind on books and tax,” says terri ryman. “hoping to hire.”

“small local practice having staffing issues in terms of ability to multitask,” says jack gold, of new york city’s adelman katz & mond.

a few practitioners offer unusual comments about themselves.

donald maxham, who seems to be just too nice for his own good, tells us, “i have been trying to retire for 15 years. my remaining clients flatter and beg me to not retire.”

and another seems to have a similar problem, saying, “i’m a small hometown tax guy who doesn’t know to say no. overworked, too cheap to ask what he is worth.”

and annette saarinen, of accountax of oregon, has a good approach to her beloved clientele: “we dig people out of the holes they’ve dug for themselves without hitting them with the shovel.”

what’s your firm up to? transitioning? struggling? juggling? raking in the dough? let us know. take the five-minute busy season barometer survey and share your thoughts.

posted on february 28, 2023