firms culling clients as staffing woes persist

others tap outsourcing, training clerical staff as solutions.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

early results from the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 2024 busy season barometer: emerging issues, opportunities, and trends are showing a painfully persistent problem with staff shortages, though it seems the hardship may have improved a bit since last year.

more: revenue up at 59% of accounting firms … and more good news | compensation’s up, but up enough to retain staff? | are accountants charging too little? | chatgpt for the reluctant accountant | cpas needed to help small biz adopt ai | revenue growth is top priority for small firms | is the cpa business model the clog in the pipeline?
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

this year, like last year, survey respondents are reporting staffing as the second most common concern. last year, it was reported by 47 percent, almost tied with the main concern: late or unprepared clients.

this year, uncooperative clients still rank first, at 50 percent, but staffing concerns have dropped to 37 percent.

also down: concerns with irs operations and the general economic situation.

culled clients and offshore outsourcing

while that improving number for staff shortages is still perilously high, the drop may be the result of culled client lists, not beefed-up staff.

in other words, fewer clients + few workers = less shortage.

comments from respondents indicate a variety of solutions and frustrations. technology and organization are helping short-handed firms, but even that’s often not enough.

one midsize firm, experiencing a “somewhat better year,” says they’re solving the shortage by “using our india operations more to address capacity.” their bigger problem is keeping up with tax code and regulation changes, which, of course, have to be passed on to the india operations.

rita lewis, at dollars & sense in weston, conn., is also having trouble with ever-changing regulations, but her problem isn’t staff as much as “so many leftover 2022 returns! trying some new technology to help (cch’s scan & flow).”

training clerical staff

eric scott burgmaier, head of burgmaier & associates, is getting around a staff shortage by “training clerical staff to input governmental forms so more experienced staff can review return before i do final review.” not a bad idea!

cathy helmstadter’s california firm, helmstadter & associates, is so far suffering a busy season much worse than last year’s, even though she tried to prevent a staff problem.

“hired new staff but their experience is not what they said it was,” she says. “took on more clients to support expense of new staff. really need irs to stop extension filing requirement as it is labor-intensive.”

on the other hand, dennis garner, with wrinkle, gardner & company, is enjoying the upside of new staff. “staff has less experience than in past years, reducing payroll costs and increasing profits.”

the big ka-ching

cam matheny, principal at an eponymous firm in ripley, w.va., is doing somewhat better this year because “we have been raising prices in an attempt to lessen our client load.”

that works … with a big ka-ching!

though there’s been some trimming of less profitable (or more problematic) clients, firms with diminishing clientele are still a small minority. almost half are reporting an increase in their number of clients. a good 14 percent have seen an increase of over 10 percent, and another 31 percent have 5 to 10 percent more clients than last year. only 9 percent have seen some decrease, and an insignificant 3 percent have dropped more than 10 percent of their client load.

whether the crunch is on the staff side or the client side, business is up on the bottom line side. more than 57 percent report higher revenue, and profit per client is also on the rise at almost half of all firms.

does any of this hold true at your firm? we need your input. please take a few minutes to contribute to the 2024 busy season barometer. start here.

posted on march 20, 2024