how does your firm compare?
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
if the 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 hold true through april, this will be a pretty good year for the vast majority of accountants and tax practitioners – not quite as good as last year, but still, pretty good.
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despite difficulties finding staff and professionals, 45 percent of respondents say they have increased their client list by at least 5 percent. (last year, it was 65 percent.)
in fact, 14 percent have seen an increase of over 10 percent. good, but not as good as last year’s 22 percent.
twelve percent have shortened their client list by at least 5 percent.
revenues up
revenues are outstripping client growth, with 41 percent reporting an increase of 5 to 10 percent over last year, and another 16 percent pulling in 10 percent or more. nine percent are seeing a decline in revenue.
revenue per client is also up for 55 percent of respondents, indicating either increases in rates or expansions of services.
half the respondents are seeing an increase in profit per client, though only 10 percent of them are managing to exceed a 10 percent increase. (last year, 15 percent saw a 10-percent-plus improvement in profit per.) just over 42 percent are doing neither better nor worse than last year.
extensions are down from last year, too. in 2023, 21 percent of respondents increased extensions by 10 percent or more. this year, it’s less than half that, at 10 percent.
picky firms
pricing competition may be suppressing rates in some areas, but in others, a shortage of accountants is allowing higher rates, not to mention some firms getting picky about whom they serve.
the general increase in clientele, revenue and profit is the product of more than just a generally healthy economy. judging from comments respondents are offering, contributing factors include
- more staff
- better staff
- better clients
- better technology
- increased rates
more technology
carey dempsey, with alabama-based impact cpa, succinctly sums up a lot of what we’re hearing: “increased billing. referrals only. quickbooks online utilized more.”
a firm in nearby huntsville, ala., has seen a decline in business but sees an increase coming down the pike.
“drop is due to senior manager that left and took a decent bit of clients he worked on with him,” the anonymous respondent says. but maybe that was a good thing! “clients were lower-margin clients, so overall has freed up staff to do more profitable work. believe drop in volume of work and revenue will actually have a positive effect on staffing and allowing us to focus on more profitable work.”
cyndi bannon, working out of houston, attributes her moderately good year to “more technology.”
gerard stieferman, also in texas and seeing across-the-board increases, has increased efficiency by using ocr to enter returns.
jason jones, with a small but full-service firm in murfreesboro, tenn., is accomplishing “some increase” in clientele. his big move this year: “finally implemented taxaroo as a crm / data management system.”
john weldon, is also getting serious this year with a “50% deposit in advance for tax returns, work flow management system.”
kenneth stafford, with an office on the coast of maine, is suffering a downturn despite doing business better. “closed office when covid hit,” he says. “productivity soared working remotely. intense pricing competition from other remote firms in the u.s. and abroad. have been trying to sell the office building for three years with no offers.”
in new jersey, sole tax practitioner mathew a. jones sr. has discovered that a simple move is leading to significant increases in clientele and revenue. “as far as new clients i have found that my google reviews are critical,” he says. “i’d never asked for them in the past. a simple request and a good solid link to your review page makes a significant difference.”
what are you doing differently this year, and what difference is it making? other tax pros want to know. share your thoughts in the 2024 busy season barometer. click here to get started.