can’t recruit? retain!

bar chart

other options: outsourcing, m&a, even freelancers with different skill sets.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

there’s no good news coming out of the talent pipeline. there are fewer accounting majors coming in at the college end, and fewer coming out at the cpa exam end.

the reasons are legion. kids these days have little interest in a career reputed to be boring and exhausting. they can make more money in some other area of finance or business. the extra credit hours take too long and cost too much.

more: the accountant as a strategic business partner | report: efficiency still the top priority for accounting firms | is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries? | audit firms nervous about new tech | what accountants can learn from t-ball | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | to replenish the talent pipeline, go back to the classroom | beware the work-life/workload doom spiral | why the dry pipeline? it’s about time | business model transformation: do it or die | misperceptions, corrections, accountancy and lemonade
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the 2024 thomson reuters state of tax professionals report sums it up with illustrative stats.

  • 39 percent say recruitment will be “highly challenging” in 2024.
  • another quarter say it will be “somewhat challenging.”
  • 33 percent of firms with four or more employees say talent will be a top priority.

read more →

tax and accounting priorities shifting in turbulent times

bar chart

three actions that firms can take.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

a multinational thomson reuters survey of tax professionals has found accounting firms shifting their priorities after a year of unexpected developments and before a year of unexpected developments.

that’s a lot of unexpected developments.

more: report: efficiency still the top priority for accounting firms | is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries? | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | why the dry pipeline? it’s about time | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | seven enticements to keep talent on board | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | seven steps to a stronger future
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

in 2023, the annual survey saw firms and their clients hunkering down for a year of post-covid-19 unknowns, a recession that never came, inflation that wouldn’t quit and interest rates that persisted at uncomfortable heights.

this year, it looks like firms are reassessing where they stand and where they are going. times are turbulent – technologically, economically, politically, environmentally – so recovering from the past and preparing for the future are going to require some changes.
read more →

imagine! the national tax advocate does

(you may say she’s a dreamer, but she’s not the only one.)

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

one word keeps popping up in national tax advocate erin m. collins’s introduction to her annual objectives report to congress.

the word is “imagine,” and collins’s dream depicts an irs that is a only bit more feasible than john lennon’s dream of a world with no countries or religion.

more: art werner: maximizing fringe benefits | is the irs mismeasuring phone service? | irs makes big progress but … | business booming, but not as much as last year | busy season barometer offers clues for better business | tax practitioners say happy days are here … again | the irs is coming! get your clients into compliance | end tax season meetings with clients … seriously | brandon hall: firms try to make too much on tax prep | eight steps to getting started with ai: a guide for tax professionals | ftc nails turbotax for ‘free filing’ scam
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

but you can still sing along …

“imagine a taxpayer or a representative receiving a text message

… or email referring the taxpayer to their online account,
read more →

report: efficiency still the top priority for accounting firms

tech’s the tool, but ai? not yet.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

for the second year in a row, the thomson reuters state of tax professionals report finds that improving efficiency is the top strategy priority for accounting firms, but this year, for the first time, it ties with talent.

as the report notes, the two priorities are tightly linked in the sense that efficiency is linked to productivity. the former drives the latter.

more: is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries? | audit firms nervous about new tech | to replenish the talent pipeline, go back to the classroom | beware the work-life/workload doom spiral | why the dry pipeline? it’s about time | business model transformation: do it or die | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | global trends show many dissatisfied cpas | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

the report is based on an international survey of 500 respondents, about half in the united states, with the rest in the united kingdom, canada, australia, brazil and argentina. data comes from the first quarter of 2024.
read more →

is the irs mismeasuring phone service?

unhappy man waiting on phone in office

bad metrics are hiding problems.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

if there’s one nice thing about phoning the irs, it’s the opportunity to take a nap.

taxpayer naps were a little shorter this year, especially for those calling 35 of the 102 toll-free lines, known as enterprise lines, that taxpayers can call for assistance. those 35 lines are for accounts management (am) issues.

more: is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries? | audit firms nervous about new tech | what accountants can learn from t-ball | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | to replenish the talent pipeline, go back to the classroom | beware the work-life/workload doom spiral | why the dry pipeline? it’s about time | business model transformation: do it or die | misperceptions, corrections, accountancy and lemonade
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

thanks to a mandate from the secretary of the treasury, the irs hired 7,000 customer service representatives to handle the am lines.
read more →

is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries?

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the number of accounting degree completions from bachelor’s programs from 1994-2021. source: 2023 aicpa trends report

 

there’s a paradox going on.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

a working paper by three academics presents a paradoxical contradiction in the accounting industry. somehow, technology, which is starting to replace some accounting functions, is causing a shortage of accounting professionals. and despite the high demand for the few graduates who major in accounting, starting salaries are lower than in related professions.

more: audit firms nervous about new tech | what accountants can learn from t-ball | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | to replenish the talent pipeline, go back to the classroom | beware the work-life/workload doom spiral | why the dry pipeline? it’s about time | business model transformation: do it or die | misperceptions, corrections, accountancy and lemonade | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | global trends show many dissatisfied cpas | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

and in a related paradox, technology’s most powerful tools may be augmenting the accountant’s workload.

how can all this be concurrent?
read more →

irs makes big progress but …

four people talking on phones in call center

problems remain. (shocked, we are.)

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

national taxpayer advocate erin m. collins has plenty of good things to say about the irs in her annual objectives report to congress.

more: the irs is coming! get your clients into compliance | end tax season meetings with clients … seriously | brandon hall: firms try to make too much on tax prep | eight steps to getting started with ai: a guide for tax professionals | ftc nails turbotax for ‘free filing’ scam | if only the irs’s tax pro were useful | can’t irs online accounts be more useful? | id theft a problem for irs even when it doesn’t exist | the nightmare of non-credentialed tax preparers | taxpayer assistance centers: a good idea that should be better | irs still falling short on service
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

“the irs largely succeeded in 2024,” collins writes regarding this year’s tax season. “after several years of abysmal taxpayer service during the covid-19 pandemic, the irs has now delivered two filing seasons that demonstrate the agency has restored service to pre-pandemic levels and has improved in most, but not all, areas of service. this is excellent news for most taxpayers.”
read more →

aprio sells majority stake to charlesbank pe

kopelman

aprio is breaking off its cpa firm after reportedly selling a majority stake to charlesbank capital partners, a private equity firm.

already on a growth-by-acquisition streak, aprio has logged dozens of deals in the last few years. with fresh cash on hand, this pace is sure to accelerate.

more richard kopelman talks with rob brown on accounting influencers

aprio plans to adopt an “alternative practice structure,” with aprio llp as the legacy licensed cpa firm and aprio advisory group llc as the new pe-backed acquisition engine. read more →

tax rep training found in new partnership

new partnership between becker and the tax rep network.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

it’s been widely publicized that the irs may be finally catching up on its “balance due” and other notices to taxpayers and, as such, so goes the need for tax representation work. if this is indeed your path as a cpa or tax pro, then consider this new partnership between accounting exam prep and training service becker and the tax rep network.

read more →

audit firms nervous about new tech

bar chart

a “speed revolution” is on the way. are you ready?

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

“progressive technology” is about to boom.

more: what accountants can learn from t-ball | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | why the dry pipeline? it’s about time | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | seven enticements to keep talent on board | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | seven steps to a stronger future | auditing standards ‘yellow book’ updated | compensation’s up, but up enough to retain staff? | cpas needed to help small biz adopt ai | survey shows that tech remains the great divide | will unclogging the accounting pro pipeline kill mobility?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

but are audit firms on the cusp of the boom-to-be? apparently not. a thomson reuters survey of audit firms finds that there’s still a big gap between ambition and execution. only 14 percent of auditors in the u.s. can brag that a “digital transformation” is well under way at their firms, though another 35 percent say they are starting to implement progressive tech.
read more →

battling the staffing crisis: is a little-known, but controversial, visa program the answer?

cornerstone report: h-1b hiring and salary trends in tax, accounting and finance

  • the jobs outlook, salary trends, and election year politics.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research estimates and illustration

what it is. how it works. and what cpa firms are doing.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the h-1b visa program is vital for u.s. companies to hire highly skilled foreign workers in specialty occupations, including tax, finance, and accounting.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research estimates that as many as 46,000 tax, accounting and finance professionals work at u.s. firms under the h-1b program. this figure has received scant attention in the profession but is critical to its infrastructure.

read more →