cpa talent: how to identify future leaders early

screen shot 2014-05-20 at 6.58.19 amwho gets promoted and why in accounting: join the survey; get the answers.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

tax, accounting and finance professionals don’t agree on everything. but they do seem to agree on the key traits needed to succeed in the profession, according to a new 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 multi-year study.

the questionnaire for “talent strategies: how to identify and develop professionals for management and leadership responsibilities” remains online and open as 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 continues to collect data and refine its analysis.  read more →

how firms are adapting to the new mobile workforce

breakfast and workingnew benchmarks and insights on remote access, the internet and telecommunications.

by randolph johnston, leslie garrett phd,
and brian f. tankersley, cpa.citp, cgma

the accounting firm operations and technology survey

working remotely can occur from home offices and from a client’s location. when individuals have access to the support technology and data they need to do their work, and when they can be held accountable for their performance when working remotely, where they are located when getting work done matters less. read more →

cpa firms lag in tech security, controls

computer tech lock istock_000011879042smalltech survey: many firms blithely unaware of vulnerabilities

by randolph johnston, leslie garrett phd,
and brian f. tankersley, cpa.citp, cgma

the accounting firm operations and technology survey

accounting professionals are obligated to maintain the integrity and security of clients’ data. the survey reveals firms seem to install technology and let it run without controls.

additionally, smaller firms perceive less risk and may have incorrectly concluded they are not a target for outside attack. conversely, firms may not have the expertise, budget or desire to manage technology in use. read more →

tech survey finds trend to ‘best-of-breed’ over single-vendor strategy

afoats logonew benchmarks and trends on application software. 

by randolph johnston, leslie garrett phd,
and brian f. tankersley, cpa.citp, cgma

the accounting firm operations and technology survey

historically, firms have tried to use a single-publisher strategy, believing that the integration built into the software has more value. but that may be changing. read more →

tech survey: cpas rush to upgrade operating systems

afoats logowindows 8 deployment is led by solo practitioners.

by randolph johnston, leslie garrett phd,
and brian f. tankersley, cpa.citp, cgma

the accounting firm operations and technology survey

the profession is rapidly retiring older operating systems, according to the accounting firm operations and technology survey.

upgrading your network operating system has the potential to be somewhat of a blind spot and growing security threat for practices of all sizes. the accounting profession is showing signs of understanding this threat. read more →

tech survey: 90% of accounting firms fail to budget properly

afoats logonew benchmarks on tech spending and decision-making.

by randolph johnston, leslie garrett phd,
and brian f. tankersley, cpa.citp, cgma

the accounting firm operations and technology survey

while 90% of all firms in the accounting firm operations and technology survey did not have a per-person technology budget, we were quite surprised to see that 88% of large firms and 85% of mid-sized firms also reported that they did not use a per-person technology budget. read more →

the top 10 cpa firm problems that technology can address

afoats logo

new survey shows technology’s role in turning challenges into opportunities.

by rick telberg

ask a practicing accountant what keeps them awake at night, and you’ll get many of the same answers in one form or another: clients, expenses, staff or technology. and that’s borne out in the first annual accounting firm operations and technology survey, offered exclusively by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. read more →

celebrating the end of tax season 2014

pouring champagne

sound off: marking the end of the busy season

congratulations! you’ve survived another season of long nights, saturday workdays, cranky clients, buggy software and cutthroat competition. now it’s time to party, kick back, relax, reconnect and unplug.

the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer is hearing it all. here are some of our favorite comments from some of our favorite readers…

join the busy season survey; get the results.
today’s bonus question:
celebration plans read more →

tax season success drivers: better software, easier clients, higher billing rates

sound off: busy season ‘much better’ than last year in client appreciation, software and fees

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

better software, well-prepared clients and some fee increases are spelling an improved tax season this year for many practitioners.

the annual 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer shows about 47% of some 1,191 practitioners canvassed in the last 30 days say their season so far is at least “somewhat” or even “much” better than last year’s. on the other hand, about 30% are reporting no change from last year and about 24% say business is “worse” including about 4% who call it “much worse.”

join the survey; get the results.
today’s bonus question: lessons learned

read more →

tax professionals plagued by tough competition

 sound-off: busy season ‘much’ worse than last year.

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the nation’s tax professionals are heading into the final days of the 2014 season brimming with optimism that all the hard work may be paying off. but the hard work isn’t over yet and it isn’t paying off for everyone.

join the survey; get the results.
today’s bonus question: lessons learned

read more →

top 100 firms grow 8%

top 100 firms revenue growth, annual percentage change
top 100 firms revenue growth, annual percentage change

while payrolls lag.

the nation’s top 100 tax and accounting firms advanced total revenues by 7.8% in 2013, totaling $53.9 million, while expanding payrolls only 5.5%, according to the industry-leading accounting today study.

the gap between revenue growth and headcounts suggests that firms are banking profits as never before even as organic expansion lags.

in other highlights from the study: read more →

new survey findings: tax season price wars

accountants scramble as competition surges for bread-and-butter tax work.
join the survey; get the results.

_top 10 tax season issues

by rick telberg
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

pricing and fee pressures are surging as the hot-button issues this tax season, according to the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 busy season barometer.

to be sure, late or unprepared clients remain the single biggest issue, with 48% of more than 500 practitioners surveyed in february citing it, followed by tardy 1099s and k1s at 35%. those metrics are little changed from last february.

but this year, 31% of practitioners are complaining about pricing and fee pressures, which is triple the year-ago 10% figure.

related research
is the tax prep business topping out?  the number of filings by tax professionals appears to have slowed or even reversed.
tax season metrics shift for the better:   key indicators point to a better 2014 than 2013.
practitioners plot fee-pressure countermeasures:  competitors vie for clients on price and promises.

read more →