Survey Results: Financial Planning Outlook

PFP preview Dec 31 2007

Posted on December 31, 2007
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | 2 Comments

IRS: AMT Filers Must Wait to Feb. 11

1040WASHINGTON (IRS) — The IRS expects to be able to begin processing returns for the vast majority of taxpayers in mid-January. However, as many as 13.5 million taxpayers using five forms related to the Alternative Minimum Tax (AMT) legislation will have to wait to file tax returns until the IRS completes the reprogramming of its systems for the new law.

The IRS has targeted Feb. 11, as the potential starting date for taxpayers to begin submitting the five AMT-related returns affected by the legislation. The February date allows the IRS enough time to update and test its systems to accommodate the AMT changes without major disruptions to other operations related to the tax season. As the IRS has said previously, it will take approximately seven weeks after the AMT patch was approved to update IRS processing systems completely.

Although as many as 13.5 million taxpayers will not be able to file their returns until Feb. 11, the effect of the delay may be lessened by the fact that under previous filing patterns only between 3 million to 4 million taxpayers file returns with the five affected forms during these early weeks in the filing season.
Read more

Posted on December 27, 2007
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | Leave a Comment

Lead Gen, Customer Acquisition Still Drive B2B Marketing Objectives

Hank BerkowitzBut the mix is changing for 2008

by Hank Berkowitz
AICPA Media

“Generating leads and closing sales are clearly emerging as top priorities for today’s B2B marketers,” said Rick Telberg, popular CPA Insider™ columnist and co-author of Beyond the Click: Matching Online Marketing Tactics to Sales Cycle, a new report from Bay Street Group Research and AICPA Custom Media Solutions.

“If you’re a CPA channel marketer, you’re far more likely to be seeking new sales over other marketing objectives,” added Telberg, “and our research bears this out. It’s all about educating the prospect in the further learning phase of the purchase decision cycle.”

Nearly 70 percent of early respondents to a CPA Marketing Insider poll expect to increase their ad budgets in 2008, but the priorities are shifting. At this time a year ago, Customer Acquisition was twice as likely as Lead Generation to be cited as the No. 1 priority (39% to 20%). Today, the gap has closed to four percentage points (32% to 28%). Branding has dwindled to the No. 1 priority for just eight percent of respondents down, from 12 percent a year ago.

WHAT’S YOUR TAKE ON 2008? TAKE THE SURVEY.

Posted on December 23, 2007
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | Leave a Comment

CPAs Plan Career Moves for 2008

Benefits packages emerge as key to CPA job changes. Which benefits matter most to CPAs? Join the study. Get the answers.

by Rick Telberg
On Careers

If you’re like most CPAs, one of your New Year’s resolutions may be to start looking for a new job.

A whopping 75 percent of CPAs apparently have some interest in moving on to a different job, according to the responses so far to my latest survey. Of course more money is always the concern, but many CPAs seem as interested in the workplace benefits at the next stop.

“Most of us consider the benefits package to be just as important as the salary,” said one senior corporate executive who’s participating in the Bay Street Group/CPA Trendlines study on accountants’ job and benefits preferences. “I would not accept a job if the critical benefits were not offered.”
Read more

Posted on December 20, 2007
Filed Under BSG FINANCE PROFESSIONAL | Leave a Comment

No Holiday Cheer on Staffing Issues

What keeps you awake at night? Find out what other CPAs have to say. Take the survey; join the discussion.

by Rick Telberg
At Large

This news may seem like coal in your Christmas stocking: the holidays are bringing few glad tidings in some of the profession’s biggest challenges.

According to a new AICPA survey, the most critical concern for the majority of firms with multiple professionals remains: finding qualified staff.

Whether it is a firm with only a handful of professionals or a few dozen, finding qualified staff (at all levels) is the chief concern that keeps firms awake at night, according to the 2007 AICPA Private Company Practice Section’s (PCPS) Top Management of an Accounting Practice Issues Survey.
Read more

Posted on December 17, 2007
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | Leave a Comment

Survey: $205 average for itemized return

Alexandria, VA, — The cost to hire a professional tax preparer is still economical, according to the National Society of Accountants.

The NSA biennial survey of nearly 8,000 qualified tax preparers showed that average tax preparation fee for an itemized Form 1040 with Schedule A and a state tax return increased less than 2 percent during the past two years – rising from $201 to $205.

Rates for other services also remained low – the average cost to prepare a Form 1040 and state return without itemized deductions is only $115, up from $110 two years ago.
Read more

Posted on December 16, 2007
Filed Under BSG BUSINESS BUILDER, BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | Leave a Comment

Niches to Riches: CPAs Get Focused

Practitioners find success in specialties. What are the top niches? Join the study; get the answers.

by Rick Telberg
At Large

CPA firms, especially local ones, have long sought survival in niches where they could make the best use of limited resources. So we’re taking a little peek into a few of the corners where accountants have set up camp. We’ve issued a survey asking what services you’re offering and what you’ve been doing to strengthen your special capabilities.

So far, the types of services seem to be breaking out more or less where you might expect. About two-thirds of the CPAs responding are offering individual and business tax services, and almost as many cater to small businesses. Some six in ten are into traditional accounting and bookkeeping. Only about one in five is into auditing. And about a quarter of you are offering payroll services.
Read more

Posted on December 10, 2007
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | Leave a Comment

Are you projecting the best image?

Getting the right ‘look’ requires some planning

By Rick Telberg

Projecting a look that communicates your firm’s true professionalism requires more than just shiny shows and a good smile. It really requires a smooth and consistent overall appearance that coordinates everything from your stationary to your demeanor. If one of these components projects a less-than-professional look, it can put a big dent into your overall effort.

In fact, 87 percent of finance professionals agree “You are evaluated by your manner and appearance, not just your work,” according to Bay Street Group LLC. And, of the financial professionals who say the look and feel of their marketing materials can be decisive, 73 percent hold CEO or other C-level titles.

Clearly, it’s not something you can take lightly. So, before you go out and spend thousands of dollars on a professional designer, think a little about the image you project or want to project.
Read more

Posted on December 8, 2007
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | Leave a Comment

Ditch the Office, Work at Home

Are you ready to make the break? Get the facts. Join the study.

by Rick Telberg
For the Finance Executive

Running a business from home may make your life easier, but don’t expect it to make your work any easier.

Practitioners with at-home businesses say it requires a greater commitment and a more serious approach to your job than working elsewhere. Making it all the more difficult are all those personal life distractions that can only pop up at home.

“You must be disciplined, able to focus without being distracted and willing to be available at all hours and to be flexible for client needs,” says Carol Tremble, who runs a full-time public practice at her home in South Hero, Vt.
Read more

Posted on December 6, 2007
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | Leave a Comment

CPA Secrets for the Home Office

Top tip: Get the right tech gear for the job. Do you want to work at home? Get the facts. Join the study.

by Rick Telberg
At Large

Personal discipline, a good working environment and the right technology seem to be driving seem to be critically important to CPAs’ success whether working from home or in a traditional office environment.

And, clearly, an increasing number of CPAs are working at home. By our count in an ongoing survey, eight in 10 accountants work at least five hours a week at home these days. And almost half of all CPAs put in at least 21 hours a week from home.

SUCCESS STRATEGIES FOR THE HOME OFFICE:
Telecommuting, Flex Schedules, Part-Time Side Practices and More.

How CPAs do it. Join the survey. Get the answers.

(Free. Confidential.)

Understanding how best to juggle work and life, family and job, seems more important than ever.

So far, our soundings show that the three most important ingredients in the work-at-home recipe are:

Read more

Posted on December 3, 2007
Filed Under BSG [CPA TRENDLINES] | Leave a Comment