CPA Trendlines

Get What You’re Worth

Savvy CPAs know the secret.

What’s your best tip? Sound off here.

by Rick Telberg/At Large

Are you getting paid what you are worth? According to our soundings, those finance and accounting professionals who understand and can express to their clients and stakeholders the value of their services are more likely to feel satisfied with their pay.

“I establish my fee and generally collect it,” says Curtis Park, a CPA in Camarillo, Calif.

While many professionals may share Park’s opinion, a CPA Trendlines survey by the Bay Street Group finds that roughly half or more of CPAs feel underpriced for the services they provide. They may or may not be right. We can’t say what their true value is in the marketplace. And we can’t recommend pay or pricing here. But we can draw connections among those who are generally satisfied with their fees and compensation and those who are not quite as satisfied.

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U.K. accountants fear graduate exodus

Starting salary too low

Nearly one third of accountants fear that graduates entering the profession will leave within just two years of qualifying.  Only 27% of graduates are expected to stay in the profession for five years or more.

The research suggests that 76% of accountants consider the £23,000 (about US$45,000) starting salary inadequate to attract a good calibre of accountant, with 26% believing salaries should increase by one half, and 29% by one quarter.

More at Accountancy Magazine, here…

Say it ain’t so, Joe! Accountants rank with brokers and bankers in prestige ratings

High Pay Doesn’t Necessarily Equal High Prestige. Teachers’ Prestige Increases the Most Over 30 Years.

Results of the annual Harris Poll measuring public perceptions of 23 professions and occupations, indicate that firefighters, scientists, doctors, nurses and teachers are seen as the most prestigious of a list of 23 occupations. Real estate agents, stockbrokers, bankers, accountants and entertainers come at the bottom of the list.

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Ready, Set, Sit!

Keeping CPA exam candidates on track. What are firms doing to help? Join the survey; get the results.

by Rick Telberg/At Large

It’s too early to celebrate, but there are signs that the profession’s talent shortage may be poised to ease.

A record number of new graduates are flowing into the market, CPA firms are hiring more employees than ever and the number of CPA exam candidates is returning to historical levels. To be sure, the talent pinch remains acute and the forecast for headcount growth could yet be clouded by the economic slowdown.

But 203,000 college students are majoring in accounting today, up 19 percent from three years ago, according to the AICPA. Last year, more than 64,000 students graduated with bachelor or master’s degrees in accounting, About two-thirds of those graduates, some 43,000, went to work at public accounting firms. Many colleges and universities are churning out accounting grads as fast as they can, hobbled only by the next shortage — a shortage of instructors. READ MORE →

SURVEY RESULTS: Are CPAs Just Guessing about Client Satisfaction?

Many CPA firms are surprisingly casual about how they acquire new clients or about how to keep them happy.

As part of our “Seven Keys to Successful CPA Firm Management” program, we’ve been surveying accountants and clients to learn the clues for effective marketing, business development and client satisfaction and retention.

Do you know what it takes to lose a client? We know, because we asked clients.
Here’s what they said:
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It looks like most CPA firms, are indeed, guessing about client satisfaction. Few have systematic programs for measuring results.
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Barely half of all firms have a formal client acceptance process.
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Despite the recession, almost two-thirds of firms are trimming their client lists.
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Does any firm really know why they lose a client? Some do.
Many just never ask.
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Participants in the survey get these topline results for free, as our “Thank You” for joining the research panel. To get future updates on this research project, please join the survey — get the results.
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Planning for Busy Season 2009

It’s barely August, but that’s not too early to be thinking about the next busy season.

We received this grim reminder in the form of a phone call from someone who is, indeed, already thinking about next year.

And it got us to thinking, too. So we took a look at last season’s Busy Season Stress-O-Meter survey data.

We found a few interesting tidbits worth passing along and thinking about when we compared Leaders to Laggards. As you may know, we define Leaders as survey respondents who self-identify their organizations as competitively, relatively, superior, by any common measure — revenue growth, profitability, staff morale, client satisfaction, etc. And Laggards, of course, are, relatively, behind the curve or worse.

(Join us in last season’s survey, here, and we’ll make sure you get all the updates and an invitation to join this year’s.)

The differences between Leaders and Laggards are sometimes startling. For example:

• Leaders are more likely to enjoy better, smoother busy seasons than Laggards, by a margin of 40% to 24%.

Leaders are more likely to report a “significant increase” in:

• Revenue, by a ratio of 25% to 9%;
• Net Profit, by 22% to 9%;
• Revenue per Client, 10% to 3%; and
• Profit per Client, 11% to 5%.

At the same time, Laggards are more likely than Leaders to report problems, such as:

• Troublesome Partner or Office Issues, by a margin of 34% to 15%;
• Poor Planning or Scheduling, by 32% to 15%;
• Issues with Tax Code Changes, by 22% to 13%;
• Technology or Software Glitches, by 34% to 27%; and
• The General Economic Situation, by 20% to 12%.

Leaders are also significantly happier with their tax preparation systems:

• 39% of them “highly likely” to recommend their current software or service provider, versus only 18% of Laggards who would do so.

What are the Leaders doing right? They tend to excel at these four skills:

1. Minimizing partner conflicts and people problems;
2. Planning and managing the workload;
3. Communicating with, and properly preparing, clients; and
4. Embracing new technologies.

But no skill may be as important as maintaining a positive mental attitude and a healthy personal life. Indeed, it may be a matter of survival. More about that, in this post.

What’s your secret for busy season? Leave a comment, here.