The series of CPA Trendlines studies by Bay Street Group LLC has canvassed 2,361 CPAs about their work-at-home habits and opinions.
In a sign that CPAs are growing more confident in their systems, 17% of CPAs now working at home identify technology breakdowns as a major challenge, down from 26% in 2005.
Today, new office furniture is top item on the wish list. Three years ago, technology staples, such as laptop computers and printer/fax/copier machines, topped the shopping lists of work-at-home accountants.
Meanwhile, 80% of today’s work at-home CPAs identify the right technology set-up as essential to their successes, up from 63% three years.
Join the survey; get the results.
Hmmmm, nice idea!
We’ve been asking in one of our surveys, how CPAs manage the new work-on-the-go lifestyle with 24/7 connectedness.
Smart phones are changing the way we work. Maybe we should also be re-thinking how we think of our offices.
For instance, asked how his work away from the office experience could be improved, Kirk Glenn, a CPA in Hilton Head, S.C., suggests (tongue-in-cheekly, we assume) that the IRS let him write off his boat as a second office.
Kirk, when you figure it out, let us know. We have a hammock we’d like to write off.
How Do You Stay Connected? Take the survey; get the results.
When are you most productive?
While work/life balance is now becoming a bigger factor in the work-away-from-the-office issue, the fact is that that some people just work better alone. Stu Wallace of Wallace & Co Ltd in Hartfield, Va., notes that sometimes, “One needs to get away from the fray in order to be productive.” Amen to that.
The biggest problem that CPAs have with mobile working arrangements is the sense of being on the job all the time.
Wayne J. Belisle, a public practitioner in El Paso, Texas, says working at home makes his family happier but notes it also often makes him “feel always ‘on.
Do you wish you could throw away your cell phone? Take the survey; get the results.
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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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…
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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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 →
