OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Who’s Searching for “Accountants?”

Not as many as before. In fact, the number of Google searches has dropped by 50% since 2004.

We were alerted to this “alarming online search trend” by Amit Vemuri, CEO at Teaspiller, a company which has already generated a little controversy in these pages. But read on for Vemuri’s views and analysis. Vemuri’s take is interesting, provocative, and, if correct, problematic for the profession. His call to action isn’t necessarily new, but that doesn’t make it any less urgent. Then see the rebuttal here.

 

— Rick Telberg

by Amit Vemuri

CEO, Teaspiller

It’s a wake-up call to the worldwide accounting community. It also confirms the AICPA’s latest survey about how all size firms are having a hard time getting new clients (and retaining clients).

Index showing number of Google searches on the word "accountants" since 2004 shows steady declines. Source: http://www.google.com/trends?q=accountants

Observations:

  • Online searches for “accountants” have declined by 50% since 2004.
  • The steady decline represents a CAGR of about -10%.
  • The problem is happening worldwide – not just in the United States.

Some good explanations:

  • Do-it-yourself accounting software is stealing market share from accountant practices.
  • Accountants don’t know how (or want) to market themselves online.

Some other explanations – mostly refuted:

Amit Vemuri, CEO, Teaspiller
Amit Vemuri

We’ve spoken to the accounting community and got a lot of possible explanations. Here are some of the explanations we’ve refuted.

  • “Clients search for specialties.” We’ve tried multiple types of accountant searches (CPAs, PCAOB, financial planners, etc.) and almost all are seeing declines.