STAFFING & RECRUITING

Will Unclogging the Accounting Pro Pipeline Kill Mobility?

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man placing box on desk to move into new job, with to coworkers in background

Changing the 150-hour requirement could have unintended consequences.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The day-to-day of the CPA may be grueling at times, but one thing makes the day a little easier – the facility of mobility.

Not only can a CPA with a driver’s license in one state drive in other states, but in most cases, they can practice their profession in other states, too. If you’re licensed to practice in one state, you’re good to go in every other state except, coincidentally, the one you can’t drive to.

MORE: Accountants Cozy Up to Clients with CAS | Accountants Torn Over 2024 Economy, Offer Advice | Are You Offering the Right Services? | 42% of Accountants Turn Away Work Over Staff Shortages | Talent Gap Widening: Be Very Scared | Looking for Recent Grads? Good Luck
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Practice mobility is crucial in a business system that often as not transcends state borders, and it’s even more important as professionals work remotely, sitting in one state while practicing in another.
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The Big 3 Success Tips for 2024

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three coworkers wearing suits, smiling and talking

Profitability is just part of the picture.

By Matt Rampe
The Rosenberg MAP Survey

Over the next 12 months, three big disruptions will shake the accounting industry.

MORE: Firms Must Choose Best Workplace Model | Tech, Capital Will Drive Accounting Profession Growth | ‘Great Shakeup’ in CPA Firms on the Way | PE, Consolidations to Keep Impacting Accounting Profession
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Fortunately, there are at least three ways that firms can prevail.

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Staff Wages Hit Record High

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line chart
Payroll services staff hourly earnings

Their bosses aren’t seeing the same increases.

By Beth Bellor
CPA Trendlines Research

Going into the New Year, the average American is doing somewhat better. Earnings are up a bit; unemployment is down a bit.

MORE: Despite Staffing Crunch, Firms Freeze Pay Raises | Tax & Accounting Firms Grow for 9th Straight Month | Tax & Accounting Profession Grows, but Wages Don’t | Tax and Accounting Pay Advancing at 5.9% Pace | Accounting Jobs Up 4% for Year
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For employees in the tax, accounting and bookkeeping business, things are more complicated. Pay for employees overall? Usually down, way down. But pay for staff in every sector? All-time highs.
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Firms Must Choose Best Workplace Model

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man sitting at desk in otherwise empty office, facing glass wall

What will help you move forward?

By Kristen Rampe
The Rosenberg MAP Survey

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every year, the Rosenberg MAP Survey asks the industry’s top consultants to share their observations from CPA firms across the country. How do you think the next 12 months will unfold? Also, how would you assess the last 12 months?

The obvious: Staffing challenges will continue. Firms that are stuck in their old ways must add younger talent with the ability to influence leadership ranks. Senior partners who are seeking an internal buyout, or better priced external sale, need to recognize how essential this is.

MORE: Tech, Capital Will Drive Accounting Profession Growth | New Energy Comes from New Ways of Doing Business | AI for Accounting Automation Will Be Significant | A 40-Hour Workweek Is Feasible | It’s Time for a New Business Model
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Less obvious: Workplace models will continue to be varied, and there is no one-size-fits-all. I have clients who hardly went home during COVID-19, and their staff have to be asked to work from home to free up office space for a growing team. I also have clients with thousands of square feet of vacant office space because no one has returned. Of both groups (and those in between), some have critical failures in productivity. Some are crushing it.
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SURVEY: CPAs Culling Clients for Better Work-Life Balance

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bar chart

Accountants don’t want just more clients, they want better ones.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Some interesting early results from the CPA Trendlines Outlook 2024: Emerging Issues, Opportunities, and Trends:

  • 57 percent of respondents say staffing and retention are their biggest challenge.
  • 48 percent say burnout and the work-life balance is their biggest challenge.

Note how these two most common challenges relate to each other. A shortage of staff is linked to an excess of burnout and imbalance.

MORE: Are You Offering the Right Services? | Which Niche’s the Best Niche? | Women-Owned Businesses Upbeat but Need Help | 42% of Accountants Turn Away Work Over Staff Shortages | Accountants to the Rescue as Startups Struggle | Talent Gap Widening: Be Very Scared | Accountants Hopeful, Concerned and Confused about AI | Looking for Recent Grads? Good Luck
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Now look:

  • 34 percent say getting BETTER clients is their biggest challenge.
  • 31 percent say raising prices and billing rates is their biggest challenge.

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PE, Consolidations to Keep Impacting Accounting Profession

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Cash infusions make the recruiting environment more competitive.

By Angie Grissom
The Rosenberg MAP Survey

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every year, the Rosenberg MAP Survey asks the industry’s top consultants to share their observations from CPA firms across the country. How do you think the next 12 months will unfold? Also, how would you assess the last 12 months?

I believe competition will continue to increase and firm leaders will continue to make changes regarding business structure. Leaders will continue to innovate their strategies to meet the market demands. Private equity infusions and consolidations will continue at a steady pace, as structures will evolve to align with each individual firm’s leadership goals.

MORE: A 40-Hour Workweek Is Feasible | Five Ways Staff Shortages Are Changing Firms Forever | Soft Skills Are Front and Center | It’s Time for a New Business Model | Rosenberg MAP: Partner Incomes Surge 11.4%
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Firms will continue to place priority on building advisory practices and streamlining operations to increase efficiency and communication. Firm governance structure, clear goals and increased transparency and accountability will be required to remain competitive.
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Despite Staffing Crunch, Firms Freeze Pay Raises

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line chart
Average hourly earnings of all employees in the accounting profession. Hint: Don’t show this chart to recruits.

 

Millennials say compensation isn’t the most important thing. Employers say, “Heard.”

By Beth Bellor

Suppose you’re a leader in a field that has fretted for months over staff shortages. Would you put on your thinking cap, plug it in for a while and come up with… frozen pay?

MORE: Tax & Accounting Firms Grow for 9th Straight Month | Tax & Accounting Profession Grows, but Wages Don’t | Tax and Accounting Pay Advancing at 5.9% Pace | Accounting Jobs Up 4% for Year
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Strangely enough, that’s what the latest tax and accounting profession earnings data show. Compared to previous months, the trend is stagnant or even down. The only bright spot was in payroll services staff, which also added bodies – but cut hours.

(How’s that song go? If it weren’t for bad luck?)
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OUTLOOK: A 40-Hour Workweek Is Feasible

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Business development can be done remotely, but it can’t be skipped.

By Carl George
The Rosenberg MAP Survey

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every year, the Rosenberg MAP Survey asks the industry’s top consultants to share their observations from CPA firms across the country. How do you think the next 12 months will unfold? Also, how would you assess the last 12 months?

Firms will continue to upgrade their client profiles and disengage from clients that no longer fit. Disengagement is one of the major initiatives that must occur to meet the challenge of the “40-hour guarantee.”

MORE: Five Ways Staff Shortages Are Changing Firms Forever | OUTLOOK: Soft Skills Are Front and Center | OUTLOOK: It’s Time for a New Business Model | Rosenberg MAP: Partner Incomes Surge 11.4%
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As it was explained so eloquently by a CEO of a large firm, “We do not have a staffing shortage, we have a ‘D’ client overage!” Well said. Traditionally difficult for us to do, but we do not have the option of not executing this critical strategy.
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