And so, too, the mood of the accounting profession. by Rick Telberg The outlook for a better busy season is improving among tax and accounting practitioners, with 16% reporting “much better” operations in January, up from 11% in the year-ago month and continuing a string of monthly year-over-year advances in the CPA Trendlines polling. The CPA Trendlines survey, now in its seventh year, tracks real time busy season conditions. Participants get an early peek at the results. Click here to join the survey, get the answers. Overall, practitioners are headed into the jaws of the February busy season with 57% of them reporting generally positive results. Only 19% are calling for worse and 25% forecast no change.
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Four in five expect the same or better than last year’s busy season. by Rick Telberg As Busy Season 2012 gets into full gear, tax and accounting professionals are holding steadfast to their confidence that this year’s results could show a marked improvement over last year’s, according to current readings of the profession by CPA Trendlines. With January 2012 just beginning, 55% of accountants expect 2012 to be overall “somewhat” or “much” better than 2011, which is relatively unchanged from readings in November and December. To be sure, 26% expect no change from last year, and 19% are bracing for “worse.” In other findings from the CPA Trendlines busy season barometer and related reports: Accountants Expecting a Better Busy Season [...]
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Major metrics suggest rebounding business. Most tax and accounting professionals heading into busy season are expecting meaningful improvements over last year in revenues and profits, according to new CPA Trendlines research. Click here to join the survey, get the results. Preliminary data from December are showing 75% of accountants are counting on “some” increase in revenue this season and 8% are forecasting a “significant” increase – a total of 83%. In the same month a year ago, only 74% were expecting increased revenues. Similarly, 71% expect gains in net profit (up from 65% in the year-ago month); 64% are preparing for more clients (relatively unchanged from last year’s 65%); 63% see more revenue per client (up from 56% last year), [...]
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Small but measurable advances. Preliminary results from a survey now being fielded by CPA Trendlines suggests that tax and accounting professionals are expecting a better busy season this year than last year. Last year at about this time, practitioners rated the then-upcoming 2.35 on a five-point scale with 5 being “much better” than the year before and 1 “much worse.” New and preliminary data rate the outlook a 2.42, a scant but perceptible improvement.
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Practitioners and experts seem to agree this coming tax season should be markedly better than last year’s. And last year, for most, was better than the year before. We caught up with a few of the best-informed people in the business at the 2011 CCH user conference. Click on this video to start the playlist:
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…I want to be a tax accountant. Charming, cute, and so true it’s sorta sad…
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You can’t afford to waste this once-a-year opportunity to take notes on what’s working, what’s not and what to do about it before the next busy season.
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Last chance to take care of yourself, your career, your firm — before busy season begins.
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Nine rules for tax season success, including: Bartering services for ammo, if necessary. by Thomas Avery Blair, EA tomblairea.com I believe that in order for the registered tax preparer/licensed tax attorney, CPA and Enrolled Agent to remain in business now and in the future, there will have to be a resurgence in the attitudes of conventional and unconventional “personal service” to the individual tax client. I bear witness to the fact that my own small tax practice now requires that more personal attention be given to the individual client. “One size fits all” simply won’t work. The tax code is growing ever more complex while the public’s education in federal taxation matters is waning. Here are some examples of what [...]
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They make all the hard work pay off. by Rick Telberg Some tax and accounting practitioners are showing how to deal with the same problems as their peers and competitors, and yet rise above them. The results can be dazzling. Overall, 45% of accountants say this busy season was better than last year’s, including 12% who said “much better.” Indeed, for those lucky few, it was better by almost any measure. Among those who reported operations were “much better” this year:
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