Tax Pros Offer Advice for Small Businesses

Specific tips from your colleagues.

By CPA Trendlines Research

When the 2023 CPATrendlines Busy Season Barometer asked practitioners what advice they’d give small businesses, most of the responses boiled down to two essential messages:

  • Don’t be afraid … but be careful … and ready.
  • Hang on to your cash.

MORE: Busy Season Barometer Finds Many CPAs in Transition | More CPAs See Worsening Economy | Marchternity: The Solution Is Community | Why We All Hate the Tax Code | Tax Season 2023: Better or Worse?
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A Little Trepidation

Looking at these early responses to the survey – which is still open for responses – we are sensing a little trepidation over the near future.
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The Five Treacherous Factors Hobbling Today’s CPA Firm

2016-ROUNDTABLE-OUTLOOK-FOR-ROSENBERG-MAP-COMMENTARY-VF-240x219Crumbling firm infrastructures, succession, the economy, staffing shortages, and shake-outs.

By CPA Trendlines
Annual MAP Survey

The new Rosenberg MAP Survey reveals a few significant things about the state of the accounting business—that growth and profit-per-partner are growing at a negligible rate and that intangible people issues are becoming painfully tangible, for example. But some more subtle truths emerge in the gimlet-eyed observations of those who advise CPA firms.

More on the  2016 Outlook & Forecast: CPA Firm Growth Rates Hit a Wall  |  The Five Treacherous Factors Hobbling Today’s CPA Firm  |  Sam Allred: Change Agents Needed  |  Tamera Loerzl on Growth, Succession Plans Critical for Firms  |  Allan Koltin on Talent Wars Go from White Gloves to Boxing Gloves  |  Get the full report: The Rosenberg Map Survey

These truths are not self-evident. But with a little analysis, five trends emerge vividly – trends impacting CPA firms large, small, and middling. So it’s worth having a look:

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2014 Roundtable: No Shortcuts to Sustainable Growth

2014 Top Trends logo vF
Click for the full Rosenberg MAP Survey

Firms come to understand success must be organized and leader-driven.

See the complete 2014 Roundtable

By Gale Crosley
Crosley Co.

Analysis

Firms are realizing that growth is a more sophisticated game, and we are never going back to the “hang out your shingle” days. Succession issues are playing a major part in motivating firms to take a hard look at how they are going to grapple with sustainable growth.

When the business world was somewhat predictable, growth could be counted on. But there are too many complexities today to count on the past as a predictor of the future. Globalization, social media, innovation, regulation, competition — these are just some of the dynamics at play. The way business was generated by our seasoned partners will be quite different from our future leaders. This awareness is becoming more acute as sluggish economic conditions continue. READ MORE →

2014 Roundtable: Firms that ‘Get’ Women Stand to Win the Talent Wars

2014 Top Trends logo vF

On new leaders, staffing, ex-partners, and four new predictions.

by Rita Keller
ritakeller.com

Analysis

Women — The area of retaining and promoting females in public accounting continues to be a big challenge for many firms.

I like to compare it to life, in general. Men always have been and continue to be puzzled by women. In the business world, there have been many great books written to help women better fit into the game of business. The much talked about book “Lean In” by Sheryl Sandberg (COO of Facebook) is an example. The biggest challenge in public accounting is getting women and men to read such books. READ MORE →

2014 Roundtable: Re-Thinking the Staffing Model

2014 Top Trends logo vF
Click for the full Rosenberg MAP Survey

As one generation ages out, a new one reshapes the future of the profession.

See the complete 2014 Roundtable

By Tim Michel
Michel Consulting Group

Analysis

Firm growth has improved overall from the last several years and firms are increasing profitability again. But firms are dealing with several major issues, some brought about from the recession, and some brought about from their internal circumstances.

Tim Michel
Michel

The recession caused many firms to cut back on staffing and hiring. Their partners and managers recorded more charge hours as they felt they needed to be more productive and often did not have the staff to delegate to.

In the last year, many firms are flnding they do not have the staffing model they need to continue to grow. It seems every firm is looking for that three- to five-year person, especially in the tax area. READ MORE →

2014 Roundtable: Tax Season Tech Boom

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Click for the full Rosenberg MAP Survey

Buying opportunity: Firms trailing the tech curve will need to merge out – cheap.

See the complete 2014 Roundtable

By Roman Kepczyk
Xcentric

Analysis

Firms are getting optimistic again and gearing up for slow steady growth. We are seeing investments in many specific technologies (workflow, cloud, remote access, security, BYOD) and projects targeted for handling this growth.

Kepczyk
Kepczyk

Outlook

I think cautionary investments will be the rule and we can expect to see major activity coming out of busy season for both investments in firm technology and processes, particularly cloud applications that are more secure, available from any Internet-enabled device and less expensive. READ MORE →

2014 Roundtable: Partners Already Checked Out

2014 Top Trends logo vF
Click for the full Rosenberg MAP Survey

Passion. Succession. Growth.

See the complete 2014 Roundtable

By August Aquila
Creating the Effective Partnership

Analysis

The biggest issues that I am seeing revolve around partner engagement (commitment), succession issues and growth. The economy has been pretty much in a no-growth environment the last 12 months.

Aquila
Aquila

Markets are becoming saturated by the national and super-regional firms. Many secondary markets now have five or more of these players going after the same clients. The result is that this competition drives down fees and we are training clients to constantly go out for bids.

Outlook

I personally don’t see a lot of change in the economy in the near future. Succession, growth, commitment will continue to be major issues for a lot of small to mid-size firms.

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