Why the Next Boom Could be the Worst Thing that Ever Happens to Accountants

And how you can avoid the pitfalls.

by Rick Telberg

As state and federal governments struggle against an ailing economy, many accountants are bracing for a new surge of work from new tax and regulatory changes. But all that new work for CPAs may not be a good thing, according to one of the profession’s most outspoken iconoclasts.

“Regulatory revenue windfalls have a way of driving profits too much,” says CPA Ron Baker, perhaps the profession’s leading evangelist for burying the billable-hour business model.

The expected flood of new business, he says, “will distract us from what’s really important. The important things won’t get done. People will become complacent again.”