Tax & Accounting Firms Wrestle Fewer Price Increases from Clients

Following a short-lived surge in rate hikes, clients push back and competitors swoop in.

By CPA Trendlines

After hitting record billing rates in February, the nation’s tax and accounting firms are facing new resistance to price increases, in which the industry seems to be taking one step back for every two steps forward, according to a new CPA Trendlines analysis.

The renewed pricing pressure suggests toughened competition in the marketplace and an overall softness in the economy as firms try to push up prices but have difficulty making them stick.

The latest data parsed by CPA Trendlines Research shows billing rates off by half of 1 percent, the seventh such decline in the last 12 months, leaving rates essentially unchanged in the last year.

The problems in raising and holding prices come after a strong surge last year in which fees rose 3 percent from March to October, according to CPA Trendlines Research.