Comments fell into two camps.
By CPA Trendlines
We probably don’t need to tell CPA Trendlines readers that these are troubling times. So we won’t.
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But we’d like to remind you of this: You are not alone.
The entire accounting industry, from coast to coast, big cities to small towns, big firms to small, auditors to tax practitioners – everyone is facing challenges. Some are new, some the same-old problems of yore.
So we’re using the 2022 Business Barometer to elicit comments on the challenges of today. And what we’re hearing is a lot of pain and trepidation.
A certain Catherine A., head of a very small firm out there in the trenches of accountancy, summed up a lot of the pain she and many others are facing.
“Learning how to use all the automation that’s coming and is here,” she said. “Hiring more staff. Surviving the economy/inflation! World problems/issues and their impact on the U.S. Bare shelves at the grocery stores. Price of gas. The speed of changing technology and automation. The ongoing level of stress.”
Staffing, Staffing, Staffing
Staffing is by far the most common problem – and not just finding and hiring personnel. There’s also the challenge of just dealing with them.
Here’s a comment from a small firm owner in the mountains of California, whose main challenge is “Paying new inexperienced employees enough to get them through the door without alienating current staff who have experience and want more money. The person who suffers the most is the owner who will be taking a pay cut to bring in staff.”
Tricia Duncan, on the leadership team at Oregon’s Jones & Roth, had a similar sentiment but more focused on professionals coming out of school at the worst of times.
“Hiring and retention,” she said. “Employee mental health. The transition from student to staff in COVID-19 – slower learning curve, adapting to structure, deadlines, communicating in person.”
And somebody else – never mind who – is even more critical of recent grads, warning that “Ninety percent of young staff are lazy, stupid, arrogant and feel entitled. Most lack vision and drive.”
In fact, we’re hearing several similar comments about the quality and quantity of staff.
- “People unwilling to work.”
- “Attitudes and lack of practical knowledge coming out of schools.”
- “Shortage of skilled staff and increased wage expectations.”
- “Nobody wants to work anymore.”
- “Finding competent employees who are willing to work the extra time during tax season.”
But a certain Gene, president and CEO of a small West Coast firm, pointed out that some of the problems with finding and keeping qualified staff lie within the firms that need them.
“Staffing and technology” are his main challenges, he said. “Still need people in this business. Technology is not the total answer, but technology needs to step up and provide more in the way of work/life balance. We will not attract and keep new professionals if we can’t provide the ability to work a 40-hour week all during tax season.”
The Tech Challenge
Technology has been coming up more as a challenge than a solution. The general sense is that it’s hard to keep up with, it doesn’t solve all problems and sometimes it just sucks.
Mike Davis, who has a firm just outside Philadelphia, seems to be especially frustrated, telling us, “Web-based and website software is being rewritten instead of upgraded. The code writers don’t seem to have any idea how things should work. The software and sites have fewer capabilities and are more difficult to use.”
And somebody else is challenged with “keeping up with technology changes, especially the ‘weird’ stuff like crypto-currency.”
We’re also hearing quite a bit of concern about AI. Is it really going to make work easier? Is it going to create more problems? And how are we supposed to pay for it as inflation rages and the staff keeps expecting exorbitant pay?
The Big Mess
Comments could be grouped into two main types: challenges within the accounting industry, and challenges in the national milieu. Firms are struggling in a maelstrom of inflation, COVID-19, client difficulties, a sluggish IRS, ever-changing tax policies and regulations, shortages and general anxiety over the uncertainties of the near future.
Like many others, Gretl S. Siler laid much blame on the federal government.
“IRS is a mess,” Siler reported from her office in Panama City, Fla. “Inflation will put even more pressure on businesses. Hard to say what our crazy government might do to increase taxes at a time when business people are facing the worst economic situation in nearly 50 years. That would impact the economy for much longer than the government and media think it will.”
Bradley W. Homan is also worried about the government creating problems by trying to solve other problems.
“We are positioning ourselves to be able to react to the unpredictable policies which politicians might enact/elect to follow in response to the upcoming midterm election,” Homan said. “In other words, preparing ourselves to deal with politicians making decisions based on what is best for their political party, as opposed to having logical political politicians who make decisions based on the best interest of the country.”
2 Responses to “Accounting Pros Face Challenges in Turbulent Times”
Les Orr
Thank you very much for this excellent post.
1) Blaming “The Government” for the problems that CPAs are facing is, at best, misdirected and misleading. We run our profession. The “Politicians”, and our own governing bodies, have continued to make numerous changes that have brought in a lot more work for us. We were supposed to make money on that. We should be thanking them.
2) Blaming “Lazy Workers” misses the point. We accepted the model our predecessors laid out without any “Deep Thought”. Work really long hours, take less pay and put your trust in the future was, in hindsight, naive. We never addressed the ‘structural fallacy’ of that idea. Young folks, nowadays, seem to be smarter than we were.
3) Blaming “Technology” is a fools errand. The “Technologists” merely have the same goals as many of us – make more money. They do it by pushing “New Stuff” – good and junk. We buy it.
4) Accepting “Personal Responsibility” is often talked about but seldom acted upon. I acknowledge that my decisions, choices and mistakes have left me where I am. Do you?
Ron Dearman CPA
Technology in general have relied on technicians to decide on which technical changes should be made. Many times
without any input from the busy users out there with busy jobs. Many changes have been made just because the techies think they are cool rather than having input from users such as CPA’s with busy jobs. I find many technology changes across the board including cell phones and operating systems more disruptive than helpful. Asking a user with a busy real job about the changes
should be part of the process but its not. Change tanks make changes that are approved by change tank managers only becauase
that’s what they do. Making changes for the sake of having changes. Not good !!