FEATURED

On Business Outlook, CPAs Are Confident … and Concerned

Accountants forecast a dreary, difficult 12-18 months ahead. With the exception of the promise held in leveling up tech stacks and seizing on automation.

What’s your opinion? How’s your practice doing? What are your concerns? 
Take the five-minute Busy Season survey and contribute to the professional discussion.

Fewer accountants = larger client lists.

Your best advice for small businesses? Taylor: “Understand your financials, know your KPIs, and you’ll inevitably thrive in any recession. Do not hire employees unless you have a clear plan for how hiring will benefit you.” Stocker: “Monitor results. Hang in there! This too shall pass.”

By CPA Trendlines Research

CPAs and tax practitioners tend to know what’s happening in business. More than any other professionals, they have their fingers on the pulse of companies large and small. They understand numbers, they listen to their clients and they have the wherewithal to see where micro- and macroeconomies are headed.

MORE: At the IRS, Short on Staff Means Short on Service | Tax Pros Offer Advice for Small Businesses | Has Early Tax Season Optimism Peaked? | Why the IRS Is Still Doing Data Entry By Hand | How Bullish Are You This Tax Season? | Tax Season 2023: Better or Worse?
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

When the 20223 CPATrendlines Busy Season Barometer survey asks CPAs and tax practitioners about the business and economic outlook from their view in the trenches of American business, the responses show a curious contradiction.

Generally speaking, the earliest respondents are confident at the micro level – their own firms and families – but less so for their clients. They are notably concerned about the macro level – the national economy and the outlook for small businesses in general.