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The 45-Minute Problem Scaling Across Tax Teams

These workflows quietly erode firm margins.

By CPA Trendlines

The biggest cost of K-1 inefficiency isn’t always visible on a timesheet. It shows up in missed opportunities, compressed timelines, and rising pressure on already stretched teams.

WEBINAR June 3: From K-1 Chaos to K-1 Capital: Turning Compliance Bottlenecks into Advisory Opportunities

FREE EBOOK Break the K-1 Bottleneck

Consider this: Manual extraction of a single K-1 takes an average of 45 minutes. Multiply that across dozens—or hundreds—of K-1s, and the impact becomes clear. But the real issue goes deeper.

Because K-1 data often arrives late and in inconsistent formats, firms are forced to: reassign senior staff to low-value tasks, rework data multiple times, and delay higher-level analysis and planning

In many cases, the most experienced (and expensive) professionals end up doing manual, administrative work simply because timelines leave no alternative. That dynamic doesn’t just affect efficiency. It affects profitability. Budgets stretch. Margins shrink. And the ability to deliver proactive advisory services disappears under the weight of compliance demands.

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New Data: K-1 Workloads Reach a Breaking Point

K-1 season isn’t what it used to be.

By CPA Trendlines

What was once a defined window during busy season has quietly expanded into a months-long operational challenge—stretching well into summer and fall for many firms.

New data from K1x highlights just how concentrated—and disruptive—the workload has become.

MORE: Join the June 3 webinar: From K-1 Chaos to K-1 Capital: Turning Compliance Bottlenecks into Advisory Opportunities

Break the K-1 Bottleneck: Download the full guide.

More than 52% of K-1 aggregation work now happens within a three-month window, with over 80% completed within six months. That compression creates a cascading effect: workloads spike unpredictably, timelines shrink under pressure, and teams are forced into reactive mode.

At the same time, delays across the broader K-1 ecosystem—many outside firms’ control—make it nearly impossible to smooth workflows or plan capacity effectively.

The result: A growing mismatch between how firms are structured to work… and how K-1 data actually arrives. That disconnect is becoming one of the defining operational challenges in modern tax practices.

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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Make Your Clients Look Forward to Meeting with You

illustration of the progression of economic value

Every interaction is an opportunity.

By Rory Henry
The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management

In tracing the trajectory of economic evolution, each phase represents a profound transformation, often driven by technological advancements. For instance, the Industrial Revolution transformed the U.S. from an agrarian economy to a manufacturing economy that created tangible assets (i.e., finished goods) out of raw materials. In recent decades, the U.S. went through a digital revolution, moving us from a manufacturing economy to a service-based economy that produces intangible assets.

MORE Rory Henry and The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management
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This shift was emblematic of a broader transition from making tangible goods to delivering intangible services. The service economy burgeoned, with a focus on delivering services, e.g., tax services, financial services and estate planning legal services.

Now, we are in the midst of another paradigm shift. Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming us from a service economy to one based on providing the consumer with experiences and guiding them through life transformations. The AI era is not just about automating routine tasks, but fostering an environment in which we transcend traditional service delivery.
READ MORE →

MANAGEMENT

DiSC Profiles Boost Staff Effectiveness

Overhead view of five people in a meeting

Better communication comes from better understanding.

By Jody Grunden
Building the Virtual CFO Firm in the Cloud

Working in a remote environment can be great, and it can also have its challenges. Communication is one of the biggest hurdles distributed companies have to overcome. To tackle this issue head on, Summit CPA has implemented many initiatives.

MORE by Jody Grunden
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

One of our favorites is the DiSC profiles. Let me start off by telling you a little bit of the background on the DiSC profiles.
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ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

Alan Whitman: Why the Next Big CPA Firms Won’t Look Like CPA Firms | Gear Up for Growth

And why culture matters more than ever.

Sponsored by True Advisor: The Definitive Success Guide for Client Advisory Services by Hitendra Patil
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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

True Advisor: Buy now | Learn more

Alan Whitman isn’t trying to build a better CPA firm. He’s trying to replace it.

At Nichols Cauley, the former Baker Tilly CEO is recasting the traditional accounting practice as a “financial services company”—a structure that blends tax, insurance, risk, and transaction advisory into a single, continuous client relationship.

MORE ALAN WHITMAN: PE Deal Tracker Update: Alan Whitman Plants a Flag in the Private Equity Landscape | Breaking the Mold with PE Backing | Build Culture on ‘Progress,’ Not Change | Moss Adams-Baker Tilly Merger: Bigger Isn’t Better. Better Is Better.| Unlocking the Secrets to Smart Growth 

MORE Jean Caragher here | Get her best-selling handbook, The 90-Day Marketing Plan for CPA Firms, here | MORE Gear Up for Growth | MORE CPA Trendlines streaming videos and podcasts here

The goal, he tells Jean Caragher in this episode of Gear Up for Growth, is not to expand services around the edges, but to collapse them into one integrated model designed to “manage, protect, and grow” client wealth in a recurring loop.

The shift reflects a broader rethinking across the profession, in which private equity capital, client demand for one-stop advisory services, and advances in AI are pushing firms beyond the partnership model that has defined accounting for decades.

Having previously led transformational growth at Baker Tilly, Whitman rejects the notion that rapid growth damages culture.

“That’s hogwash,” he says. “Culture comes down to one word: trust.” READ MORE →

ADVISORY & CONSULTING

CPAs Regain Upper Hand in Pricing Battles

Advisory and specialty services lead the way.

Tax pricing pulls away from audit, year-over-year percent change. (CPA Trendlines)

By CPA Trendlines

After two years of mostly weak pricing power, accounting firms appear to be regaining the initiative on billing rates, led by tax services with eye-popping 8% increases.

MORE in Pricing: Tax Prep Billing Rates Lift Busy Season | The Hidden Data Behind CPA Firm Burnout and Profit Pressure | Six Steps to High-Value Tax Advisory |

CPAs are raising rates by 4.2 percent year over year, reversing a 2.1 percent decline recorded a year ago, according to new CPA Trendlines findings.

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Bissett Bullet: Three Little Words

Today’s Bissett Bullet: “Which three words would you use to describe your firm and the work you do for clients? If you struggle to give an immediate and instinctive answer, then this would suggest an onward problem in articulating it to clients.”

By Martin Bissett

Why not ask for this input from existing clients? Asking clients what it is you do for them in terms of outcomes will enable you to understand their perception of the firm and what they might say to a potential referral.

This also provides insight into what they value about the service you provide, which is a critical retention tool, especially if they are themselves what you would consider to be your ideal client. Their story and how you’ve helped them can then be leveraged within your marketing messaging to help you attract more Grade A clients.

Today’s To-Do:

Pick up the phone to a Grade A client. Ask them how they would describe you in three words to a fellow business owner and find out which they feel is the most valuable outcome you have achieved for them.

See more Bissett Bullets here

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