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CHARTS & GRAPHS

Feeling the Pain? The Biggest Job Losses by Client Sector

Jobs survey pinpoints client niches suffering the most under Covid. BONUS: Infographic.

CPA Trendlines Business Barometer:
How accountants are managing:
Join the survey. Get the results.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Private sector employment decreased by 20.2 million jobs from March to April according to the April ADP National Employment Report, and that doesn’t reflect the full impact of COVID-19.

A quick scan of the data shows the hardest hit client sectors, with the smallest businesses hit particularly hard.

More Staffing and Hiring Trends:  Planning for the Coronavirus Recession |  Automation and the Future of Accounting  |  Getting and Keeping the Best: The Struggle Continues |  Headcounts Dip by 3,500 in Tax & Accounting |  Creative Perks for Remote Employees |  What Staffing Shortage? |  Hiring Trends Flash Warning Signs of Slowdown in Tax & Accounting |  Salary Survey: Top Skills Getting Top Pay

See: All CPA Trendlines Special Coronavirus Crisis Coverage

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“Job losses of this scale are unprecedented. The total number of job losses for the month of April alone was more than double the total jobs lost during the Great Recession,” says Ahu Yildirmaz, co-head of the ADP Research Institute. “Additionally, it is important to note that the report is based on the total number of payroll records for employees who were active on a company’s payroll through the 12th of the month. This is the same time period the Bureau of Labor and Statistics uses for their survey.”

The Details by Company Size and Business Sector:

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BUSY SEASON MANAGEMENT

Tax Season Pivots to Covid Rescue Season

Shifting from tax prep to Covid relief: Karyn Vaughn, Deann Hill, and Joanne Bryson.
Shifting from tax prep to Covid relief: Karyn Vaughn, Deann Hill, and Joanne Bryson.

It ain’t pretty: 62% of accountants switch outlook from “better” to “worse.”

BUSY SEASON BAROMETER
How’s COVID-19 impacting accounting firms?
Join the survey. Get the answers.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The sentiments of accountants this busy season have been as up and down as the Dow Jones.

MORE on TAX SEASON: How Accountants Are Coping with COVID-19 |  SURVEY: Confronting Coronavirus Chaos | Planning for the Coronavirus Recession | Tax Season Turns Ugly under Coronavirus | Tax Season Turns Ugly under Coronavirus | Coronavirus Culture-Shift Hits Accounting Firms | 41 Items to Check on Business Tax Returns | Tax Season Funnies: The Poetic Versions | How to Stop Drowning in COVID Tax Deadlines [Webinar]

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The year started off on an optimistic note. But by the time the coronavirus got real, all hope had been abandoned.

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BUSY SEASON MANAGEMENT

‘Singing CPA’ Gets Down with the PPP

Remember: ‘Wash your hands.’

Steven B. Zelin – The Singing CPA – is rapping out the praises of the Paycheck Protection Program in his new Youtube video aimed at drumming up some new business.

It’s a “fun explanation of the Payroll Protection Program, loans from the Small Business Administration to support small businesses with the economic slowdown from the coronavirus,” says Zelin, CPA, and managing member of Zelin & Associates CPAs in New York City.

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BUSY SEASON MANAGEMENT

How Accountants Are Coping with COVID-19

Coping with the COVID crisis- Robert Jones (left), and Stephen Backman
Coping with the COVID crisis: Robert Jones (left), and Stephen Backman. More crisis management strategies: Join the survey. Get the answers.

New methods, new mindsets.

THE BUSY SEASON BAROMETER
Coronavirus Crisis Management Strategies:
Join the survey. Get the answers.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The coronavirus sure did hit quick. It seems like it’s been here since forever, but it didn’t really strike until halfway through the busy season. There were ominous clouds on the horizon in January, but early respondents to the 2020 CPA Trendlines Busy Season Barometer were generally expressing optimism.

MORE on TAX SEASON: SURVEY: Confronting Coronavirus Chaos | Planning for the Coronavirus Recession | Tax Season Turns Ugly under Coronavirus | Tax Season Turns Ugly under Coronavirus | Coronavirus Culture-Shift Hits Accounting Firms | 41 Items to Check on Business Tax Returns | Tax Season Funnies: The Poetic Versions | How to Stop Drowning in COVID Tax Deadlines [Webinar]

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Then things went downhill fast. But despite the pressures of the tax season, CPAs have been equally fast at adjusting to the new world. They really had little choice. They could innovate. They could close up shop. Or they could get really, really sick.

Innovation seems to be the most popular choice. READ MORE →

CHARTS & GRAPHS

Fraud: It’s Where the Money Is

Click to enlarge

CPA firms have opportunities here. Bonus: infographics.

By CPA Trendlines

Covid-19 isn’t the only pandemic ravaging the world. There’s a financial virus going around, too.

MORE in RISK MANAGEMENT: In These Turbulent Times, Leaders Must Lead!  |  Indemnification Helps Partners Sleep Well  |  Tax Season Is Hacker Season  |  2020 Outlook: Top 5 Emerging Risks for CPAs  |

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It’s called fraud – maybe not contagious, but it pops up everywhere. On average, an estimated 5 percent of the world’s revenue is lost to fraud each year, a median loss of $125,000, an average loss of $1,509,000.

The prevalence and seriousness of fraud is both opportunity and obligation for CPA practices, not to mention internal audit departments.

According to the 2020 Global Study on Occupational Fraud and Abuse, just issued by the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners, external audits were the source of detection in only 4 percent of 2,504 organizations analyzed in 125 countries. Internal audits accounted for 15 percent of detection, and internal controls seem almost not worthwhile, finding only 2 percent of cases of known fraud.

Despite increasingly sophisticated fraud detection techniques, tips are still by far the most common way fraud is discovered, responsible for 43 percent of detected cases. READ MORE →