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CHARTS & GRAPHS

Brace Yourself: IRS 25% Staff Cuts Mean Big Trouble for Tax Pros and Clients

A hobbled agency could have trouble meeting revenue goals and basic taxpayer services.

Taxpayer Advocate Collins: “Significant challenges.”

By CPA Trendlines Research

The Internal Revenue Service is reeling from massive Trump Administration staffing cuts, which have left the agency knee-capped with nearly 26,500 fewer employees, raising red flags for tax professionals about service quality, enforcement consistency and case resolution delays.

MORE Tax | What to Watch in the One Big Beautiful Bill | Quick Tax Tip | IRS’s Big Annual Report: Already Out of Date as Agency Grapples with Chaos and Cuts | Busy Season Barometer Stats: Who’s Responding and How They’re Doing | Accountants Reporting a Pretty Good Year | Tax Season Faceplant: Accountants Overrun by Late Chaos

The IRS has lost 25.9 percent of its workforce since Jan. 25, 2025, with headcount dropping from 102,113 to 75,702 as of June 4, 2025. Most of the cuts come from voluntary separation incentives rather than layoffs, according to the National Taxpayer Advocate 2026 Objectives Report to Congress.

Yet, the result is the same: fewer agents, auditors, and call center staff, just as tax complexity and demand for support are expected to increase.

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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Intuit Fires Back with Agentic AI after Xero Nabs Melio

In an escalating arms race, the general ledger is the new gateway to advisory.

Intuit’s Agentic AI team: CDO Srivastava, CTO Balazs, CEO Goodarzi

By Rick Telberg
CPA Trendlines Research
Cornerstone Report

Just a day or two after Xero shook the accounting world with its $3 billion acquisition of B2B payments platform Melio, Intuit is launching its strategic salvo: A new suite of generative AI agents built into QuickBooks.

SEE Xero Buys Melio for $3 Billion in Race for ‘The Active GL’ | MORE Tech and Fintech | MORE Artificial Intelligence | MORE Cornerstone Reports, in-depth data-driven analysis and commentary

The agents promise to automate payment reminders, reconcile bank transactions, forecast cash flow, and even draft client emails — all without human intervention.

The initiative is pivotal in the escalating arms race among accounting tech giants to dominate the general ledger. The general ledger is no longer just a recordkeeper in this rapidly transforming space. It’s becoming the operating system for every small business financial decision — and the battleground on which legacy players and startups are staking their futures.

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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

How to Save $15.16 on Every Invoice

Ross-Tennenbaum-President-at-Avalara-2025
Tennenbaum

Typical U.S. business could cut $1.1 billion in billing costs.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Widespread adoption of e-invoicing across six major economies could generate $616 billion in annual economic gains, according to new research.

MORE Tech and Fintech | MORE Avalara: Experts Call for Industry Overhaul | New Survey of 600+ Main Street Accountants Reveals Steep Drop in Optimism for SMB Clients

U.S. businesses save $15.16 per invoice, totaling $1.1 million in annual productivity per firm. The United States alone could net $116 billion, with small and midsize firms capturing $97 billion, or 83 percent, of that value, says the Avalara and the Centre for Economics and Business Research study.

“E-invoicing isn’t just a compliance solution, it’s a growth engine,” says Ross Tennenbaum, Avalara president.

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CHARTS & GRAPHS

Xero Buys Melio for $3 Billion in Race for ‘The Active GL’

Cornerstone Report: The New AI-Powered War for the General Ledger Super-App

By Rick Telberg
CPA Trendlines Research
Cornerstone Report

Xero is betting up to $3 billion that the future of accounting is more than recordkeeping.

The New Zealand-based cloud accounting firm is making its largest-ever acquisition: New York and Tel Aviv-based payments platform Melio. The all-cash deal, valued at $2.5 billion with a potential $500 million earn-out, aims to supercharge Xero’s push into the U.S. market by embedding B2B bill pay directly into its general ledger software. Xero is raising $1.23 billion in equity to help fund the acquisition.

MORE Tech and Fintech | MORE Cornerstone Reports, in-depth data-driven analysis and commentary

By acquiring Melio, Xero is accelerating a profound evolution in the general ledger’s role—from static bookkeeper to real-time financial operator. For accounting firms and their small business clients, the shift could mean fewer keystrokes, faster closes, and new frontiers for advisory services. Routine work—from data entry to expense classification—is increasingly automated. This frees up time but also demands new skills.

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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Ten Topics for Client Newsletters | Listicle

By CPA Trendlines Research

Here are 10 more topics for newsletters, podcasts, Powerpoint presentations and other forms of communication. Use your expertise to expand each topic – but keep it simple!

MORE Listicles here
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You can use each topic as a brief section of a newsletter, or use each as a theme for a given edition. Use your newsletter to not only inform clients but to remind them that their accountant is available for advice.

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