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OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Report: Efficiency Still the Top Priority for Accounting Firms

Tech’s the tool, but AI? Not yet.

By CPA Trendlines Research

For the second year in a row, the Thomson Reuters State of Tax Professionals Report finds that improving efficiency is the top strategy priority for accounting firms, but this year, for the first time, it ties with talent.

As the report notes, the two priorities are tightly linked in the sense that efficiency is linked to productivity. The former drives the latter.

MORE: Is Tech Causing Both CPA Shortage and Low Salaries? | Audit Firms Nervous about New Tech | To Replenish the Talent Pipeline, Go Back to the Classroom | Beware the Work-Life/Workload Doom Spiral | Why the Dry Pipeline? It’s About Time | Business Model Transformation: Do It or Die | Whole Person Retention: When It’s Not Just the Money | Global Trends Show Many Dissatisfied CPAs | More Big Firms Shut Their Doors to New College Grads | Seven Enticements to Keep Talent On Board | Let Interns Fix the Staffing Shortage? | Disruptors: Talent Crisis? What Talent Crisis?
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The report is based on an international survey of 500 respondents, about half in the United States, with the rest in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Brazil and Argentina. Data comes from the first quarter of 2024.
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POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

Is the IRS Mismeasuring Phone Service?

unhappy man waiting on phone in office

Bad metrics are hiding problems.

By CPA Trendlines Research

If there’s one nice thing about phoning the IRS, it’s the opportunity to take a nap.

Taxpayer naps were a little shorter this year, especially for those calling 35 of the 102 toll-free lines, known as enterprise lines, that taxpayers can call for assistance. Those 35 lines are for accounts management (AM) issues.

MORE: Is Tech Causing Both CPA Shortage and Low Salaries? | Audit Firms Nervous about New Tech | What Accountants Can Learn from T-Ball | Staffing Tops List of Woes at CPA Firms | To Replenish the Talent Pipeline, Go Back to the Classroom | Beware the Work-Life/Workload Doom Spiral | Why the Dry Pipeline? It’s About Time | Business Model Transformation: Do It or Die | Misperceptions, Corrections, Accountancy and Lemonade
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Thanks to a mandate from the Secretary of the Treasury, the IRS hired 7,000 customer service representatives to handle the AM lines.
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OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Is Tech Causing Both CPA Shortage and Low Salaries?

dot chart
The number of accounting degree completions from bachelor’s programs from 1994-2021. Source: 2023 AICPA Trends Report

 

There’s a paradox going on.

By CPA Trendlines Research

A working paper by three academics presents a paradoxical contradiction in the accounting industry. Somehow, technology, which is starting to replace some accounting functions, is causing a shortage of accounting professionals. And despite the high demand for the few graduates who major in accounting, starting salaries are lower than in related professions.

MORE: Audit Firms Nervous about New Tech | What Accountants Can Learn from T-Ball | Staffing Tops List of Woes at CPA Firms | To Replenish the Talent Pipeline, Go Back to the Classroom | Beware the Work-Life/Workload Doom Spiral | Why the Dry Pipeline? It’s About Time | Business Model Transformation: Do It or Die | Misperceptions, Corrections, Accountancy and Lemonade | Whole Person Retention: When It’s Not Just the Money | Global Trends Show Many Dissatisfied CPAs | More Big Firms Shut Their Doors to New College Grads
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And in a related paradox, technology’s most powerful tools may be augmenting the accountant’s workload.

How can all this be concurrent?
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POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

IRS Makes Big Progress But …

four people talking on phones in call center

Problems remain. (Shocked, we are.)

By CPA Trendlines Research

National Taxpayer Advocate Erin M. Collins has plenty of good things to say about the IRS in her annual Objectives Report to Congress.

MORE: The IRS Is Coming! Get Your Clients into Compliance | End Tax Season Meetings with Clients … Seriously | Brandon Hall: Firms Try to Make Too Much on Tax Prep | Eight Steps to Getting Started with AI: A Guide for Tax Professionals | FTC Nails TurboTax for ‘Free Filing’ Scam | If Only the IRS’s Tax Pro Were Useful | Can’t IRS Online Accounts Be More Useful? | ID Theft a Problem for IRS Even When It Doesn’t Exist | The Nightmare of Non-credentialed Tax Preparers | Taxpayer Assistance Centers: A Good Idea That Should Be Better | IRS Still Falling Short on Service
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“The IRS largely succeeded in 2024,” Collins writes regarding this year’s tax season. “After several years of abysmal taxpayer service during the COVID-19 pandemic, the IRS has now delivered two filing seasons that demonstrate the agency has restored service to pre-pandemic levels and has improved in most, but not all, areas of service. This is excellent news for most taxpayers.”
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MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Aprio Sells Majority Stake to Charlesbank PE

Kopelman

Aprio is breaking off its CPA firm after reportedly selling a majority stake to Charlesbank Capital Partners, a private equity firm.

Already on a growth-by-acquisition streak, Aprio has logged dozens of deals in the last few years. With fresh cash on hand, this pace is sure to accelerate.

MORE Richard Kopelman talks with Rob Brown on Accounting Influencers

Aprio plans to adopt an “alternative practice structure,” with Aprio LLP as the legacy licensed CPA firm and Aprio Advisory Group LLC as the new PE-backed acquisition engine. READ MORE →