Here’s what you’re looking for: CPA Trendlines Research

OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

CPAs Needed to Help Small Biz Adopt AI

bar chart
Which areas of your business would you expect to be the most and the least affected by artificial intelligence?

 

Privacy, intellectual property concern many survey respondents.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Small businesses are getting more comfortable with artificial intelligence, according to a survey-based report from FreshBooks.

“Small business owners are less convinced that AI is coming for their jobs and/or the jobs of their employees,” the report says, “with two-thirds disagreeing that AI will replace them.”

MORE: Revenue Growth Is Top Priority for Small Firms | Survey Shows Challenges, Priorities Shifting | Survey Shows That Tech Remains the Great Divide | Is the CPA Business Model the Clog in the Pipeline? | Can Big Data Spot Financial Fraud? | Will Unclogging the Accounting Pro Pipeline Kill Mobility? | Accountants Bullish on Income | 42% of Accountants Turn Away Work Over Staff Shortages | Accountants Hopeful, Concerned and Confused about AI
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Still, in a bit of a contradiction, 44 percent of owners say they expect to hire fewer people in the future thanks to expected AI capabilities. And the larger the business, the more likely they will use AI to reduce payroll.
READ MORE →

CHARTS & GRAPHS

Revenue Growth Is Top Priority for Small Firms

bar charts

Cost reduction? That’s on the list, too.

By CPA Trendlines Research

As in years past, CPA firms of all sizes are putting revenue growth at the top of their priority lists.

The rest of their priority lists tells how they plan to get there.

MORE: Survey Shows Challenges, Priorities Shifting | Survey Shows That Tech Remains the Great Divide | Will Unclogging the Accounting Pro Pipeline Kill Mobility? | Accountants Bullish on Income | SURVEY: Which Niche’s the Best Niche? | Ethics on Sustainability Puzzle Some Accountants | Accountants Hopeful, Concerned and Confused about AI
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

According to the Wolters Kluwer 2024 Accounting Industry Report, 61 percent of responding firms – 90 percent of which are small firms – are primarily aiming at higher revenues and profits. That’s 11 percentage points above secondary goals.
READ MORE →

OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Survey Shows Challenges, Priorities Shifting

two worried businesspeople having coffee and looking at computer

Top concerns vary widely by firm size.

By CPA Trendlines Research

CPA firms small, midsized and large are facing new challenges and reorganizing their priorities as they shake off the aftereffects of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to the Wolters Kluwer 2024 Accounting Industry Report, based on a survey of 1,509 accounting firms, pricing and competitive fee pressures are the overall biggest challenges firms are dealing with. The pressure is most prominent at small firms, which comprised 90 percent of the survey respondents. Forty percent of those smaller firms said it was their top concern.

MORE: Survey Shows That Tech Remains the Great Divide | Is the CPA Business Model the Clog in the Pipeline? | Accountants Cozy Up to Clients with CAS |  CPAs Culling Clients for Better Work-Life Balance | Women-Owned Businesses Upbeat but Need Help | Accountants to the Rescue as Startups Struggle | Looking for Recent Grads? Good Luck
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

This is the first time pricing has ranked among the top five challenges since 2015.

Pricing ranked third among large firms, 39 percent of which said it was a problem.
READ MORE →

OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Survey Shows That Tech Remains the Great Divide

casually dressed man working at laptop, money stacks covering surrounding desk space

Why are the non-adopters not adopting?

By CPA Trendlines Research

Wolters Kluwer Tax and Accounting has issued its annual tax and accounting survey. The results show an industry re-evaluating its criteria for success as firmwide changes occur.

Technology is the driver of those changes, and its rapid evolution is enabling, and even necessitating, innovation.

MORE: Is the CPA Business Model the Clog in the Pipeline? | Can Big Data Spot Financial Fraud? | Accountants Torn Over 2024 Economy, Offer Advice | SURVEY: Are You Offering the Right Services? | 42% of Accountants Turn Away Work Over Staff Shortages | Talent Gap Widening: Be Very Scared | CPA Biz Is Booming, But for How Long? | SURVEY: Accountants Economic Outlook Brightens
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

In her introductory letter, Cathy Rowe, Wolters Kluwer senior vice president, professional market, says, “Those who embrace innovation will be able to redefine their firms, leave no spreadsheet untouched by the winds of change, and truly be future-ready accountants.”

The numbers back up the increasing use of and dependence on technology, but they also reveal a significant part of the industry declining to board the tech train.
READ MORE →

POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

FTC Nails TurboTax for ‘Free Filing’ Scam

shocked couple looking at laptop while sitting on couch

What does ‘free’ mean? It shouldn’t be up for debate.

By CPA Trendlines Research

American taxpayers are all victims of a tax scam.

Yes, all of them.

MORE: If Only the IRS’s Tax Pro Were Useful | Tax Pros File 33% of Early Returns | The Nightmare of Non-credentialed Tax Preparers | Must the IRS Be a Dark Hole? | IRS Plays Whac-A-Mole with the Phones | VCs Plunk $60 Million into AI-Powered ‘Autonomous’ Tax Prep
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

And the New York Times points an accusatory finger straight at TurboTax.

A Tax Season Villain

In a 15-minute video article by John Harris and Binyamin Appelbaum, the Times says there’s a tax villain, and it’s neither the tax rate nor the Internal Revenue Service.
READ MORE →