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Maybe This Is Your Father’s Accounting Practice

Too many tech ‘solutions’ don’t solve the real ‘problems.’

By Gail Perry
The Accounting Firm Operations and Technology Survey

Perry
Perry

As a person who still prefers books to e-books, who chooses a landline over her cell phone, who cherishes her collection of vinyl albums and who enjoys writing letters in longhand (BTW: I’m writing my first draft of this article in longhand), and (full confession), as a CPA who maintains a small tax practice of her own and who manages her books in Excel (in spite of the fact that I know many accounting software programs inside out and have written myriad books about financial software), I can completely relate to the results of the Accounting Firm Operations and Technology Survey without a trace of the surprise and disappointment expressed by my journalistic colleagues who shared their points of view.

Accountants aren’t clueless about technology and they’re not stupid when it comes to making decisions about how to operate their business. What they are is busy.

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PAY & COMPENSATION

Industry Employment Surge Shows No Signs of Slowing

Chart showing number of employees in the accounting industry according to Bureau of Labor Statistics
All employees in the accounting and bookkeeping industry; numbers reported in thousands

Record highs seen in overall employment, staff wages, CPA firm employment and staff, and more.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The U.S. tax, accounting and bookkeeping industries show no signs of slowing down, according to CPA Trendlines sources.

Here CPA Trendlines reports on:

  • Current hiring trends in each of the bookkeeping, tax, payroll and CPA segments of the industry.
  • Average hourly wages for key segments.
  • Typical hours worked per week.
  • And trends concerning women in the accounting workforce.

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OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Thank You, AccountingToday. We’re Honored.

Top 100 Influential People Telberg
Click for full report

Telberg and 27 contributors and commentators named among profession’s “most influential.”

By CPA Trendlines

CPA Trendlines is pleased and honored that founder and CEO Rick Telberg is again named by Accounting Today one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the profession.

“Besides his own insights and those generated by the research arm of CPA Trendlines,” Accounting Today says, “Telberg has emerged as a major impresario for new thought leaders (including some of our T100), ushering them into the spotlight through both his Web site and his book publishing operation.”

In addition to Telberg, the Accounting Today Top 100 named 27 other CPA Trendlines contributors and commentators: August Aquila, Ron Baker, Dave Bergstein, Chandra Bhansali, Jason Blumer, Gary Bolinger, Jim Boomer, Gary Boomer, Jim Bourke, David Cieslak, Gale Crosley, Tom Hood, Randy Johnston, Roman Kepczyk, Allan Koltin, Teresa Mackintosh, Barry Melancon, Ed Mendlowitz, Jay Nisberg, Jody Padar, Terry Putney, Marc Rosenberg, Joel Sinkin, Doug Sleeter, Jennifer Warawa, Jennifer Wilson, and Sandra Wiley.

PRO Member Exclusive

Report: Cloud Users Earn More Than Naysayers

Hand drawing cloud computing diagramAccountants slow to adopt integrated solutions.

By CPA Trendlines

Small businesses that use cloud-based software to support critical business functions make more money than those that don’t, according to research reviewed by CPA Trendlines.

Companies surveyed who are embracing the cloud achieve 25 percent additional growth, while doubling their profits. Those companies make up 51 percent of U.S. small businesses, with 29 percent using three or more packages. The United Kingdom is close behind, with 47 percent adoption and 27 percent using three or more packages.

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POLITICS & GOVERNMENT

Study Decries ‘Myth’ of Public Interest

Huber
Huber

Call it what it is, ‘market interest,’ author argues.

By CPA Trendlines

The accounting profession’s governing establishment is actually a cabal of industry and government designed to thwart – instead of protect – the public interest, a new study asserts.

“The public interest is proven to be a myth, a construct created to disguise what interest the public accounting profession, and the associated governmental and private regulatory and standard-setting bodies actually serve and protect – the market interest,” says the author, Wm. Dennis Huber of Cappella University.

In critically analyzing the language of the missions, charters, statutes and legislative findings of auditing and accounting standard-setting bodies and government regulatory agencies, Huber found that “the public interest” as professed by these organizations is “plagued by significant inconsistencies, contradictions, and conflicts.” READ MORE →

PRO Member Exclusive

Thinking Technology? Then Think Beyond Average

‘Average is where the best of the worst meets the worst of the best.’

By Jim Boomer
The Accounting Firm Operations and Technology Survey

Boomer
Boomer

The Accounting Firm Operations and Technology Survey provides some great insights on where firms stack up in both practice management and technology. I encourage you to view this as the starting point, though. Strive to be better in all areas regardless of whether you are below, at or above average. After all, average is where the best of the worst meets the worst of the best.

Break Away From the Herd

Whether it is technology, processes or new service lines, we, as a profession, have the tendency to follow the herd. Large firms look at peers and do what they do. Small firms tend to look at other small firms.I challenge you to look beyond the firms of similar size for additional ideas on how to support your firm’s continued improvement and growth. We’ve found that small firms can learn a great deal from those that are larger and vice versa. READ MORE →

CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

The Wild World of Weed: Tax Season Never Ends [VIDEO]

How one top CPA got into the cannabis business.

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By CPA Trendlines
cannabizcpa.pro

When Dean Guske attends trade shows like the World Cannabis Congress & Business Expo, he isn’t proffering pipes, papers, pot, hydroponics, or paraphernalia. A CPA with over 250 clients in Washington and Oregon, Guske is pushing tax prep and accountancy.

More Cannabiz CPAs:  America’s New Breed of Cannabis CPAs [VIDEO]  |  Ready or Not: CPA Firms Find New Opportunity in Booming Cannabis Industry  |  From Tech Boom to Cannabis Boom  |  Cannabis FAQ for Accountants  |  What’s a Cannabiz Worth? Ask a CPA.

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Guske & Company PLLC got into this vast niche by professional coincidence, a client who liked the firm’s work and asked for some tax help with a new business. He was growing marijuana. This was new to Guske, but it sounded interesting.

“I told him I’d have to do some research first,” Guske tells CPA Trendlines. “I wanted to get a good understanding of what was going on tax-wise and an understanding of the industry before I accepted a client in that industry.”

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SURVEYS & RESEARCH

New Research Report: Operations and Technology Survey for Solo and Small Firms

 Available now at the CPA Trendlines store

cache_240_240_0_0_80_16777215_AFOT Small Solo edition CVRRandy Johnston, CEO and Founder, Network Management Group, Inc., Leslie Garrett, PhD, CEO of Insight Research Group, and Brian Tankersley, editor of the publication announce the release of the Solo Practitioner and Small Firm Edition of the 2nd Annual Accounting Firm Operations and Technology survey eBook.  The eBook features survey results and insights unique to the solo and small firm, taken from the 2nd Annual Accounting Firm Operations and Technology Survey. This eBook is published in cooperation with Rick Telberg, President and CEO of CPA Trendlines. 

“This book was created to give solo practitioners and small firms a high quality resource they could use to benchmark their practices against firms of similar size,” said Johnston.  “The insights provided in the Consultants Counsel sections of this eBook are focused solely on areas of significance for solo practitioners and small firms; it is intended to serve as an easy-to-reference field manual to help these firms with decision-making in the areas of technology and operations.” 

This survey included respondents from all 50 states, with the number of respondents doubling over last year’s results, which further validates the data. 

The Solo Practitioner and Small Firm Edition of the 2nd Annual Accounting Firm Operations and Technology Survey eBook features:

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PRO Member Exclusive

Communication: More Powerful Than Any Software

‘You can’t get ahead having a heart-to-heart with a spreadsheet.’

By Richard J. Koreto
The Accounting Firm Operations and Technology Survey

Koreto
Koreto

I once interviewed a CPA who was a partner in a small accounting firm with his father. The father was a “detail guy” who knew every detail of the IRC and made sure their clients paid no more than the legal minimum. The son was more “front office.”

He personally delivered every return to their high-net-worth clients in their homes and went over each form and schedule: “What are you unclear about? Based on changes in your family situation, there will be some tax implications. Let’s discuss what we can do about them…” He realized that handling the numbers was not enough – he had to explain what they meant. And he had to listen.

This type of skill is more important now than ever, and a way for accountants to clearly differentiate themselves from increasingly sophisticated and inexpensive software.

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PRO Member Exclusive

NEW RECORD: U.S. Accounting Industry Tops 1 Million Workers

Wages rise 6%. Double-digit expansion in payroll agencies.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The number of people employed in the accounting industry has topped 1 million for the first time ever.

Sounds great, doesn’t it? There are a million of us. Savor that for a moment.

Top Talent Strategies
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In this report, CPA Trendlines covers:

  • Current hiring trends in each of the bookkeeping, tax, payroll and CPA segments of the industry, indicating growth and shrinkage among sectors.
  • Average hourly wages for key segments, with trends in employee pay rates.
  • Typical hours worked per week, showing utilization and productivity.
  • Trends concerning women in the workforce, including hiring rates.

READ MORE →