Here’s what you’re looking for: Roman H. Kepczyk

OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Accounting Will See Agentic AI

Every year, the 2025 Rosenberg MAP Survey asks the industry’s top consultants to share their observations from CPA firms across the country: How do you think the next 12 months will unfold? Trends? Predictions? Other thoughts? Also, how would you assess the last 12 months? Trends? Observations? Struggles?

PE groups seek their own solutions.

By Roman Kepczyk
 The Rosenberg Survey

From my perspective, private equity investments in both firm acquisitions and technology solutions focused specifically toward accounting automation will be a key driver in firm strategic discussions in the next 12 months.

MORE: The 2025 Rosenberg MAP Survey is available from CPA Trendlines here.
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

As I consult from a technology perspective, I believe we will see significant advances in the use of agentic artificial intelligence solutions being integrated into accounting production processes. Agentic solutions work autonomously to complete tasks and can analyze options and redirect themselves, minimizing human interaction until needed.

READ MORE →

OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

Tech Anxiety Paralyzing Some Accounting Firms

Abstract illustration of binary data flow

AI? Inescapable. But don’t forget cybersecurity.

By Roman Kepczyk
The Rosenberg National Survey of CPA Firm Statistics

Wild ride: As I am primarily focused on accounting firm technology and departmental production, I will limit my observations to IT, where the big trend will be that we will continue to see a profusion of new AI-assisted applications coming at firms from all directions, at an increasingly untenable pace. I think that the reality of the mantra stating, “You won’t be replaced by AI, but by someone using AI” will sink into every accountant’s brain in 2025 and the urge to jump to solutions will be overpowering

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every year, The 2024 Rosenberg National Survey of CPA Firm Statistics asks the profession’s top consultants two sets of questions:

    • How do you think the next 12 months will unfold? Trends? Predictions? Other thoughts?
    • How would you assess the last 12 months? Trends? Observations? Struggles?

MORE: What’s Going to Happen? Lots, Say Consultants | Growth and Complacency Must Concern Accounting Firms This Year | Solving Staffing Requires Intention | How Accounting Firms Are Handling the Staff Shortage | The Future of Fees | As Private Equity Closes In, Firms Seek New Answers to Staffing Problems | When Staffing Falls Short, Clients Get Culled | How Accounting Firms Are Dealing with Retirement | Next Five Years Are Critical for Accounting Firms | Staffing Turnover’s Down, But Why? | What’s Your Firm Worth? Private Equity Wants to Know
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

Like the dotcom boom of the early 2000s, I’m already seeing firms display a significant amount of anxiety around making application decisions and paralysis around concerns about integrating tools that could shortly be replaced by another, better product. My advice is to research peer success, pilot small and learn fast (or at least fail fast and move on).
READ MORE →

OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

AI for Accounting Automation Will Be Significant

Cybersecurity remains a concern.

By Roman Kepczyk
The Rosenberg MAP Survey

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every year, the Rosenberg MAP Survey asks the industry’s top consultants to share their observations from CPA firms across the country. How do you think the next 12 months will unfold? Also, how would you assess the last 12 months?

Positive Optimism: Barring an even larger international political crisis in the next 12 months, the opportunities within the accounting profession for firms both providing traditional compliance services and those that have expanded into advisory practices will simply be phenomenal! From a technology perspective, the evolution of artificial intelligence capabilities within accounting applications for process automation will be the most significant trend and while there will be a lot of early hype, good solutions will be able to prove themselves out fairly quickly.

MORE: Private Equity Leading to Corporate-style CPA Firms | PE, Consolidations to Keep Impacting Accounting Profession | A 40-Hour Workweek Is Feasible | Five Ways Staff Shortages Are Changing Firms Forever | Soft Skills Are Front and Center | It’s Time for a New Business Model | Rosenberg MAP: Partner Incomes Surge 11.4%
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Watch for what Microsoft does with Copilot and integrated virtual assistance within Excel, Outlook, their Edge Browser and, in particular, Microsoft Teams. Then start watching what individual accounting profession applications start integrating virtual assistance tools for tax research and projections, audit work program assistance, and use of tools to acquire and analyze accounting data and reporting, and the breadth of practical opportunities will start to unfold.
READ MORE →

OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS

OUTLOOK 2023: Tech Automation Takes Hold

Less time on tech means more time with clients.

By Roman Kepczyk
The Rosenberg MAP Survey: National Study of CPA Firm Statistics

From a technology perspective, we already see firms ramping up to identify and implement automation tools and improved production processes.

MORE: OUTLOOK 2023: IRS Hires Will Add Pressures | Look Who’s Making Money Now | Capacity Strategies Drive Change | Top Five Trends | Compensation Gets Creative | The Office Is Over | Accounting Firms Face Up to Private Equity
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Many realize that may be the only way to deal with the staffing shortages that continue to worsen… even with the expanded efforts made last year.

READ MORE →

FEATURED

Deliver Internal Reports Digitally

Abstract illustration of binary data flowYes, even to the owners.

By Roman H. Kepczyk

Improving firm efficiency means that the owners have to get on board. One of the more obvious opportunities is the delivery of the firm’s own financial reports. Many firms still print a hard copy of the monthly financials and distribute them to each owner, many of whom physically store these documents in a binder or drawer in their office.

MORE: Why Daily T/E Entry Matters | The Case for Digital Auditing | Teach Your Clients to Send Info Digitally | The 4 Buckets of Firm Knowledge | Internet Bandwidth: How Much Is Enough? | Why You Need Windows 10 with Automatic Updates | Laptops vs. Desktops
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Most firms consider these documents confidential and yet copies are distributed throughout the office, many of which are not secured. A better solution is to set up an “owner’s drawer” on the firm’s portal or document management system and post one copy of the monthly financial statements when they are ready.
READ MORE →

FEATURED

Why Daily T/E Entry Matters

Laughing businesswoman talking on the phone in office in front of four monitorsHow about better cash collection?

By Roman H. Kepczyk

Studies done over the past two decades have clearly shown that there is a significant improvement in realization for firms that enter, release and post time and expenses on a daily basis. This process allows for daily or “hotel”-type billing that is sent out with the completion of each billable project.

MORE: The Case for Digital Auditing | What Your Auditors Need in the Field | Why You Want a Digital Tax Workflow System | Why Digital Communications Matter | The Right Tech Tools for COVID Work-from-Home | It’s 10 p.m. Do You Know Where Your Backups Are? | The Best Scanners to Buy Today
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

The next step in the evolution of time and billing systems provided real-time dashboards to report on firm activities and effectively allow firms to generate invoices. This can work only if all time and expenses for all personnel are captured within the system. While most firms have a daily time entry “policy,” the biggest abusers of the policy are often owners and managers, so it is about time for them to get on board and use the system.
READ MORE →

FEATURED

The Case for Digital Auditing

It’s time for some outside help.

By Roman H. Kepczyk

Traditional audit practices use the previous year’s audit programs and processes updated for the current year as their standard operating plan. Eventually this can lead to a significant amount of “overauditing.” Breaking this habit is difficult as every level of staff has been trained in the manual processes and falls back on them when deadlines approach.

MORE: What Your Auditors Need in the Field | The Value of Firm Procedures Manuals | Retaining Documents: How Long and Who Decides? | The Case for Wireless Broadband Access | Maximize Your Office 365 ROI | How the Cloud Impacts Server Replacement
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Many firms have rightfully transitioned to digital “document container” applications such as CaseWare, WoltersKluwer/CCH Engagement and Thomson Reuters Engagement CS. Not all of these firms have changed their approach to reviewing progress on the audit and the financial reporting on a computer screen in a digital format.
READ MORE →

FEATURED

Pandemic Highlights Value of Digital Files

Post with two signs, "same" and "change"CPE and training needs are evolving.

By Roman Kepczyk

Last year’s extension to July 15 made for a very drawn-out busy season but did allow firms to shift resources to assist clients with PPP loans and other compliance. Second, the move to remote/cloud was forced rapidly and pointed out the advantage of firms already utilizing cloud vendors and hosting providers as their transition was seamless.

MORE: Pandemic Lesson: Innovate Faster | Remote Work Success Helps Solve Staffing Shortages | Firms Face Business Realities | More Complex Work = Higher Fees, Right? | You Like Being Remote, But What About Your Clients? | Remote Work Is More Productive
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Third, the difficulty and caution in physically meeting firm members and clients face to face forced adoption of virtual solutions such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams and pointed out the value of having a digital workflow tool as well as the importance of having all files in a digital format accessible remotely.
READ MORE →

FEATURED

What Your Auditors Need in the Field

Three partners, one male and two female, walking and smiling outside a buildingTWAIN compliance dictates some choices.

By Roman H. Kepczyk

The advent of today’s audit “document container” applications has transitioned every aspect of audit production into a digital format. The key to successfully using these engagement applications is to make sure your personnel have the optimal equipment with them to work digitally.

MORE: The Value of Firm Procedures Manuals | Teach Your Clients to Send Info Digitally | The 4 Buckets of Firm Knowledge | Internet Bandwidth: How Much Is Enough? | Why You Need Windows 10 with Automatic Updates | Laptops vs. Desktops
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

This includes

  • multiple monitors,
  • image capture equipment and
  • remote communications capabilities.

READ MORE →

FEATURED

The Value of Firm Procedures Manuals

Scrambled thoughts enter man's head, straightened ones come outWhere does the most potential benefit lie?

By Roman H. Kepczyk

Every firm has accountants who are 10 percent, 20 percent or even 50 percent more productive in their departments than other personnel because they have simply “figured it out.”

MORE: Teach Your Clients to Send Info Digitally | Why You Want a Digital Tax Workflow System | Why Digital Communications Matter | The Right Tech Tools for COVID Work-from-Home | It’s 10 p.m. Do You Know Where Your Backups Are? | The Best Scanners to Buy Today
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Unfortunately, when these people leave the firm, their unique knowledge of specific processes and shortcuts goes with them. It is the responsibility of firms to capture these individuals’ best practices so that that specific knowledge can be shared and accessed by all firm members both now and in the future. This can be accomplished by making a concerted effort to develop a best practices manual within each department.
READ MORE →

FEATURED

Teach Your Clients to Send Info Digitally

Concept of sending e-mails from your computer

Email is comfortable, but not always secure.

By Roman H. Kepczyk

One of the most critical steps in transitioning a firm to a paperless environment is capturing information in a digital format at its root source as that information enters the firm.

At the base level, this means having clients provide you information in a digital format, which can be done via email, digital fax or through a portal rather than with a physical document. While email is currently the most prevalent tool utilized by clients, it is anticipated the security concerns will help clients transition toward portals.

Email has been the most frequent tool used as most clients are comfortable attaching a spreadsheet or document and sending it to the firm. This method allows the digital file to be easily accessed and saved into the firm’s file storage applications. READ MORE →

FEATURED

Optimize Your Scanning Procedures

Woman in business attire with papers flying around behind her backBONUS: Specific tool suggestions.

By Roman H. Kepczyk

For the next few years it is anticipated that accounting firm clients will continue to deliver a significant amount of their organizers and supporting tax documents to the firm in a physical format. To utilize this information in a paperless environment, it must be effectively scanned and managed at the lowest possible cost.

MORE: Why You Want a Digital Tax Workflow System | Retaining Documents: How Long and Who Decides? | The Case for Wireless Broadband Access | Maximize Your Office 365 ROI | How the Cloud Impacts Server Replacement | Capturing Documents at the Source
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Early paperless adopters scanned the tax return and the supporting documents at the back end of the process when a return was complete. This is still usually the first step when firms transition from a completely manual environment.
READ MORE →

FEATURED

Why You Want a Digital Tax Workflow System

Pixelated blue text "workflow" on binary code backgroundWorkflow fails when admins are the only ones updating status.

By Roman H. Kepczyk

The most important aspect of transitioning the firm’s tax process to a digital environment is managing electronic files that are no longer physically viewable in assorted stacks around the office. This requires a digital tax workflow system that lets everyone know the status of every return and easily connects that person to digital copies of the return and the source documents.

MORE: Retaining Documents: How Long and Who Decides? | The 4 Buckets of Firm Knowledge | Internet Bandwidth: How Much Is Enough? | Why You Need Windows 10 with Automatic Updates | Laptops vs. Desktops
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Under traditional manual tax systems, firms utilized due date tracking databases that identified when a return was due, but not what information was missing, or the preparation, review or extension status, which was often recorded manually on a physical routing sheet.
READ MORE →