SURVEYS & RESEARCH

New Survey of 600+ Main Street Accountants Reveals Steep Drop in Optimism for SMB Clients

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The Avalara Accountants Confidence Report shows 64 percent of trusted advisors bracing clients for economic downturn, and urging cash preservation, debt reduction, and rapid intelligent technology adoption

Avalara, Inc., a leader in modern tax compliance automation, released the 2025 Avalara Accountants Confidence Report, revealing a marked decline in optimism among U.S. accountants advising small and mid-sized businesses.

Based on a CPA Trendlines survey of 623 accounting professionals, the report offers a unique view into the economic outlook, operational pain points, and forward strategies of nearly 158,000 small and midsized business clients, filtered through the trusted advisors who know their finances best.

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Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk: The Quiet Crisis in Accounting – Losing People We Need Most | Know-How Korner

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MOVE’s latest project examines why even high-performing professionals are quietly leaving—and how firms can prevent the exodus. 

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Know-How Korner
With Amy L. Welch
Center for Accounting Transformation

The accounting profession stands at a crossroads. Despite a steady influx of women into the field, their advancement into leadership continues to lag. Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, managing director of the Accounting MOVE Project, is sounding the alarm—and offering data-driven solutions. 

MORE: Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk, host of MOVE Like This

Start Your Benchmarking – Take the Survey

Now in its 15th year, the MOVE Project studies how firms support, advance, and retain women and underrepresented professionals. On a recent episode of Know-How Korner with host Amy Welch, APR, CAE, Ruszczyk describes the project’s long-standing foundation—Money, Opportunity, Vital Supports, and Entrepreneurship—and how these pillars remain critical in today’s evolving landscape. 

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Why the Accounting MOVE Project Is Evolving to Reach a Broader Audience

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Accounting MOVE Project 2025 is about understanding what truly supports sustainable success in accounting workplaces.

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By Donny C. Shimamoto
Center for Accounting Transformation

Recently, “DEI”—short for diversity, equity, and inclusion—has become a lightning rod across corporate America. For some, it signals progress. For others, it evokes skepticism or resistance. In the accounting profession, which is already navigating talent shortages, regulatory pressures, and generational turnover, these tensions can be especially pronounced.

MORE: Donny Shimamoto | Accounting MOVE Project 2025 |

That’s why this year, as a partner of the Accounting MOVE Project (“MOVE Project”), the Center for Accounting Transformation (“Center”) is taking an important step forward: We’re evolving the research language from DEI-affirming to DEI-neutral.

This is not a departure from the MOVE Project’s founding principles, which since 2010 have been focused on creating greater opportunity and equity for women in the profession. Rather, it’s an intentional evolution to ensure it reflects the full spectrum of today’s workforce. By adjusting the language used in questions and responses, enabling, for example, analysis based on sex (including men) and ethnicity (including white employees), we can fully assess how firms are supporting all employees in areas like equal pay, advancement, and career development.
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