Busy Season Barometer

Is the IRS Mismeasuring Phone Service?

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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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Bissett Bullet: Complacency Breeds Failure

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Today’s Bissett Bullet: Low client attrition rates are not necessarily a barometer of great service.

By Martin Bissett

Never allow your retention rate to lull you into a false sense of security. In truth, no one changes their accountants unless they need to, and very few feel that need because they are not often educated very well by competing firms as to the compelling reasons for change.

However, your clients are perpetually at risk from the advances of your proactive competitors, so minimize the liability with exceptional service. Deliver more of whatever it is that they value the most about you rather than what you think your firm does well.

Today’s To-Do

Ask the next 3 clients you speak to what it is they value the most about the service you offer. Find out what exceptional service means to them. It may not be what you expect.

See more Bissett Bullets here

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Accountants’ Advice: Be Careful, Quick, Creative … and Lean

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Businessman giving advice to female coworker

Survey respondents look beyond tax season.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Just about every small business has an accountant, and smart business owners tap their accountant not just for tax prep but for general business advice.

And smart accountants offer smart advice. Because what’s good for the client is good for the accountant.

MORE: Seven Steps to a Stronger Future | Accountants Bullish Locally, Bearish Nationally | Firms Culling Clients as Staffing Woes Persist | Are Accountants Charging Too Little? | Revenue Growth Is Top Priority for Small Firms | Is the CPA Business Model the Clog in the Pipeline? | Accountants Cozy Up to Clients with CAS
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The CPA Trendlines 2024 Busy Season Barometer has harvested quite a bit of smart advice with an open-ended question about the best advice for small businesses.

Responses bounced all over the business ballpark, but a lot of them warned of change and economic turbulence.
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Accountants Bullish Locally, Bearish Nationally

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One-quarter of accountants see trouble ahead for the source of their bread and butter.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The Trendlines 2024 Busy Season Barometer is unearthing a perplexing paradox.

It seems that most CPAs think their firm and their clients will do better this year – or at least no worse than last year, which itself was a pretty good year.

MORE: Top Performers Lead in Leverage, Culling, Outsourcing | Auditing Standards ‘Yellow Book’ Updated | Compensation’s Up, but Up Enough to Retain Staff? | CPAs Needed to Help Small Biz Adopt AI | 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?
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At the same time, they tend to see things getting worse for the national economy and small businesses in general.

What’s going on?
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Top Performers Lead in Leverage, Culling, Outsourcing

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two hands on keyboard, two hands doing other work with calculator

The causative difference? Look at the amount of work delegated downward.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The AICPA’s 2023 National Management of an Accounting Practice (MAP) survey has detected some of what distinguishes firms that stand out as top performers.

The survey defines top performers as the top 25 percent of firms based on net remaining per partner.

MORE: Business Booming, but Not as Much as Last Year | Busy Season Barometer Offers Clues for Better Business | End Tax Season Meetings with Clients … Seriously | FTC Nails TurboTax for ‘Free Filing’ Scam | Can’t IRS Online Accounts Be More Useful? | Taxpayer Assistance Centers: A Good Idea That Should Be Better | Tax Pros Are Expanding and Earning More
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More, More, More

What makes a CPA firm a top performer? In a nutshell, more:

  • More leverage of partner expertise
  • More culling of clients
  • More CPAs in the firm

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