Firms Battle Disruptions in Communications and Workflows

Next up? Scheduling and PAPER.

The Accounting Firm Operations and Technology Survey

COVID-19 and its variants forced a number of challenges upon the accounting profession. Accountants are telling us that tops on that list were communication and workflow, at 49.4 and 49.1 percent respectively. Even solos felt the burn, at 40.6%, so it wasn’t all internal communication to blame, although large firms of 51-100 felt it most sharply, at 60%.

Survey Results

Top Corona Problems: Communication, workflow, and digitizing paper top the list.

MORE: Pandemic Changed Work for 64% | Pandemic? What Pandemic? | M&A Looms Large for 30% of Firms | Today’s Top 3 Tech Problems: Security, Client Onboarding and Workflow | Today’s Top 3 Problems: Staffing, Workflow and Tech
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Some responses that didn’t hit the top six still were notable. Postal mail was called out by 21.9 percent, including 40 percent of solos and 33.3 percent of large firms. Solos also reported phone calls and lost income at 24.6 percent. Despite most groups saying lost income was a challenge, relatively few put that figure anywhere near the one for paying bills, except extra-large firms noting 11.8 percent difficulty with lost income and 5.9 percent with paying bills.

Details by Firm Size READ MORE →

Pandemic Changed Work for 64%

Extra-large firms had the easiest going.

The Accounting Firm Operations and Technology Survey

COVID-19 threw some in accounting – 3 percent – into turmoil, while 61.4 percent reported that some change was in order.

 

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MORE: Pandemic? What Pandemic? | M&A Looms Large for 30% of Firms | Today’s Top 3 Tech Problems: Security, Client Onboarding and Workflow | Today’s Top 3 Problems: Staffing, Workflow and Tech
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Pandemic? What Pandemic?

How some firms are flourishing in the new normal.

The Accounting Firm Operations and Technology Survey

One of the benefits of an annual report such as the Accounting Firm Operations and Technology Survey is the opportunity to see not only the current sentiments but those from years before. Sometimes, though, new issues arise and are momentous to warrant inclusion via a new question … as when COVID-19 crashed onto the scene.

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MORE: M&A Looms Large for 30% of Firms | Today’s Top 3 Tech Problems: Security, Client Onboarding and Workflow | Today’s Top 3 Management Problems: Staffing, Workflow and Tech
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Of those working at home for the first time, by far the largest group fell into large firms of 51 to 100 employees, where 93.3 percent were new to remote work. Medium and extra-large flanked them in those results, at 51.9 percent and 47.1 percent respectively. See table: READ MORE →

Is Remote the New Normal?

Young woman eating an apple and working on a laptop at homeWhat clients want may differ from your employees’ wishes.

By CPA Trendlines Research

No doubt about it: the accounting business was quick to shift to remote work when COVID-19 hit.

Now the question is: will accounting offices remain remote and will more go remote?

MORE SURVEYS & RESEARCH: Accounting Pros Face Challenges in Turbulent Times  |  Accountants Find New Worlds of Opportunity |  Trend? Or Just Hype? Accountants Weigh In |  Six Quick Solutions for IRS Backlogs |  The Big Battles Ahead for Corporate Finance  |  What Gig Workers Want  |  Accountants Agree: The Top Five Ways to Fix the IRS  |  Survey: Big Worries for U.S. and Small Business  |  The Big Issues in Audit: Frustration, Inconsistency, and Technology

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According to the CPA Trendlines Business Barometer, accountants are getting used to working out of their spare bedrooms and living room nooks, and managers are getting used to managing from afar.
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Four Ways to Reboot for the New Realities

Dollar being built of blocksWhen things aren’t turning out the way you dreamed, it’s time to think about an overhaul. Here’s how to start

By Sandi Leyva
The Complete Guide to Marketing for Tax & Accounting Firms

How does your current business look compared to the one you dreamed about before you started your entrepreneurial journey?

MORE: Boost Your Cross-Selling in Two Easy Steps | Why Your Social Media Is a Flop | The Biggest SEO Secret of All: Google Business Listings | Beyond Bookkeeping: Five Value-Add Service Areas
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Do you now have clients you love, a dream team, the financial rewards you are comfortable with, and plenty of free time?

If not, don’t give up. You can still get there, and a little business clarity may help you get there even faster.

Here are four steps:

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Fear and Loathing for Tax Season ’22

Most tax and accounting practitioners see a bleak outlook ahead.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Tax and accounting professionals are launching into Busy Season 2022 with widespread fears of crisis and chaos, facing a third year of pandemic conditions, the staffing shortage, a sputtering IRS, and political and economic uncertainties.

The Outlook for Busy Season 2022?
Join the survey. Get the results.

Full results available for participants and PRO Members

A majority of accountants are telling the CPA Trendlines Busy Season Barometer that they are expecting an even worse year than last year, with 40 percent bracing for “somewhat” worse and 11 percent girding for “much “worse.

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COVID Chokes an Already Crippled IRS

Can busy season get any worse? We’re about to find out.

IRS Workloads Up, Budgets Down
IRS Workloads Up, Budgets Down

By CPA Trendlines

The year 2021 gave tax preparers and taxpayers one big mutual hope — the hope that such a year never happens again.

MORE for TAX SEASON 2022: Eight Ways to Charm a Client | Prepping for Tax Season: Plug Small Leaks Before They Become Big Floods | Four Issues with ‘Quick’ Tax Questions | UPDATED: Accountants Critical of Competitor Price-Cutting | When to Pick Up the Phone This Tax SeasonGet Your Team Ready for Tax Season | Automate Busy Season with Apps You Already Use | These Five Procedures Will Simplify Your Tax Season | 11 Steps to Better Client Tax Instructions | 12 Ways to Squeeze Fun into Tax Season | Six Ways to Get Paid Faster | SURVEY: Worries for Small Business Clients | Busy Season Forecast: More Chaos |

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And just in case Congress didn’t get the message, National Tax Advocate Erin M. Collins submitted to that august body an annual report that pulled no punches and spared no explication. The new filing season starting Jan. 24 could bring hitherto unbelievable problems.

The situation, she said, was dire. READ MORE →

Boom! COVID Drives Startups

Small-business start-up rate running 50% higher than pre-pandemic. (via Zapier)

71% plan to continue with their new ventures.

By CPA Trendlines

As the world bemoaned the cruelty and inconvenience of the COVID-19 pandemic, a lot of entrepreneurs were making the best of times in the worst of times.

The result: a lot of new small businesses. And each one is an opportunity for an accountant.

MORE OUTLOOK & ANALYSIS: Accountants Critical of Competitor Price-Cutting | Are You Under-Pricing Your Client Accounting Services?  | Stop Complaining and Start Innovating | Five Tough-Love Strategies for 2022 | SURVEY: Tech Is the Path to a Better Tax Season | Private Equity at the Gates | Top 20 Trends for the Year Ahead | Sales & Use Tax Costs Are Higher than Anyone Thought |

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The pandemic years have seen a huge spike in not just COVID-19 cases but new business creation, a breathtaking increase of 50 percent, according to a survey from Zapier, the software automation company. It started just as existing businesses went into lockdown, and the trend isn’t stopping any more than the virus is.
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