Your Small Business Clients Are Changing: Radical Shift in Retirement Plans

Many expect to work ’til 70 and never retire, others hope to sell.

The nation’s small business owners’ views regarding retirement are radically shifting, with many seeing themselves working 20 years or longer – or never formally retiring at all.

As a result of longer life expectancies and the impact of the recession, the majority of small business owners can no longer embrace a traditional view of retirement, in which individuals stop working in their mid-60s for a life of leisure – something fewer than 10 percent foresee themselves doing, according to a new study by The Guardian Life Small Business Research Institute.

READ MORE →

We’re All Small Firms Now

How big is a small firm? AICPA says $25 million.

Source: AICPA, 2009 data

New market intelligence has surfaced as the result of a small row between the AICPA and the U.S. Small Business Administration, suggesting the idea of a mid-sized firm may be a wishful notion. According to AICPA calculations, Big Four firms control about half the revenue and half the jobs, and most of the rest of the industry should be classified as small business.

READ MORE →

Smallest of Small Biz Hurting the Most

Small business optimism slumps in March, according to SurePayroll.

The index fell two percentage points from February to 69 percent in March, with hiring is down 2.2% year-to-date. “While large businesses, medium-sized businesses and even larger small businesses may be seeing improvements in hiring, the smallest of businesses aren’t,” the company said.
READ MORE →

Small Biz Turns to Web for New Growth

“Online presence” tops business strategies for this year. Interestingly, a list of CPA firms’ plans wouldn’t look much different. See Accounting Firms Dive into Digital Marketing.