staffing

Why “Busy” Is the Wrong Metric in Audit

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And the Planning Assumptions Firms Get Wrong.

By William Englehaupt

Walk through almost any accounting firm during busy season, and the signals are familiar: calendars packed wall-to-wall, inboxes filling faster than they can be cleared, and professionals praised for constantly stepping up to meet demands. In many firms, this visible intensity is taken as proof of productivity. If people are busy, the thinking goes, work must be getting done.

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But “busy” is not a productivity metric. It is a symptom. And when firms mistake it for performance, they quietly undermine quality, predictability, and morale.

Accounting is not alone in this trap, but the profession is especially vulnerable to it. Long hours and constant responsiveness feel reassuring in high-risk environments. They create the appearance of control. What they rarely produce is a reliable flow.

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Use Tech to Make Employees Happier

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Stop scouring for talent that doesn’t exist. 

By Jody Padar
The Radical CPA

If you’ve posted a job for an accountant in the past few years, you know people are hard to come by. The number of responses you received was likely down if you were lucky enough to find any at all.

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According to a recent AICPA Trends Report, the number of people graduating with a bachelor’s degree in accounting is down, and we’ve seen a steady decline since 2015. All this while half of U.S. CPA firms have increased the number of new graduates they want to hire. A lot of us are looking for staff that simply does not exist.

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The IRS in 2026: Quiet Backlogs, Harder Fixes, and Late Guidance

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Less capacity, more obligation.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Identity theft is becoming one of the biggest time drains for tax professionals this filing season, and the IRS may be less equipped than ever to handle it.

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According to the IRS Advisory Council—the body representing tax professionals—identity-theft refund cases now take nearly two years to resolve, as staffing cuts and system limits slow IRS response.

But identity theft is only one of a long list of problems that can only get worse this year. Tax professionals are bracing for prolonged client disputes and frustrating follow-ups with an understaffed, ill-equipped IRS.

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Profit Squeeze: Billing Rates Rebound, but Staff Costs Are Rising Faster

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Accountants show renewed pricing power as rates gain 5.7%.

Mind the gap: CPA firms are raising billing rates at about a 6% rate, not quite enough to match the rising costs of staff.

By CPA Trendlines

CPA firms are raising prices again as they enter 2026, even as hiring remains weak and wage pressures show little sign of easing. The combination is tightening margins across the profession.

MORE Outlook 2026, Pay, Hiring, Pricing

A CPA Trendlines analysis of new pricing data shows that billing rates for core CPA firm services are rebounding sharply, reversing an earlier soft patch and vaulting fees to near record highs. At the same time, employment growth across accounting firms has stalled, while wage growth remains elevated, underscoring the growing imbalance between pricing power and labor costs.

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Outlook 2026: Can Tax & Accounting Payrolls Keep Surging to New Highs?

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Record High: Tax and accounting industry hits 1,163,600 jobs, an annualized growth rate of 2%, and a new all-time high.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The full tax and accounting industry—which includes accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services—has hit a new record high with 1,163,600 jobs, representing an annualized growth rate of 2%, which is measurably stronger than the year-over-year 1.23% gain, according to new data examined by CPA Trendlines. But a choppy economy and political volatility have accountants and observers alike wondering if the trends can continue in 2026

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CPA offices managed to add 1,700 jobs over the past year, keeping the segment on a slow but positive trajectory. Employment at offices of certified public accountants is holding steady at 544,300 positions, matching the month-before figure. The revision from the previous estimate of 544,600 marks a modest 0.06% downgrade. The year-over-year trend improved slightly to 0.3%, up from 0.2% in the prior report. READ MORE →