staffing shortage

Tax Practitioners Say Happy Days Are Here … Again

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Seventy percent report as good or better year than last year.

 

For most, anyway.

By CPA Trendlines Research

The first results of the 2024 Busy Season Barometer: Emerging Issues, Opportunities, and Trends are in, and so far, halfway into the tax season, accountants and tax practitioners are reporting another pretty good year.

That’s two in a row!

MORE: The IRS Is Coming! Get Your Clients into Compliance | End Tax Season Meetings with Clients … Seriously | Brandon Hall: Firms Try to Make Too Much on Tax Prep | Eight Steps to Getting Started with AI: A Guide for Tax Professionals | The Nightmare of Non-credentialed Tax Preparers | Tax Pros Are Expanding and Earning More
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Last year, 58 percent of survey respondents said their year was much better or somewhat better than 2022, which, as you may recall, had been a rather rotten year.

So when only 32 percent of this year’s contributors say this season is better than 2023, it doesn’t mean fewer are having a good year. It means almost a third are reporting a year better than a good year.
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10 Tips to the IRS for Beefing Up Staff

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Two businesswomen meeting in an office

Guess who has the federal government’s worst retention rate for employees under 40?

By CPA Trendlines Research

If you think it’s hard staffing a CPA firm, imagine the challenges at the Internal Revenue Service where

  • the pay’s not so good
  • laws limit bonuses
  • it takes three months to hire an applicant
  • federal bureaucracy gums up the process
  • the hiring process uses antiquated technology
  • only a remote office can authorize many hires

MORE: Eight Ways the IRS Can Speed Up Processing Tax Returns | IRS Plays Whac-A-Mole with the Phones | VCs Plunk $60 Million into AI-Powered ‘Autonomous’ Tax Prep | How Tax Practitioners Became Cybersecurity Risks
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  • the recruitment and retention budgets are austere
  • training programs, spaces and equipment are inadequate
  • more than 100 full-time positions need to be filled every day
  • over half of employees will be eligible to retire within five years

The Taxpayer Advocacy Service says the IRS needs to deal with these problems, and it’s going to take money, effort, technology and legislation to get it done.
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2024 OUTLOOK: ‘Specialization Is the Future’

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man holding pen touching the word "specialization" floating in air with symbols

Audit troubles meet staffing shortages; uh-oh.

By Carrie Steffen
The Rosenberg MAP Survey

EDITOR’S NOTE: Every year, the Rosenberg MAP Survey asks the industry’s top consultants to share their observations from CPA firms across the country. How do you think the next 12 months will unfold? Also, how would you assess the last 12 months?

There are a couple of interesting stories on the horizon. First is the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board’s crackdown on audit deficiencies and how that will play out vs. a push to ease some of the requirements to become a CPA.

MORE: Remote Work Will See Cuts; PE Will Trickle Down | Three Ways Firms Can Succeed in 2024 | New Energy Comes from New Ways of Doing Business | AI for Accounting Automation Will Be Significant | A 40-Hour Workweek Is Feasible | It’s Time for a New Business Model
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With a perception of the quality of audits declining and the number of CPA candidates dropping, how will the profession reconcile the pressure to improve quality with fewer people to do the work and the proposed solution of lowering the threshold to become a CPA?
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Accountants Torn Over 2024 Economy, Offer Advice

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They’re of two contradictory minds. Hmm…

By CPA Trendlines Research

America’s CPAs are perceiving a paradox for next year’s economy.

They think their firms will do well.

MORE: Accountants Bullish on Income | CPAs Culling Clients for Better Work-Life Balance | Are You Offering the Right Services? | Which Niche’s the Best Niche? | Women-Owned Businesses Upbeat but Need Help | 42% of Accountants Turn Away Work Over Staff Shortages | Ethics on Sustainability Puzzle Some Accountants | Accountants to the Rescue as Startups Struggle
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They think their clients might be OK.

But the rest of the country? Not OK.
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Accountants Bullish on Income

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… but salary costs will outweigh some of it.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Early results from the CPA Trendlines Outlook 2024: Emerging Issues, Opportunities and Trends survey show CPAs generally optimistic about their upcoming year.

MORE: CPAs Culling Clients for Better Work-Life Balance | Are You Offering the Right Services? | Which Niche’s the Best Niche? | Women-Owned Businesses Upbeat but Need Help | 42% of Accountants Turn Away Work Over Staff Shortages | Ethics on Sustainability Puzzle Some Accountants | Accountants to the Rescue as Startups Struggle | Talent Gap Widening: Be Very Scared
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But there will be challenges, among them the ability of small businesses to pay for the predicted success.
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