Sound-Off: Busy Season ‘Much’ Worse than Last Year.
CPA Trendlines Research
The nation’s tax professionals are heading into the final days of the 2014 season brimming with optimism that all the hard work may be paying off. But the hard work isn’t over yet and it isn’t paying off for everyone.
Join the survey; get the results.
Today’s bonus question: Lessons learned
While payrolls lag.
The nation’s top 100 tax and accounting firms advanced total revenues by 7.8% in 2013, totaling $53.9 million, while expanding payrolls only 5.5%, according to the industry-leading Accounting Today study.
The gap between revenue growth and headcounts suggests that firms are banking profits as never before even as organic expansion lags.
In other highlights from the study: READ MORE →
Accountants scramble as competition surges for bread-and-butter tax work.
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By Rick Telberg
CPA Trendlines
Pricing and fee pressures are surging as the hot-button issues this tax season, according to the CPA Trendlines Busy Season Barometer.
To be sure, late or unprepared clients remain the single biggest issue, with 48% of more than 500 practitioners surveyed in February citing it, followed by tardy 1099s and K1s at 35%. Those metrics are little changed from last February.
But this year, 31% of practitioners are complaining about pricing and fee pressures, which is triple the year-ago 10% figure.
RELATED RESEARCH
Is the Tax Prep Business Topping Out? The number of filings by tax professionals appears to have slowed or even reversed.
Tax Season Metrics Shift for the Better: Key indicators point to a better 2014 than 2013.
Practitioners Plot Fee-Pressure Countermeasures: Competitors vie for clients on price and promises.
Survey shows new sense of confidence – and urgency.
Get more updates: Join the survey; get the results.
By Rick Telberg
CPA Trendlines
Tax and accounting professionals are hoping to make 2014 the year of working smarter, instead of harder, according to a new CPA Trendlines survey.
In general, the goals and objectives as described by more than 200 accountants suggest a new surge of confidence in their business and in their clients’ businesses, and a new sense of urgency in upgrading their practices or moving on.
The survey is part of a CPA Trendlines project, now in its eighth year, tracking the shifts in strategy and objectives in the profession. It measures sentiment on 21 or more strategies and tactics, and goals and ambitions across firms of all sizes nationwide. READ MORE →
The bigger they are, the harder they’ll fight for new business.
By Rick Telberg
CPA Trendlines
If you thought it’s been tough in 2013 to find and keep new clients, you won’t like 2014 any better. Firms of all sizes are planning to escalate their sales and marketing programs in the coming year, according to an exclusive new CPA Trendlines survey.
Join the survey; get the results.
The number of tax and accounting firms battling hard for new business will rise to about 73% in 2014, up from 65% in 2013, according to the CPA Trendlines survey of more than 670 practitioners nationwide. READ MORE →
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
By Rick Telberg
CPA Trendlines
Most tax practitioners across the nation are preparing for the 2014 busy season with the hoping it can’t possibly be as bad as last year’s “worst tax season ever,” according to exclusive CPA Trendlines polling.
About 61% of accountants today expect at least a “somewhat” or even “much” better season this year, according to the CPA Trendlines Busy Season Barometer, a tracking poll now approaching its 11th year. Some 26% expect no change from last year, and 13% are bracing for “somewhat worse” or “much worse.”
In the CPA Trendlines Special Report, responses and comments from more than 400 practitioners surveyed have been tabulated and analyzed. Key findings:
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Join the survey, get the results.
By Rick Telberg
CPA Trendlines
It’s too early to draw a final conclusion, but the early returns from the annual CPA Trendlines Marketing and Business Development Survey are startling and may represent a dramatic trend reversal.
After three years of intensifying marketing activity — with 33% of firms last year saying they were increasing their business development efforts “significantly” — today only 19% of accountants tell us they are planning to “significantly” expand their programs. READ MORE →
But CPAs lag behind non-CPAs.
Get the accountants’ business outlook: Join the survey; see the results.
By Rick Telberg
CPA Trendlines
The tax and accounting industry is extending a two-year expansion by adding 2,500 new jobs in the latest month, according to CPA Trendlines research.
In this report: