STAFFING CONCERNS SURGE A FOREGROUND FOR CPA FIRMS

Top Concern faced by CPA Firms

To find a qualified staff ranks the no. 1 issue for the US CPA firms, and those firms have an expectation of good talent and technology to make an impact on their practices over the next few years. With the fast-changing scenario in the accounting industry, firms now encounter issues every single day. In 2017 a PCPS survey conducted by AICPA over CPAs and Accounting firms, indicated that staffing is a major challenge; so much so that the issues arising out staffing is a speedbreaker to every other progress coming your way. 

As per the new research by AICPA shows, staff recruitment issue remains at the top for most CPA firms, while growing tax complexity and risk management regarding privacy and data security are the rising provocations. Talent acquisition and retention are becoming the single biggest challenge to many accounting firms. Unfortunately, accounting firms find it hard to find the right staff who is qualified as well as experienced. Most of the leaders are approaching retirement and the need for new talent is in high demand. Growing hiring costs, salaries, compliances and benefits like insurance, payroll tax, professional training, etc. only make things more difficult. Solution to get rid of this headache - Remote Staffing is the best solution. In Remote Staff, hiring process remains exactly the same as Hiring In-Office Staff. When you hire a remote staff, you don’t need to pay any employment benefits, insurance policy, pay for a bigger office space, tax and more.

Issues of changes in Tax Laws

One issue that's turning into further pressing for CPA firms is keeping pace with tax law changes and quality, partially a mirrored image of the recent impact of the federal Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. And concern over cyber security and information breaches for every CPA’s and their clients vaulted “managing privacy/security risks” into the top 5 rankings for all firm size segments. The Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) accounting firm prime issues survey is conducted every 2 years and results are segmented by firm size, since the perspective of a small firm CPA is typically different than those of a practitioner employed by a top 100 firm. Sole practitioners stratified keeping abreast of tax law changes as the issue that impacted them the most, while firms employing 2 to 20 professionals stratified it as their second-greatest concern after hiring qualified staff.

“One factor in the increased focus on privacy and security is better overall awareness of risk in this area, both for CPA firms and business in general,” said Carl Peterson, the AICPA’s vice president of small firms. “At the AICPA, for example, we’ve created a cyber-security toolkit for firms, put together an online resource center and taken other steps to keep these topics front and center.”

The staffing problems echo the considerations of accounting firms before the last recession hit in 2008. From the beginning of the PCPS prime problems survey in 1997 through 2007, staff achievement and retention ranked as the most pressing priorities for accounting firms with over one professional. Client retention surged to the forefront within the 2009 survey as firms struggled to survive the recession. By 2011, firms were centered foremost on signing new clients. Succession coming up with emerged as a wide-ranging concern within the 2013 survey as firms turned a lot of attention to semi-permanent growth methods. 
 
                                                   

Survey Methodology
The PCPS CPA Firm Top Issues Survey was conducted online from April 25 to May 20, 2019. The 1,203 respondents represent a mix of practice types and firm sizes, from sole practitioners to large firms with 21 or more professionals.

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