surveys & research

tax and accounting priorities shifting in turbulent times

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bar chart

three actions that firms can take.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

a multinational thomson reuters survey of tax professionals has found accounting firms shifting their priorities after a year of unexpected developments and before a year of unexpected developments.

that’s a lot of unexpected developments.

more: report: efficiency still the top priority for accounting firms | is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries? | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | why the dry pipeline? it’s about time | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | seven enticements to keep talent on board | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | seven steps to a stronger future
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in 2023, the annual survey saw firms and their clients hunkering down for a year of post-covid-19 unknowns, a recession that never came, inflation that wouldn’t quit and interest rates that persisted at uncomfortable heights.

this year, it looks like firms are reassessing where they stand and where they are going. times are turbulent – technologically, economically, politically, environmentally – so recovering from the past and preparing for the future are going to require some changes.
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imagine! the national tax advocate does

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(you may say she’s a dreamer, but she’s not the only one.)

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

one word keeps popping up in national tax advocate erin m. collins’s introduction to her annual objectives report to congress.

the word is “imagine,” and collins’s dream depicts an irs that is a only bit more feasible than john lennon’s dream of a world with no countries or religion.

more: art werner: maximizing fringe benefits | is the irs mismeasuring phone service? | irs makes big progress but … | business booming, but not as much as last year | busy season barometer offers clues for better business | tax practitioners say happy days are here … again | 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 | ftc nails turbotax for ‘free filing’ scam
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

but you can still sing along …

“imagine a taxpayer or a representative receiving a text message

… or email referring the taxpayer to their online account,
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report: efficiency still the top priority for accounting firms

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tech’s the tool, but ai? not yet.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

for the second year in a row, the thomson reuters state of tax professionals report finds that improving efficiency is the top strategy priority for accounting firms, but this year, for the first time, it ties with talent.

as the report notes, the two priorities are tightly linked in the sense that efficiency is linked to productivity. the former drives the latter.

more: is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries? | audit firms nervous about new tech | to replenish the talent pipeline, go back to the classroom | beware the work-life/workload doom spiral | why the dry pipeline? it’s about time | business model transformation: do it or die | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | global trends show many dissatisfied cpas | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

the report is based on an international survey of 500 respondents, about half in the united states, with the rest in the united kingdom, canada, australia, brazil and argentina. data comes from the first quarter of 2024.
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ai displacing more jobs in banking than other sectors

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upskilling will be key to keeping staff.

by rick richardson
technology this week

according to citigroup inc., artificial intelligence (ai) will likely replace more positions in the banking sector than in any other. technology is going to transform consumer finance and make employees more productive.

more: your brain can store 10 times more than anyone thought | how many ev charging stations will we need? | google launches new private space feature | microsoft discovers a security flaw impacting android apps | what is an ai pc, and should i get one? | fool’s gold may not be so foolish now | ai-engineered enzyme could be solution to plastic pollution | german researchers develop ev motor with no rare-earth magnets | ai named the highest-paying in-demand tech skill for 2024
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

according to citigroup’s most recent ai assessment, roughly 54 percent of banking professions might be automated. ai technology has the potential to enhance an additional 12 percent of jobs within the business.

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is the irs mismeasuring phone service?

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unhappy man waiting on phone in office

bad metrics are hiding problems.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

if there’s one nice thing about phoning the irs, it’s the opportunity to take a nap.

taxpayer naps were a little shorter this year, especially for those calling 35 of the 102 toll-free lines, known as enterprise lines, that taxpayers can call for assistance. those 35 lines are for accounts management (am) issues.

more: is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries? | audit firms nervous about new tech | what accountants can learn from t-ball | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | to replenish the talent pipeline, go back to the classroom | beware the work-life/workload doom spiral | why the dry pipeline? it’s about time | business model transformation: do it or die | misperceptions, corrections, accountancy and lemonade
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

thanks to a mandate from the secretary of the treasury, the irs hired 7,000 customer service representatives to handle the am lines.
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is tech causing both cpa shortage and low salaries?

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dot chart
the number of accounting degree completions from bachelor’s programs from 1994-2021. source: 2023 aicpa trends report

 

there’s a paradox going on.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

a working paper by three academics presents a paradoxical contradiction in the accounting industry. somehow, technology, which is starting to replace some accounting functions, is causing a shortage of accounting professionals. and despite the high demand for the few graduates who major in accounting, starting salaries are lower than in related professions.

more: audit firms nervous about new tech | what accountants can learn from t-ball | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | to replenish the talent pipeline, go back to the classroom | beware the work-life/workload doom spiral | why the dry pipeline? it’s about time | business model transformation: do it or die | misperceptions, corrections, accountancy and lemonade | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | global trends show many dissatisfied cpas | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

and in a related paradox, technology’s most powerful tools may be augmenting the accountant’s workload.

how can all this be concurrent?
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irs makes big progress but …

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four people talking on phones in call center

problems remain. (shocked, we are.)

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

national taxpayer advocate erin m. collins has plenty of good things to say about the irs in her annual objectives report to congress.

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 | ftc nails turbotax for ‘free filing’ scam | if only the irs’s tax pro were useful | can’t irs online accounts be more useful? | id theft a problem for irs even when it doesn’t exist | the nightmare of non-credentialed tax preparers | taxpayer assistance centers: a good idea that should be better | irs still falling short on service
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

“the irs largely succeeded in 2024,” collins writes regarding this year’s tax season. “after several years of abysmal taxpayer service during the covid-19 pandemic, the irs has now delivered two filing seasons that demonstrate the agency has restored service to pre-pandemic levels and has improved in most, but not all, areas of service. this is excellent news for most taxpayers.”
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use surveys to generate new revenue

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blue pencil marking survey

download the sample client satisfaction survey.

by ed mendlowitz
202 questions and answers: managing an accounting practice

question: is there any value to sending clients a survey?

more: nine reasons not to specialize | when board service gets tricky | eleven ways new staffers can help bring in business | busy season is over, so it’s time for some resolutions | want to merge? six steps to take | how to start providing family office services | every accounting firm needs quality control | no one listens to you? change how you talk | 47 types of business valuation to provide | thirteen things to consider before you sell your practice | uncooperative partner might not be the problem
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response: yes. our firm sends a survey with every deliverable to a client. we want to know what they think and how they feel about our service.
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audit firms nervous about new tech

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bar chart

a “speed revolution” is on the way. are you ready?

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

“progressive technology” is about to boom.

more: what accountants can learn from t-ball | staffing tops list of woes at cpa firms | why the dry pipeline? it’s about time | whole person retention: when it’s not just the money | seven enticements to keep talent on board | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | seven steps to a stronger future | auditing standards ‘yellow book’ updated | compensation’s up, but up enough to retain staff? | cpas needed to help small biz adopt ai | survey shows that tech remains the great divide | will unclogging the accounting pro pipeline kill mobility?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

but are audit firms on the cusp of the boom-to-be? apparently not. a thomson reuters survey of audit firms finds that there’s still a big gap between ambition and execution. only 14 percent of auditors in the u.s. can brag that a “digital transformation” is well under way at their firms, though another 35 percent say they are starting to implement progressive tech.
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your brain can store 10 times more than anyone thought

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a new method could increase our understanding of learning, aging and diseases that erode connections in the brain.

by rick richardson
technology this week

a new study confirms that the brain may be able to hold nearly 10 times more information than previously thought.

more: how many ev charging stations will we need? | google launches new private space feature | microsoft discovers a security flaw impacting android apps | what is an ai pc, and should i get one? | fool’s gold may not be so foolish now | ai-engineered enzyme could be solution to plastic pollution | german researchers develop ev motor with no rare-earth magnets
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

like computers, the brain’s memory storage is measured in “bits,” and the number of bits it can hold rests on the connections between its neurons, known as synapses. historically, scientists thought synapses came in a few sizes and strengths, limiting the brain’s storage capacity. however, this theory has been challenged, and the new study further backs the idea that the brain can hold about 10 times more than previously thought.

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the big gap separating cfos and their staff accountants

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finance staffers are essential to making progress. so why do so many companies leave them out of the loop?

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

corporate cfos are 2.2 times more likely than staff accountants to understand their companies’ plans for financial transformation, according to new research exposing a significant gap in the future of digital tools, the need for greater staff accountant education, and the lack of a unified vision within organizations.

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how many ev charging stations will we need?

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governments, automakers and policy players agree: america has a charging problem. 

by rick richardson
technology this week

buyers curious about switching to electric vehicles have made it clear in survey after survey that charging freaks them out.

more: google launches new private space feature | microsoft discovers a security flaw impacting android apps | what is an ai pc, and should i get one? | fool’s gold may not be so foolish now | ai-engineered enzyme could be solution to plastic pollution | german researchers develop ev motor with no rare-earth magnets | ai named the highest-paying in-demand tech skill for 2024
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

many drivers report that owning an electric vehicle is comparable to, if not better than, owning a gas-powered vehicle. however, filling up an electric car is different and may be inconvenient, depending on where you live. for this reason, even people interested in purchasing an electric vehicle may find it frightening.

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