surveys & research

beware the work-life/workload doom spiral

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man on spiral staircase

five strategies for keeping your firm out of it.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

is your firm in a doom spiral?

more: 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 | seven enticements to keep talent on board | employee retention is easier than attraction | let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | three ways to raise the bar for your business | accountants’ advice: be careful, quick, creative … and lean
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

here’s what it looks like:

  1. a cpa quits or retires.
  2. the firm can’t attract a replacement.
  3. the firmwide workload remains constant.
  4. increased workloads get redistributed.
  5. a cpa quits because of stress.
  6. workloads increase again.
  7. someone else quits. no one gets hired.
  8. the firm turns away clients.
  9. revenue drops. salaries stagnate.
  10. uncompetitive salaries hinder hiring.
  11. a cpa quits or retires.
  12. repeat.

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why the dry pipeline? it’s about time

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serious young man studying

and it’s about time the profession took action.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

it’s been with us from the beginning. we can measure it but we can’t see it. it’s our friend and our enemy. it’s infinite, yet we never have enough of it.

and it may be the big leak in the cpa pipeline.

more: 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 | seven enticements to keep talent on board | employee retention is easier than attraction | let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | three ways to raise the bar for your business | accountants’ advice: be careful, quick, creative … and lean
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

yes, it’s time.

so concludes the illinois cpa society’s 2024 “re-decoding the decline” survey and report on why the pipeline of incoming accounting talent has been going from dribble to drip.
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fool’s gold may not be so foolish now

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extracting lithium from oil and gas activities could ease the shift from greenhouse gas-producing fossil fuels.

by rick richardson
technology this week

lithium is a component of electric automobiles, laptops, cell phones and even nuclear fusion reactors. as such, it is rapidly emerging as the most significant element of the future.

more: ai-engineered enzyme could be solution to plastic pollution | german researchers develop ev motor with no rare-earth magnets | educators can benefit from new generative ai course | ai named the highest-paying in-demand tech skill for 2024 | ai generates revolutionary new battery design | breakthrough implant uses excess blood sugar to generate electricity | nuclear battery could keep your future phone running for 50 years | mit tests new ingestible vital signs sensor | study: solar will lead global energy by 2050
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

however, there are significant financial and environmental expenses associated with lithium extraction, so it’s exciting that a recent study shows that pyrite, sometimes known as fool’s gold, may be a viable supply of the metal.

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business model transformation: do it or die

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pair of diagrams
adapted from aicpa and other sources.

 

four areas ripe for change.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

five ugly facts your firm may need to deal with:

  1. seventy percent of cpas are at or near retirement age.
  2. the numbers of accounting graduates and cpa exam candidates are both dropping.

more: global trends show many dissatisfied cpas | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | employee retention is easier than attraction | let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | accountants’ advice: be careful, quick, creative … and lean | top performers lead in leverage, culling, outsourcing | firms culling clients as staffing woes persist | compensation’s up, but up enough to retain staff? | are accountants charging too little?
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

  1. gen z (ages 20-30) is transforming the labor market with new values on workplace environment, compensation, benefits, leadership, dei policies, culture and corporate mission.
  2. the majority of current cpas have no interest in becoming partners.
  3. roughly half of current cpas might consider finding another firm, and almost 15 percent wouldn’t mind leaving the profession altogether.

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misperceptions, corrections, accountancy and lemonade

by

woman mentoring teen girl

five notions you can help correct.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

the national pipeline advisory group is worried about the pre-professional pipeline that takes in students at one end and, years later, pumps cpas to a business world that desperately needs them.

more: 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 | employee retention is easier than attraction | let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | three ways to raise the bar for your business
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

and there’s plenty of reason to worry. the number of students majoring in accountancy is in steady decline, dropping from 75,153 diplomas in 2018 to 62,318 in 2022.

the number of candidates for the cpa exam is also dropping. it dipped 6 percent in 2023 after a 7 percent dip the year before.
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service quality: the key to client retention

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smiling man talking on phone in office

bonus: a list of 10 best practices.

by august j. aquila
price it right: how to value accounting services

in an earlier post, i discussed the cost that firms incur because of poor service. you may recall that the firm in question (a $7 million firm) lost $435,000 because of its poor service quality. once it realized this, it took immediate steps to improve its service quality. here are four things that became more evident to the firm:

more: calculate the cost of losing clients | the secrets of great business developers | dodge the four curses of a production orientation | client acquisition never stops | ‘sales’ is not a four-letter word | maybe what you need is a marketing audit | three types of marketing message, and which is best | why you need progress billing | five tips for cross-selling and upselling | five keys to successful marketing
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

  1. the firm realized that when it comes to service quality, there is always room for improvement. the more you give your clients, the more they will expect . don’t get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with this; it’s just a fact of life. the firm started to benchmark the best practices in service quality. a list of the best practices they identified is included at the end of this post.

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whole person retention: when it’s not just the money

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bar chart

thirty-eight ways to retain personnel.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

a survey conducted by the pennsylvania institute of cpas has come up with some disturbing data.

the survey report almost seems to spin bad news into good. when cpas in pennsylvania who have three to 10 years of experience were asked how strong is their desire to stay in public accounting, 56.7 percent rated their desire at five (out of seven) or higher.

more: global trends show many dissatisfied cpas | more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | employee retention is easier than attraction | let interns fix the staffing shortage? | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | 3 ways to raise the bar for your business | accountants’ advice: be careful, quick, creative … and lean | seven steps to a stronger future
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

is that good news or bad? if about half of cpas are reasonably happy with their jobs … what about the other half?
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ai-engineered enzyme could be solution to plastic pollution

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when present in sufficient amounts, the enzyme can cleanse waste facilities, landfills and other locations adversely affected by plastic pollution.

by rick richardson
technology this week

the globe is grappling with a massive plastic pollution catastrophe. the university of texas at austin has discovered an enzyme that consumes plastic, which could be a crucial breakthrough in combating the issue.

according to research, the amount of plastic produced worldwide has doubled in the past 20 years. much of it is burned, dumped in landfills or released into the environment, particularly the oceans.

more: german researchers develop ev motor with no rare-earth magnets | educators can benefit from new generative ai course | ai named the highest-paying in-demand tech skill for 2024 | ai generates revolutionary new battery design | breakthrough implant uses excess blood sugar to generate electricity | nuclear battery could keep your future phone running for 50 years | mit tests new ingestible vital signs sensor | study: solar will lead global energy by 2050 | new tech could let evs go 3,000 miles on a single charge | ai + mri = diseases that doctors might miss | your boarding pass could onboard hackers | the first police officer on the scene might be a drone
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

only 9 percent of plastic is successfully recycled, while 22 percent of plastic is mishandled, according to the organization for economic co-operation and development’s (oecd) global plastics outlook report. teams of scientists and researchers are constantly dedicating time and resources to devising novel solutions to the expanding issue of plastic pollution worldwide. plastic is not naturally biodegradable.

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global trends show many dissatisfied cpas

by

unhappy man moping in front of screen

do talent stats bode well for your firm?

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

accountants are unsettled. some are even afraid. so says the report global talent trends 2024, issued by the acca (association of chartered certified accountants, a globally recognized professional accounting body), based on data from 9,889 finance professionals in 157 countries.

more: more big firms shut their doors to new college grads | seven enticements to keep talent on board | disruptors: talent crisis? what talent crisis? | seven steps to a stronger future | 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? | accountants bullish on income

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the statistics depict an industry sector on the move and ready to move. only 57 percent of respondents across the industry, which includes a broad spectrum from academia to large corporation to accounting firms large and small, are working full-time in an office. but only 8 percent are full-time remote.

and wherever they are, a lot of them aren’t very happy.
read more →

six steps to start value pricing

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change is inevitable. value pricing has reached this critical stage.

by jody padar
radical pricing – by the radical cpa

can you remember doing business before cell phones or social media? you really don’t have to be too old to remember because change happens fast. in fact, if you are over 50, you probably remember when every home had a landline, firms advertised in the yellow pages, and accountants charged hourly for mundane compliance tasks.

more: stop selling time | why pricing is so disruptive | the radical pricing model: start with $25k | three critical factors drive the value pricing trend | accounting disruptors are heading your way … with deep pockets | the convergence of trends makes pricing changes imperative | stop looking for talent that does not exist | advisory work must be priced by value, not hours
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

it really wasn’t that long ago when the internet was intriguing rather than indispensable.

at some point, change becomes inevitable, and i would argue that value pricing has reached this critical stage.

read more →