the cpa profession, or just plain old accounting profession, is currently facing challenges of getting more people to become cpas or even having young people think about accounting as a career.
we hear about the slow drip of the professional pipeline; all sorts of remedies or suggestions have been offered. is it because the profession still suffers an identity crisis exacerbated by an additional (if questionable) fifth year? there are those already in the profession who are bemoaning low pay, long hours, and doubts about whether gaining a partnership is achievable (or worth it).
oh, yes, there is the extra tuition load that must be taken on. so, higher debt, stagnant pay, long hours, and increased competition (think mbas, cfas) is a perfect storm.
james graham’s firm, richtr financial studio, gave up the billable hour 10 or 15 years ago, and graham points to that choice as making the biggest difference in his firm.
he said it’s because “it really changes the nature of your relationship with the client” when the client is no longer looking at the clock with “that dollar per hour in the moment, always hanging over any interaction.” by removing the focus on time, “it allows everyone to move forward better because the focus is on running the business.”
karen reyburn wants accountants to stop thinking “about marketing as this one-off thing where you tick little boxes,” but instead about the ways you can use your marketing to connect to the human experience. her company, the profitable firm, or pf for short, has been helping accountants with their marketing since 2012.
in reyburn’s view, marketing is closely connected to the business. “if you have a marketing problem, you have a business problem. if you have a business problem, there’s often a marketing solution that can help with it.”
this book springs out of a pf coaching group called the accelerator, where participants were guided through a process of creating a structured approach to content marketing that made their marketing better. reyburn and pf take a collaborative approach to marketing. “we don’t do marketing for people,” she explained. “we do marketing with them.”
new zealand doesn’t have a tax season. this is largely because all tax returns are due one year after the standard march 31 year-end for businesses and individuals. but also: fewer than 20% of individuals actually need to file a return.
“the returns that accounting firms are filing are for business owners and people with more complex investment structures,” says giles pearson, ceo and co-founder of accountests, an online knowledge-testing company that focuses on recruitment, selection and development assessments for chartered accountants, accounting graduates and candidates.
pearson adds that while a few do wait until the last minute, “the reality is for a lot of smaller firms here, by january, they’re literally twiddling their thumbs.”
this is something that pearson suggests the aicpa and the profession could be lobbying congress to adopt in america. alas, the profession has been trying for years, to no avail.
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