Tackling the Top Issues: Growth Returns to Forefront as Firms Try Different Strategies to Handle Concerns
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY * Growth-related concerns are top of mind for accounting firms surveyed in the 9013 Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) CPA Firm Top Issues survey. Adding new clients was the only issue listed among the top five for each of the five size categories. * Firms have turned their attention back to attracting and retaining qualified staff. This indicates that the competition for talent is heating up. * Succession planning ranked among the top issues for all but the smallest firms. Firms recognize the need to prepare for the future. * Other top concerns include partner accountability, the complexity of tax laws, and the compression of workload during tax season. * Marketing personnel and niche services play key roles in firms' business development efforts. * Firms seeking partner accountability have found success with compensation committees, shared goal setting between managers and partners, and regular meetings to gauge progress. * Extensive training on processes and technology can help improve efficiency and ease the workload burden during busy season. ********** [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED] For many, if not most, accounting firms, the quest to survive the Great Recession and its aftermath has ended. The focus now is on growth. That's one of the overarching themes derived from the 2013 Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) CPA Firm Top Issues survey, which found that accounting firms of all sizes are strongly pursuing new clients while also turning their attention back to finding and retaining qualified staff. From 1997 through 2007, staff recruitment and retention topped the list of issues for almost all firm sizes tracked by the biennial PCPS Top Issues survey. That changed with the 2009 poll, which found firms focused on trying to retain clients amid the Great Recession. The scene shifted a bit with the 2011 survey, when the search for new clients emerged as a major priority along with client retention. This year, however, client retention ranked among the top five issues in only two of the five size categories. "When the economy was in free fall, firm leaders largely focused on stabilizing their client base," said Mark Koziel, CPA, CGMA, the AICPA's vice president-Firm Services & Global Alliances. "Now we're seeing firms being able to catch their breath and engage in more planning for future growth." Bringing in new clients was the only issue to rank among the top five in all five size categories. Finding qualified staff and succession planning ranked among the top five in four of the five categories. The increased emphasis on attracting and keeping quality staff indicates that accounting firms are growing and that competition for talent is heating up. A surge in the number of accounting graduates should help in this area (see "Supply and Demand for Accounting Talent at Record levels," page 30), as could increased emphasis on promoting women CPAs (see "Women's Initiatives: A Strategic Advantage," page 34). The growing focus on succession planning, which appeared among the top five issues in only the two largest size categories in 2011, indicates that more firms realize that the inevitable transfer of ownership from Baby Boomer partners will become a reality (see "How to Select a Successor," page 40). The list of top five issues for each firm-size category can be found in Exhibit 1. TOP ISSUES: SUCCESS STRATEGIES How are CPAs and their firms dealing with the top issues? What strategies and initiatives have proved successful? Following is a look at how some firms are handling three of the top issues identified by the PCPS survey: client acquisition, partner accountability, and workload compression. ~, Bringing in New Clients Green Hasson Janks is a 12-partner, 100-employee firm based in Los Angeles. HBE Becker Meyer Love is a six-partner, 40-employee firm in Lincoln, Neb. …