Staffing has been the dominant issue for many firms over the last decade, but for the first time in several years, staffing isn’t the number one issue in the PCPS CPA Firm Top Issues Survey. For sole practitioners, tax complexity isn’t the number one issue, as it has been in recent years. Although results varied based on firm size in the last survey, conducted in 2007, the 2009 survey now has the same top issue for all size firms – Client Retention. No doubt the economy has something to do with this result. Other common issues include technical complexity, succession planning, marketing to new clients and human capital, based on the 2009 PCPS CPA Firm Top Issues Survey.
The PCPS CPA Firm Top Issues Survey gathers information from a wide range of practitioners in firms of different sizes to get a snapshot of the most critical challenges facing PCPS members. In 2007, for the first time, PCPS did not issue one overall Top Issues list because it was determined that averaging the answers from many different types of firms does not necessarily accurately mirror the concerns of each segment. In 2009, PCPS continues to report the CPA Firm Top Issues in five separate Top Issues lists that reflect the views of CPAs who are sole practitioners and those in firms with two to five professionals, six to ten professionals, 11 to 20 professionals and more than 21 professionals.
“CPAs can use these lists to benchmark their own experiences against those of other practitioners in firms much like their own,” said Jim Metzler, AICPA Vice President, Small Firm Interests. “They can confirm that similar practices are facing the same challenges and identify trends that will affect their own firms as they grow. In addition, we at PCPS use the data to create programs and resources that meet the real needs of our members.”
Marketing/practice growth and client retention—two challenges that did not appear on the 2007 PCPS Top Issues lists—are both back on the lists, as they were in 2005. For all firms, marketing/practice growth to obtain new clients is in the top ten, and it is a top five issue for firms with 6 or more professionals.
Tax law complexity and changes continues to be an issue and in 2009 this issue was in the top five for firms with ten or fewer professionals, similar to 2007. IRC Reg. 7216 may have much to do with continuing concerns about tax complexity. New regulations and standards for small firms and keeping up with professional standards continue to be profession-wide issues, with a varying degree of importance based on firm size. Technical issues still dominate the sole practitioner list, and this concern has a presence on every other firm size list.
Succession planning is still an issue for firms with 11 or more professionals. One issue that found its way to the 2009 PCPS CPA Firm Top Issues list is Partner Accountability, which is closely related to succession planning and the challenges firms are facing with finding and retaining new leaders. Both issues are also related to the human capital issues found on the 2009 list. Retaining qualified staff is a top five issue for firms with six or more professionals. In 2007, finding qualified staff topped the lists for firms with two or more professionals. For 2009, finding qualified staff makes the top ten lists for firms between 2 and 20 professionals. This is an indication that the smaller firms are still doing fine in this economy and have found it slightly easier to find good people as the larger firms soften their recruiting push.
Click here for the 2009 PCPS CPA Firm Top Issues Survey Commentary.
Click below for the 2009 PCPS CPA Firm Top Issues lists by Firm Size:
Sole Practitioners
Firms with 2 to 5 Professionals
Firms with 6 to 10 Professionals
Firms with 11 to 20 Professionals
Firms with 21 or more Professionals
Click here to view a short video of unscripted AICPA member testimonials addressing top concerns for their firms today.