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From the desk of
Frank Tirelli
Chairman of Professional Services
Dear Reader,
As with every year, we greet the new year with the tiring rush of tax season. Once again we find ourselves consumed with compliance, not spending enough time discussing value added strategies with our existing client base, and now turning down more clients than ever before in our history. Such is the state of our profession due to the recurring curse of the talent crunch, which refuses to solve itself. The CPA profession seems to have morphed into the proverbial Sisyphus, pushing the boulder uphill year after year with no real progress in sight.
So, what may we do differently this time to find solutions for this challenge?
I have spent a significant part of my time over the past few years discussing these issues with CPA firms and professionals across the country to better understand their perspectives, find some commonality with their challenges, and brainstorm ideas to resolve them. Interestingly, most firms have focused their problems on a lack of talent and the resulting inefficiency in providing quality work, which compounds during tax season.
As shown in the adjacent graph, the talent issue is here to stay, and resolving such with traditional solutions is non-tenable. Further, one of the most frequently-voiced issues is how a majority of staff time during the tax busy season is spent on cleaning and reconciling records (client financials in effect) before any tax returns can be prepared and then filed. This burden in effect requires firms to divert valuable resources that could otherwise be allocated to fostering growth by adding new clients and providing value-added strategies to existing clients.
As it is impossible to imagine a world where clients send only clean books during tax season, many firms are becoming interested in a combined tax and accounting solution to resolve this challenge.
The more strategy sessions we have with CPA firms, the more I am convinced that the most complete and proven option is a solution that seamlessly combines accounting and tax proficiencies. The firms that have already employed this approach have enjoyed several significant benefits:
1. Cost savings
CPA firms have been able to utilize talent that, per hour, costs a third of what they can bill their clients for, without sacrificing quality or efficiency. Over the course of bookkeeping and tax filing engagements, these savings add up considerably and can be reinvested back into the firm in the form of domestic hires, employee development, and updated technology, among others.
2. Elevating the client experience
Firms supplementing their compliance talent pool have found themselves with more capacity to perform the consultatitive and analytical work that their clients value rather than only bookkeeping and reporting. Moreover, they have more touchpoints with their clients and ultimately a stronger connection. Not only does this increase client satisfaction and retention, but also creates a larger and more predictable revenue stream during the course of the year.
3. Expanding new client relationships
Consistent with 2. above, firms have also used this increased capacity to once again produce significant growth by procuring new clients. This growth would perhaps be a little more startegic than in the past. Now we see firms in the marketplace, speaking with potential new clients in industries for which their firm brings significant value, and adding such new cients to their firm.
4. Quality and efficiency
Firms spending too much of their time focused on execution of their accounting and compliance services are not focusing enough time on strategic/value added services, and the client experience suffers because of it. Nobody wants to work with a CPA who is constantly stressed and rushed. A reputable talent provider can be a game-changer in this area, ensuring that firms are focused on the big picture instead of minutae.
5. Employee satisfaction
When employees are not bogged down with repetitive tasks, they are able to flourish professionally and creatively. Employee retention is thus increased and ultimately provides for a more stable environment that benefits the firm and its clients alike. This point is critical given the talent shortage as well as younger workers’ prioritization of work-life balance and professional development, both of which suffer when employees are burned out.
The accounting profession and professional services in the US have always faced one challenge after another. After all, that is the nature of business and especially our business. Our profession has always met these challenges and often has led the economy through them. Here we are again, faced with another significant challenge in the lack of talent, which is also a challenge for the business environment as a whole.
I am equally confident we as a profession will again find solutions for this challenge. Except this time we may have to focus much more out of the box, and think and act globally. Firms may need to let go of old beliefs and solutions, and embrace a global world. It is not a matter of if but rather when.
CPA firms need to explore services that will equip them with deep insight, facilitate growth, and unlock opportunities. Among these solutions are combined tax and accounting services and tapping into remote talent. This will bring harmony to our profession, resulting in higher levels of efficiency and effectiveness throughout tax seasons. On the macro level, this way, firms may modernize their processes by optimizing technology and leveraging well-trained talent that is available to them.
At alliantTALENT, we are on a mission to help CPA firms capitalize on such opportunities and help them grow. Our team has over two decades of experience in the industry and has earned the trust of more than 4,500 CPA firms. This year, our resolution is to help CPA firms prepare for a more efficient tax season. What’s yours?
Warm regards,
Frank Tirelli
Featured Leadership
Myron Moser is Chairman Emeritus of Hartfiel Automation in Minnesota. He joined Hartfiel Automation in 1990 and quickly rose in the ranks to the executive level in 1995. Myron is recognized as one of the top executives in the U.S. automation industry. Under his leadership, Hartfiel Automation experienced incredible growth, continued to diversify its product offerings in hydraulics, aluminum extrusions, and robotics and automation solutions. For more than 60 years, his company helped strengthen the American manufacturing industry through innovative solutions. Myron leverages his decades of experience as a top executive in the world of automation for strategic benefit of alliantgroup’s clients and CPA partners.
Dhaval Jadav is Chief Executive Officer of alliantgroup, America’s leading consulting and management engineering firm, which helps American businesses overcome the challenges of today to prepare them for the world of the 22nd Century and beyond. Jadav co-founded the firm in 2002 to be unlike any other consultancy, with an emphasis on partnerships with clients to not only identify but also implement quantifiable solutions to their most critical concerns.
Since its inception, his passion to help and serve U.S. businesses (and their CPA firms) has resulted in alliantgroup investing tens of millions of dollars of the firm’s resources annually in knowledge development, learning and advocacy. To date, alliantgroup has infused 30,000+ clients with over $16 billion in cash to optimize their performance and accelerate growth of their businesses.
