The Future

Source: Inside Public Accounting

The following is from the 17th annual Management Summit Predictions and Projections panel, consultants on which included Sam Allred, CPA, Upstream Academy; Steve Erickson, CPA, national consultant to CPA firms; Robert Gallagher, R.J. Gallagher & Associates; Jeffrey Pawlow, The Growth Partnership, Inc.; and James Metzler, CPA, AICPA.

Management Trends

• CPA firms will no longer tolerate poor leadership.
• Associations of CPA firms will validate themselves through administrative backing for their members.
• Retirement age will be extended to 68. Succession planning will become more vital.
• Professional managers will replace many CPAs in senior management positions in firms.
• More compliance work will be outsourced.

Staffing Trends

• Firms will increasingly recognize disparities among performers and reward accordingly.
• Part-time partnerships will increase. Two partners devoting half their time will exceed the value of one full-time partner.
• Firms will give more feedback and guidance to staff, letting them know how to advance their careers.
• Better matching of skills with jobs will be critical.
• Medium-size firms will recruit accountants from other countries.
• Employees will become more independent providers of skill sets to firms that best meet their overall needs.
• Transfer of knowledge to successors will become critical.

Professional Issues

• There will be more tax shelter and SEC-related lawsuits this year.
• Separate financial reporting standards for private companies will gain traction.
• IFAC exposure drafts requiring partner rotation would preclude smaller firms from performing audits.
• Integrity will replace independence as the profession’s underpinning.
• XBRL will become the standard for formatting financial information.

From Inside Public Accounting, February 2007, p. 4. The Platt Consulting Group (www.plattgroupllc.com). Subscription $369 per year; back issues—nonsubscribers $40. 317-733-1920.