Workload Compression Study Yields Data, Insights

Source: Public Practice, February 2018, published by The Texas Society of CPAs

Although workload compression is a top concern of CPA firms, it’s a problem that is expected to only get worse over the next three years. 

This is one of the primary conclusions from the Private Companies Practice Session (PCPS) and Succession Institute (SI) 2016 Succession Planning Survey. Detailed findings and data points from Part 7 of the extensive survey are presented in this article, as well as insights about how firms might turn the tide in this area.

The survey — conducted for the fourth time since 2004 — evaluated numerous measures of CPA firm operations, such as workloads and staffing patterns, current revenue, projected growth rates, hiring plans, retention rates, and average revenue per FTE (full-time equivalent employee) to draw conclusions about workload compression trends. 

Based on their findings, the survey authors advance the viewpoint that the CPA profession doesn’t have a workload compression problem as much as it has a management problem. “Our profession has been creating a staffing shortfall and ever-growing competency gaps for decades caused by years of hiring at less than adequate levels,” noted the study authors. 

They argue that CPA firms must get serious about creating adequate capacity if they’re to become better, faster, more sustainable businesses. Adequate capacity is necessary to position firms to reap benefits such as greater organic growth, more customer loyalty, less price sensitivity, faster people development, and reduced workload compression.

The authors caution that the longer firms stay in an under-capacity mode, the more dysfunctional they’re likely to become over time, as staffing pressures grow and employee retention rates increase, with top performers often leaving at higher rates. 

For the complete article, read “PCPS Succession Institute 2016 Succession Survey Results Part 7 – Multi-Owner Firms.”