Perspectives of Challenges & Opportunities for CPA Firms

CPAs have a servants’ heart. CPAs genuinely want to help others succeed which is why they enjoy serving clients and assisting them in growing businesses and net worth. In daily practice CPAs strive to add value by listening to client opportunities and challenges and learning the ins and outs of their business to apply financial technical expertise and experience.

The last few years have provided a challenging world for CPA firms. There are constant technical updates to absorb, understand, and apply. Keeping up with changing tax laws makes it difficult to stay current and obtain the necessary expertise to serve clients. When I first started practicing, it was acceptable to be a generalist. You could serve clients well by using a broad knowledge base. Today’s business and economic climate requires CPAs to narrow their focus and build niche expertise to be competitive.

The industry is dealing with another significant challenge of managing people. The number of accounting graduates is on the decline. Firms are struggling to find and retain talent. Managing top talent that fit a firm’s culture, want to learn, and is looking to build a career within the CPA industry is challenging. Add the recruiting complexity of competing with private companies, full-time remote work flexibility, and “people” is a daily chore for all firms.

Facing these challenges, firms who are looking to grow and prosper are focusing on building a foundation comprised of internal expertise and complementary strategic partnerships. Strategic partners who can fill gaps of expertise that exist within the CPA firm are rising to the top as clients expect more. Partners who provide services that allow a firm to deploy internal talent to serve their clients in the standard areas of audit, accounting, and tax are becoming more valuable. However, procuring trusted partners is challenging as it takes time and experience to build relationships and trust the process. The right partner for firms must certainly have deep technical expertise to help CPAs serve their clients and they must understand their role within the CPA/client relationship.

In the fall of 2020, I left a top 60 CPA firm and joined the shareholder team at McGuire Sponsel. McGuire Sponsel was and continues to be the right fit for me because of the team’s expertise, culture, and commitment to the CPA Industry. Above all, my main reason for choosing the firm was that I could seamlessly serve CPAs and their clients with my 35 years of experience backed by the robust technical expertise and trusted partnership mentality of McGuire Sponsel.

We are fortunate to partner with more than 400 CPA firms across the United States. As a firm, McGuire Sponsel works with you and alongside your team to not only deliver specialty tax services but to help explain each opportunity and why it is necessary for your clients. Our team of CPAs, engineers, and consultants have diverse backgrounds all focused on complementing any gap of expertise in your firm.  We respect the relationship you have with your clients and integrate with your firm in a way that is seamless to your client and not disjointed or rooted in a sales-driven approach. McGuire Sponsel’s distinct business model is built to serve CPA firms and our team is proud to be the industry’s preferred specialty tax partner, whether we are on the other side of town or just a short flight away.

CPAs often tell us how they appreciate our team’s ability to tailor a solution and meet their needs. For example, we understand the value in bringing a custom approach to complement what your firm has in-house and what you may need on a short- or long-term basis. These gaps are not the same for every firm and we do not provide all services to each of our alliance firms. Our mission is to complement, not compete with our alliance partners. As we near the end of the year, my colleagues and I would enjoy the opportunity to have a conversation with you and your practice leaders to discuss how we can work together. Partner with a firm who is built for the industry, has a deep bench of technical experts, and who has the utmost respect for your relationship with your clients – McGuire Sponsel.

Please see a link to our 2022 Tax Planning Guide that highlights our approach, an overview and key considerations across services, important resources to learn more about each practice area, and a sampling of targeting industries.