Top Growth Areas & Opportunities for CPA Firms Post-Pandemic

The pandemic has thrown off all notions of business as usual causing CPA firm leaders to look out through the fog of uncertainty to glean insights that may guide them past the pandemic which we all hope is ending soon. This led me to try something new during my presentation at AGN International this week in Miami. I setup a group brainstorm poll to tap the 'wisdom of the crowd' and identify the top growth areas and opportunities based on the latest trends and issues facing the CPA Profession. The top five issues they identified post-pandemic are:

1. Finding & Retaining Talent
2. Maintaining culture and managing a Hybrid workforce?
3. Cybersecurity
4. Wellbeing of the team
5. Need for new competencies in the team

The talent issue continues to be far and away the #1 issue facing CPA Firms in light of the 'Great Resignation' and the new found mobility talent through the pandemic. Turns out that this is both a threat and an opportunity as many firms are taking advantage of their newly discovered ability to recruit talent from anywhere.

The other insight was the need for new skills and competencies as the accelerated pace of change though the pandemic along with the exponential pace of technology calls for new skills inside CPA Firms. This is perhaps one of the biggest opportunities as most CPAs were thrust into value-added consulting as they helped clients navigate the government relief programs (PPP, EIDL, ERTC, etc.), forecast cash flow, and help the business survive the extreme conditions of the pandemic. These skills are outlined in the white paper, The Next Normal Now! Moving from Essential to Indispensable.

With the backdrop of trends and issues facing the global CPA Profession, here are the Top 10 Strategic Growth Areas for CPA Firms from the audience: CAS - Client Accounting & Outsource CFO Services, Tax, Estate, Financial Planning, SALT - State and Local Tax Consulting, Business Restructuring?Forecasting, M&A Consulting and Transaction Advisory, Specialized Industry Focus, Valuation & Forensics, Human Resource Consulting, Business Intelligence, IT Consulting.

In order to pursue these growth areas, here are the biggest opportunities for CPA Firms from their brainstorm:

1. Client culling and ranking?
2. Stop selling hours and sell value
3. No geographic boundaries to hiring talent.
4. Hiring staff in remote locations
5. Enhance coaching and retaining strong staff
6. CFO advisory services?
7. Providing more CFO for hire services?
8. Change pricing model - Value Pricing
9. CAS - Client Accounting Services
10. Use technology to be more productive & efficient?

One of my highlights came from an international participant who said this as their biggest insight, The American CPA industry is over the moon in comparison to the other world!

I see this as our defining moment as the CPA Profession, globally. It is our time to move from being essential, which we did during the pandemic to being indispensable to businesses and the communities we serve.

Let's keep the brainstorm going (put your answers in the comments).

What do you think are the greatest opportunities for your firm?

Here is a link to the full presentation and polls on pages 4-11.

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TOM HOOD, CPA, CITP, CGMA?is one of the most influential thinkers in the global CPA Profession. He was named the?Second Most Influential Person in Accounting?by Accounting Today Magazine for the past eight years and a member of the?Accounting Hall of Fame?by CPA Practice Advisor. He is also one of the?Top 100 Influencers?on?LinkedIn. Tom is also a member of?the?Forbes Finance Council.

He is the EVP, Business Engagement & Growth for the?AICPA-CIMA?and the?Business Learning Institute.