New Wolters Kluwer survey of tax & accounting professionals identifies key underlying factors driving firm growth and profitability
Successful firms navigated the pandemic by accelerating digital transformation, by embracing new ways of working with clients, and by shifting away from compliance to higher-value advisory services
“Firms face many challenges, from new compliance pressures and rapid pace of legislative change to greater competition for talent,” said
Detailed findings from the 2021 BEYOND LIMITS: The People, Processes and Technologies Driving High-Growth Accounting Firms survey are available in this report. Some of the key findings fall into three main themes.
Rapid Change Has Become the Norm
The pace of legislative change has not slowed and keeping track of legislative changes posed a problem for more than
-
94% of large firms and90% of small firms are looking to technology to help achieve an improved tax season
Move Beyond Tax Compliance Requires Empowered Staff
Forward-thinking firms are working to meet the evolving needs of clients. Expanding advisory and consulting services requires firms to move beyond a compliance mindset and empower professionals to make decisions and add value for clients. Recruiting and retaining the right staff has never been more critical for firm success; it’s also never been more difficult.
-
More than
60% of large firms are reporting that technology is helping with staff engagement and morale — two factors critical to retaining staff
As firms embraced digital transformation, new demands from clients and professionals required them to rethink approaches to process optimization.
-
43% of surveyed firms indicated they are making moves to downgrade their brick-and-mortar presence and/or transition to a virtual-only presence - This year, most tax returns were prepared with no in-office contact with taxpayers. On the audit side, there was much less in-person interaction with clients, as well
About the 2021
The “2021 BEYOND LIMITS: The People, Processes and Technologies Driving High-Growth Accounting Firms” survey was conducted by Wolters Kluwer in 2021 with a total of 839 professionals from tax and accounting firms. It covered a range of topics regarding current and future trends in the tax and accounting profession as well as current and future trends in tax and accounting technology.
About Wolters Kluwer
Wolters Kluwer (WKL) is a global leader in professional information, software solutions, and services for the healthcare; tax and accounting; governance, risk and compliance; and legal and regulatory sectors. We help our customers make critical decisions every day by providing expert solutions that combine deep domain knowledge with advanced technology and services.
Wolters Kluwer reported 2020 annual revenues of
Wolters Kluwer shares are listed on Euronext Amsterdam (WKL) and are included in the AEX and Euronext 100 indices. Wolters Kluwer has a sponsored Level 1 American Depositary Receipt (ADR) program. The ADRs are traded on the over-the-counter market in the
For more information, visit www.wolterskluwer.com, follow us on Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, and YouTube.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20211122005236/en/
212-771-0853
marisa.westcott@wolterskluwer.com
Source: Wolters Kluwer Tax & Accounting US