72 percent of PCPS member firms plan to offer new services

2000 survey finds staffing and meeting client demand are critical concerns

Where will growth come from for local and regional CPA firms? According to the PCPS 2000 Member Survey, 72 percent of these firms plan to grow by offering new services. The most popular potential offerings are elder care, business performance valuation and information technology planning.

The PCPS, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' (AICPA) Alliance for CPA Firms, recently released the finding from its 2000 Member Survey, the data for which was gathered in the fourth quarter 2000. Conducted about every three years, the survey polls the PCPS membership to glean information on issues of concern to member firms and the profession. The survey was distributed to managing partners of all PCPS member firms -- about 6,500 firms across the country, ranging in size from sole practitioner to more than 1,000 employees. More than 1,400 firms responded, representing about 22 percent of the membership.

"As the largest association of local and regional firms in the country, the voice of PCPS is the best proxy for the concerns of all non-national CPA practitioners," said William Balhoff, chair of the PCPS Executive Committee and Partner at Postlethwaite & Netterville A.P.A.C. in Baton Rouge, La.

Other important findings of the survey include:

Critical concerns: The two most pressing concerns facing CPA managing partners in 2000 are staffing and meeting client demand. In the last member survey, reported in 1996, the top two concerns were keeping up with technology and standards overload.
High-tech: Ninety-six percent of member firms reporting having Internet access in their offices, with search engines, online news services and financial sites ranking as the most-often visited URLs.
Service offerings: Most firms surveyed report offering compliance services, including tax compliance (97 percent), tax planning (97 percent), audit review (78 percent), financial services (50 percent) and assurance services (48 percent). Many firms also offer other services, including litigation support (60 percent), M&A valuation (48 percent), business performance valuation (43 percent), strategic planning (38 percent) and compensation/employee benefits services (38 percent).
International: A small number (20 percent) of member firms report international (formal or informal) alliances. Seventy-six percent report having no such alliances.

Most respondent firms report their firms have not participated in any M&A activity. Thirty-four percent said they had no interest in this type of transaction; 27 percent had not been approached; 6 percent had been approached with a deal, but did not sell. Of the 14 percent of firms that had acquired or merged with another firm within the last three years, 49 percent report the primary reason was to offer more/new services.