• 72% of small and mid-size businesses want a proactive approach to expense management
• Only 34% of accounting firms are offering spend management advisory services
• Firms that offer expense management services are achieving greater efficiencies and profits, and an increased ability to attract and retain clients

NEW YORK (March 15, 2023) – Rising inflation and growing economic uncertainty are driving an increasing need among small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) for a more comprehensive approach to budgeting and controlling spend, according to a new report issued today from CPA.com, the business and technology arm of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). Nearly three out of four (72%) SMBs surveyed said they’re interested in a proactive approach to expense management, including matching anticipated expenses to budgets before the money is spent. Yet only 34% of accounting firms are currently offering these services, highlighting an opportunity for firms to grow their client advisory services (CAS) practices and deepen their trusted advisor roles with clients through spend management services.

“From Expense Tracking to Spend Management: The Next Client Advisory Services (CAS) Opportunity for Accounting Firms” includes insights from a survey of more than 1,100 SMBs and accounting firms on the opportunities presented by spend management, the ability to view, control and track a company’s spend in real time to provide actionable insights to key financial decision-makers. Spend management is an emerging, but rapidly growing, component of CAS, the fastest-growing practice area for the profession. The survey explored the pain points experienced by SMBs surrounding budgeting and spend, and how firms can support them with card-based spend management, which leverages software and corporate cards to provide a more proactive approach to expense management.

According to the survey, there is strong demand for and benefits of outsourced expense management services. Almost half (41%) of SMBs report they outsource this service and have seen positive results, including: a reduction of in-house hours spent on expense management, an implementation of new controls to reduce expense abuses and fraud, and streamlined and improved expense and spend management processes. A majority (51%) of this same group also said their accountant recommended card-based spend management and that it has been a game-changer for their companies.

“We are finding that our average growth for spend management services is at least double, if not triple, the median on all of our client advisory services,” commented Megan Bronson, advisory partner for Squire & Company. “Spend management is what our clients need the most.”

According to the research, 58% of firms currently offer or are interested in offering this service, underscoring the growing demand and strategic nature of this service. Firms who are packaging expense management as part of their advisory service are realizing significant benefits, including greater efficiencies and profits (63%) and an increased ability to attract and retain clients (74%).

“The most successful client advisory services practices are very intentional about how they build and scale their practices,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO, CPA.com. “Spend management is strategic and a natural extension of CAS – adding it allows firms to deepen their relationships and deliver the real-time insights and proactive guidance that their small and mid-size business clients value.”

For firms interested in offering spend management advisory

CPA.com, a recognized leader in CAS, has breadth of education and resources to support firms looking to get started with spend management services, including:

• Free CPE live webinar March 29 at 2 p.m. ET with technology and profession leaders focused on key SMB expense management pain points and steps firms can take to get started with spend management advisory.
• On-demand webinars with practitioner insights on how firms can start, package, price and productize spend management, staff an advisory practice, identify clients for spend management, and more.
• Divvy Accountant Advisor Program, offered in partnership between CPA.com and Divvy, a BILL company, that provides firms with the dedicated support, training and technology to effectively deliver spend management services. Divvy is a free all-in-one spend and expense management solution that pairs with corporate cards to budget, track and manage expenses in one place. This enables accounting firms and their clients to have greater visibility into cash flow and save time on closing books, while eliminating tedious expense reports.

To learn more about spend management advisory or the Divvy Accountant Advisor Program, visit cpa.com/Divvy.

Survey Methodology

The survey was conducted from September to November 2022 and included responses from 368 accounting firm participants and 763 SMB participants, for a total sample size of 1,131. The survey was administered online, conducted by CPA.com and Divvy, a BILL company. For more information on the participants, including titles and organization sizes, please visit the appendix at the end of the report.

###

About CPA.com

CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the United States, with a growing global focus.

Our company’s core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners.

A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

Program Fosters Emerging Technologies that Benefit the Accounting and Finance Profession

NEW YORK (Feb. 28, 2023) – Today the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and CPA.com announced its 2023 Startup Accelerator cohort at a kick-off meeting held at AICPA headquarters in New York. This year’s participants include five early-stage companies pursuing a variety of solutions in audit, accounting, tax and e-commerce.

The Startup Accelerator supports the growth of early-stage technology companies benefiting the accounting and finance ecosystem. Selected companies receive focused insight into the evolving needs of finance and accounting professionals, access to firms and finance leaders who are shaping their profession and a $25,000 grant. They also benefit from marketplace intelligence and guidance from AICPA and CPA.com senior leaders and the program’s advisory board members. Selected companies have an opportunity to showcase their solutions at AICPA & CIMA ENGAGE, the premier conference for the accounting and finance profession, to be held in June at the ARIA Resort & Casino in Las Vegas.

“At CPA.com, we’re focused on empowering the accounting profession for the digital age through innovative products and solutions designed to transform their practice areas,” said Kacee Johnson, vice president – Strategy and Innovation, CPA.com. “The Accelerator program has been instrumental in helping us stay ahead of emerging trends while connecting CPA firms with leading-edge solutions uniquely tailored to meet the evolving needs of the profession.”

The 2023 cohort is comprised of the following technology solutions:

• 4impactdata – The Texas-based company created the “first ever knowledge as a service” business guidance system that equips CPA firms to be the strategic partner their business clients need. The client advisory platform is pre-built on the latest Analytics-AI cloud platform, includes industry best practices, proactive alerts and benchmarking across clients.
• Audit Sight – The company’s platform eliminates manual work for auditors, diligence and private equity providers by automating financial transaction verification. The solution automates the audit testing process and generates a GAAS-compliant workpaper.
• Synder – Based in San Francisco, the business intelligence platform for CFO and accounting professionals helps automate repetitive tasks around multi-source e-commerce data and translate it into actionable insights for businesses, enabling accountants with a monthly advisory service for their clients.
• TaxPlanIQ – Based in Texas, the SaaS software solution automates an entire tax planning engagement from selling the plan to implementing all tasks throughout the year, and educational resources to support the accountant with videos, checklists and templates of 100 tax strategies.
• VERIFYiQ – The Vancouver-based company offers solutions that augment workflow systems and CRMs to make bookkeeping more accurate and efficient, including a practice management solution that automates quality control reviews and a tool that enables sales teams to scope a potential client's books in under five minutes.

For more information about the startup accelerator, please visit cpa.com/accelerator.

About CPA.com

CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the United States, with a growing global focus. Our company’s core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners.

A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About the American Institute of CPAs

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) is the world’s largest member association representing the CPA profession, with more than 431,000 members in the United States and worldwide, and a history of serving the public interest since 1887. AICPA members represent many areas of practice, including business and industry, public practice, government, education and consulting. The AICPA sets ethical standards for its members and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, nonprofit organizations, and federal, state and local governments. It develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination, offers specialized credentials, builds the pipeline of future talent and drives professional competency development to advance the vitality, relevance and quality of the profession.

Interactive cloud-based platform offers simple way to bridge compliance and advisory

NEW YORK (Dec. 19, 2022) – To support the evolving role of tax practitioners as they continue to move beyond tax compliance to providing tax and financial planning advisory services, CPA.com announced today that it has formed a partner program with Asset-Map, a leading interactive, cloud-based platform that organizes an individual or family’s financial instruments into a clear, graphical layout. The interactive 'map’ can be used by tax advisors and personal financial planners to provide strategic insights into their clients’ holistic financial wellness.

As client expectations increase and more components of tax compliance become automated, the future role of the tax professional will center around packaging compliance with advisory to give clients a more comprehensive planning experience. Asset-Map supports the evolving role of tax practitioners by facilitating better human advice engagement between the advisor and the client. Advice engagement is a critical component of personalized financial planning, which includes delivering integrated guidance to clients in a structured way to help them make sound financial decisions.

“Asset-Map makes it easy for CPA tax advisors to quickly gather a holistic view of their clients’ financial life, including the gaps, opportunities and pitfalls with respect to current decisions,” said Adam Holt, CFP, CEO of Asset-Map. “This vantage enables CPAs to offer strategic insights and proactive financial advice that clients are expecting of them.”

Thousands of CPAs, tax advisors and financial planning professionals have leveraged Asset-Map solutions to help more than 1.25 million individuals and families understand their financial picture and plan for the future. Ross Riskin, CPA, PFS, Chief Learning Officer at Investments & Wealth Institute remarked, “As many tax professionals get wrapped up in the compliance side of the business and focus on accounting for events that have happened in the past – what better way to demonstrate to clients that we’re focused on helping them plan for their future as well as providing them with a visual map – an Asset-Map^® Report – that helps them understand where they’ve been, where they are, and where they are going.”

Some of the key features of the Asset-Map platform include:

• Quick client data collection – Advisors can use Asset-Map’s brandable Discovery feature to invite clients to share their financial inventory in minutes.
• Visualization of household finances – The solution’s visualization tool enables advisors to see a comprehensive financial picture and advise clients on decisions that can be improved.
• Financial Fire Drill Alerts – Practitioners can instantly screen clients’ household financial well-being to determine their ability to fund disruptive life events.
• Connection to firm data sources - Asset-Map connects to numerous technology platforms, including customer relationship management (CRM), planning, portfolio management and file storage systems.
• Track progress to financial goals – The solution helps advisors and their clients identify funding gaps toward financial goals and then track their progress and required actions going forward.

“Most clients are looking to their tax advisors to provide a broader accounting of their overall financial standing but are hesitant to ask for it—and compliance work can be very transactional. When tax compliance is combined with insight and a more complete picture of overall financial health, it becomes an ongoing engagement and the value to the client rises significantly,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com, the technology and business subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). “Asset Map gives CPA tax advisors a simple pathway for initiating a structured conversation with clients about tax and financial planning.”

As part of the CPA.com and Asset-Map program, AICPA members are eligible to receive an exclusive discount on the Asset-Map monthly subscription fee.

To learn about how tax advisors can expand their services around tax compliance to include strategic advisory, register to join CPA.com’s free CPE webinar, “Advice Engagement — The Next Step for Tax Practice Innovation” Jan. 11 at 3 p.m. ET.

To learn more about Asset-Map, visit cpa.com/assetmap.

About CPA.com
CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the U.S., with a growing global focus. CPA.com is a subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) and part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (AICPA & CIMA), the most influential body of accounting and financial professionals worldwide.

About Asset-Map
Asset-Map is a Software-as-a-Process experience for financial professionals who provide in-person and remote advice. Typically included as part of the advice engagement process, Asset-Map centers around the digital visualization of household facts to build highly customized, design-thinking presentations in minutes that help advisors and their customers make better financial decisions. Asset-Map is used by thousands of professionals worldwide, having mapped over 1.25 million people and $1.5 trillion in financial instruments.

Licensed CPAs and CPA Firms in Ireland Can Now Apply for Their Preferred Domains on a First-Come, First-Served Basis

NEW YORK (Dec. 14, 2022) - CPAs and CPA firms in Ireland can today apply for .cpa web domains to enhance their brand positioning in the digital world and promote greater trust and security with clients in online communications.

The restricted .cpa web domain, administered by the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), the world’s largest member organization representing the CPA profession, and its business and technology arm, CPA.com, officially launched in Ireland today. CPAs and CPA firms must be licensed to be eligible for a .cpa domain, and domain names will be awarded on a first-come, first-served basis.

.CPA is specialty top-level domain, a term that refers to the handful of letters at the end of a web address. It was first launched by the AICPA in the United States in 2020, followed by Canada in 2021. To date, thousands of U.S. and Canadian CPAs and firms, ranging from sole practitioners to a majority of the top 500 U.S. accounting firms, have registered their preferred .cpa domains.

Many firms have been strategic in the names they’ve pursued, securing shorter, more relevant .cpa domains that best suit their brand, rather than settling for whatever remaining .com addresses are available.

“The .cpa domain offers firms a practical way to enhance their brand and strengthen client trust and security,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO of CPA.com. “Thousands of firms in the U.S. and Canada have already secured their preferred .cpa domains, and we’re excited to bring this important capability to CPAs in Ireland now and more countries in 2023.”

“We’re thrilled to partner with the AICPA and CPA.com to introduce this important digital tool to our members,” said Eamon Siggins, CEO of CPA Ireland. “This is a great next step after the establishment of our Mutual Recognition Agreement with the AICPA, and we believe the .cpa domain will be a great asset for our members looking to create a memorable, secure brand.”

The AICPA was awarded ownership and oversight of .cpa in 2019 by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the non-for-profit organization that oversees the internet’s naming system. CPA.com is responsible for managing the service globally.

“When our third-party vendors or clients are receiving our emails, they know it’s a legit email with .cpa,” says Tracee Buethner, a partner at U.S.-based Widmer Roel PC. “While firm leaders were most excited about the brand development opportunities, the trust and security that came with the adoption of a .cpa domain has been equally important in practice.”

Registration of a .cpa domain also comes with an optional free starter site – a one page, professionally designed website to help firms quickly enhance their digital branding and recognition.

To learn more about .cpa or to apply for a domain, please visit GoIreland.cpa.

About CPA.com

CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the United States, with a growing global focus.

Our company’s core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners.

A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, and AICPA & CIMA

The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association), representing AICPA & CIMA, advances the global accounting and finance profession through its work on behalf of 696,000 AICPA and CIMA members, students and engaged professionals in 192 countries and territories. Together, we are the worldwide leader on public and management accounting issues through advocacy, support for the CPA license and specialized credentials, professional education and thought leadership. We build trust by empowering our members and engaged professionals with the knowledge and opportunities to be leaders in broadening prosperity for a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient future.

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), the world’s largest member association representing the CPA profession, sets ethical standards for its members and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, not-for-profit organizations, and federal, state and local governments. It also develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination and builds the pipeline of future talent for the public accounting profession.

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is the world’s leading and largest professional body of management accountants. CIMA works closely with employers and sponsors leading-edge research, constantly updating its professional qualification and professional experience requirements to ensure it remains the employer’s choice when recruiting financially trained business leaders.

• Double-digit growth trend of CAS continues
• Nearly three out of four firms believe their pipelines indicate a strong opportunity for growth
• Net client fees per professional (NCFPP) among Top Performers increased 25%

NEW YORK (Dec. 6, 2022) – Client Advisory Services (CAS) practices reported a median growth rate of 16%, and firms are optimistic about the continued opportunity in this practice area, according to a new survey by CPA.com and the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA). Respondents projected 15% continued growth in the current year, with 72% of All Respondents and 81% of Top Performing firms expressing confidence that their pipeline shows opportunity for continued growth.

CAS has been the fastest growing service area in public accounting and is projected to continue its impressive trajectory, according to the CPA.com & AICPA PCPS Client Advisory Services Benchmark Survey report. The report, which polled a cross-section of U.S. firms with CAS offerings and collected data from calendar year 2021, reflected a continued double-digit growth trend since the survey began tracking benchmark data in 2018. Additionally, net client fees per professional (NCFPP) increased to $231,217 for Top Performers (compared to $185,000 in 2020), suggesting more leverage among CAS practices and increasing use of automation capabilities.

The survey also indicated CAS practices are continuing to use technology to innovate and embrace new business models to maximize value for staff and clients. This year's report identified an emerging trend related to the business model with more than a quarter (26%) of All Respondents and 33% of Top Performers outsourcing bookkeeping services, freeing up staff to focus on higher value client work.

“For more than a decade, we’ve recognized the potential of client advisory services to help CPA firms provide more value for clients through expanded offerings,” said Erik Asgeirsson, president and CEO, CPA.com. “Today, firms that have been intentional and strategic in their approach to building and scaling their CAS practice are thriving and poised for continued growth.”

The AICPA and CPA.com define CAS as Client Advisory Services, a practice to help clients outsource their accounting needs with services spanning a spectrum of financial, accounting, and advisory-related offerings. The vision of CAS is to provide higher value to clients and deepen the trusted advisor relationship, allowing clients to focus on their core competencies and deliver on their value proposition to customers. CAS offerings are enabled by technology and processes that deliver timely data and provide clients with deeper business insights to inform strategy and decision-making. While basic compliance work and operational services are foundational to CAS, continuous business planning and advisory discussions supported by financial and non-financial data, delivered through industry-specific KPIs, is fundamental to the differentiation and success of this service in the accounting profession.

The survey offers numerous insights about the evolution of CAS offerings and opportunities for future growth. Some of the takeaways include:

• Dedicate staff. Focusing team members on the CAS practice will enable them to develop into experienced CAS contributors faster and likely produce more consistent and higher quality work. Among Top Performers, 57% report having staff dedicated only to client advisory services.
• Use technologies to drive efficiencies. Workflow tools, data analytics and budgeting and forecasting tools have remained popular to help CAS practices enhance service delivery. Continue to explore opportunities to implement artificial intelligence and robotic process automation to further expand a firm’s capacity for higher level work.
• Standardize processes. Standardization enables team members to serve multiple clients without having to learn or employ new tools or procedures for each one. More than 70% of respondents report using a workflow tool to track and route engagements, a best practice that enables standardization.
• Raise fees to reflect the value provided. Pricing strategies should reflect the added value, demand for services and scarcity of resources delivered through CAS. If firms are using existing hourly rates as the basis for fees, or closing new clients at a high rate, they are likely underpricing. Higher fees will better represent the work being done and lower stress on fast-growing practices.
• Explore creative staffing and capacity-building measures. Explore offshoring, outsourcing, contract workers, non-accounting graduates, administratively minded service coordinators, and more to address staffing shortages and bring new capabilities into the practice.
• Educate clients and staff on CAS and the value provided. More than two-thirds (69%) of respondents reported misconceptions about CAS practice value as a top hurdle for growth, and 36% say staff don’t understand the value of CAS or confuse it with bookkeeping. CAS leaders need to create their value proposition and keep it at the forefront of all discussions with clients or staff.

CPA.com will hold a free webinar Tuesday, Jan. 17 at 2 p.m. ET to highlight key insights from the survey and offer practical strategies for firms to strengthen and develop their CAS capabilities. The company’s CAS Roadmap, CAS Client Assessment and CAS Financial Planning & Analysis workshops, CAS Firm Self-Assessment, whitepapers and other resources are also available for firms looking to start or expand a CAS practice. To learn more, please visit cpa.com/client-advisory-services.

Methodology

The CAS Benchmark Survey was conducted online from June to August 2022 and includes data from calendar year 2021 from 167 CAS practices whose data was complete and valid. Besides general results, the survey analyzes the performance of top CAS practices, defined as those with the highest net client fees per professional (NCFPP).

About CPA.com

CPA.com brings innovative solutions to the accounting profession, either in partnership with leading providers or directly through its own development. The company has established itself as a thought leader on emerging technologies and as the trusted business advisor to practitioners in the United States, with a growing global focus.

Our company’s core mission is to drive the transformation of practice areas, advance the technology ecosystem for the profession, and lead technology research and innovation efforts for practitioners.

A subsidiary of the American Institute of CPAs, the company is also part of the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, the world’s most influential organization representing the profession. For more information, visit CPA.com.

About the Association of International Certified Professional Accountants, and AICPA & CIMA

The Association of International Certified Professional Accountants (the Association), representing AICPA & CIMA, advances the global accounting and finance profession through its work on behalf of 689,000 AICPA and CIMA members, students and engaged professionals in 196 countries and territories. Together, we are the worldwide leader on public and management accounting issues through advocacy, support for the CPA license and specialized credentials, professional education and thought leadership. We build trust by empowering our members and engaged professionals with the knowledge and opportunities to be leaders in broadening prosperity for a more inclusive, sustainable and resilient future.

The American Institute of CPAs (AICPA), the world’s largest member association representing the CPA profession, sets ethical standards for its members and U.S. auditing standards for private companies, not-for-profit organizations, and federal, state and local governments. It also develops and grades the Uniform CPA Examination and builds the pipeline of future talent for the public accounting profession.

The Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) is the world’s leading and largest professional body of management accountants. CIMA works closely with employers and sponsors leading-edge research, constantly updating its professional qualification and professional experience requirements to ensure it remains the employer’s choice when recruiting financially trained business leaders.