Key findings
Alternative work arrangements continue to be valued by survey respondents.
Even though the health crisis is coming to an end, many people are still working at home because they enjoy this style of working.
Around 80% of our respondents are easily adapting to remote work, with 75% reporting that their tax compliance software makes it easier. They are working remotely relatively glitch-agree, with many reporting that they can effectively collaborate with co-workers (75%) and that they found it easy (72%) to exchange documents with clients without in-person contact.
All this bodes well as more and more firms begin to respond to the needs and desires of their staff by increasing the number of people they allow to work from home or in a hybrid fashion.
Full-time staff are well trained, but firms still require temporary workers.
During tax season and other high-compression periods, you need to keep your staff motivated and productive.
For the first time in five years, this year's survey indicated that less than 30% of staff members believed that they were doing unnecessary tasks (26%). Additionally, 79% said their staff were well trained for the tax preparation process. This could possibly explain why 70% of firms reported they made few mistakes while completing returns.
Firms were quite reliant on hiring temporary staff or outsourcing tax return preparation (49%), yet 66% said they found it difficult to hire the people they needed. Moving forward, firms are going to need to be aggressive when it comes to recruiting talent and will have to deploy tools that will allow them to onboard staff easily.
Client service is high, data is being protected.
In today's competitive market, you need to provide a high level of customer service throughout the year, including during tax season.
Most of our survey respondents (90%) stated that they were able to respond to client requests in a timely manner and accommodate their requests for client service (79%). Not only were 84% able to update their client information in one central location, but most (90%) were also confident that their client data was safe and secure.
Plus, firms were operating efficiently on the invoicing front; close to 90% reported that invoices were sent to clients promptly once their return was completed and filed.
The critical point of this data is for firms to maintain these high standards in customer service and data security to keep their competitive edge.
Firms are still outsourcing complex tax questions.
In the accounting industry, knowledge is power, especially when it is available within the walls of a firm. However, 52% of the firms surveyed are still outsourcing complex tax questions to a tax specialist.
The good news is that 82% of respondents stated their team was up to speed on the day-to-day tax issues and updates that impact their returns. This could be one of the reasons why they had to spend less time answering tax questions from staff than they did a year ago (34% versus 40% in 2022).
Providing tax expertise is an added-value service that firms can offer their clients. So, there is an opportunity for many firms to improve in this area to increase their profitability.
Firms are seeing the benefits of technology when it comes to workflow.
Technology has truly changed the way accounting firms operate, making them more efficient.
Our survey showed that automation features such as autofill and job tracking saved time for just over 75% of respondents. Similarly, 85% found that it was easy to follow the status of tax returns.
On the other side, only 52% of respondents said they are using an electronic document management system. That means there is an opportunity for them to do so to improve their workflow.
Firms need to continue to keep abreast of further technological advancements in their industry that can help make them more productive and profitable.
The full report has been released, and additional excerpts will be released over the coming months. However, if you’d like to learn more about how to meet and overcome the challenges your firm is facing during tax season and throughout the year, you can download the entire 2023 Industry and Tax Season Challenges Report now.
Survey methodology and respondent distribution
Wolters Kluwer administered its online tax season survey after the completion of the 2023 tax season. This comprehensive Canadian survey covered five essential subjects related to today’s accounting world: working remotely, staff management, client service, obtaining tax information, and workflow and technology.
A series of questions were given to industry professionals across Canada in the language of their choice, with options of English or French. Participants included members of public accounting firms of all sizes and included both Wolters Kluwer customers and non-customers of Wolters Kluwer. Answers to each question were elicited using a 5-point Likert scale, and respondents were asked to select the most appropriate answer from the list.
The respondent breakdown is as follows:
- 10% of respondents self-identified as being from medium-large (mid-large) firms.
- 31% of respondents self-identified as being from small firms.
- 59% of respondents self-identified as being sole practitioners.
For the purposes of this survey, mid-large firms are defined as having 6+ full-time or full-time equivalent employees, and small firms are defined as having 2-5 full-time or full-time equivalent employees.
All percentages provided in the analysis were rounded to the nearest decimal place. That means that in some instances, statistics may not add up to 100%, but rather, to 99% or 101%.
