Top CPA firm concern: recruitment and retention.

• Position: Certified public accountants

CPA firms rank staff recruitment and retention issues first among their concerns in managing an accounting practice. Despite increased interest in careers in accounting, futurists predict personnel shortages in all fields. Although work-life balance initiatives may help to get and keep staff, such initiatives may not be as important as the tone top management sets for the firm.

Once again, "finding and retaining qualified staff" topped the list of major concerns for CPA firms, according to this year's "Top Five MAP Issues" survey, conducted by the AICPA. The survey polled CPA firms across the country ranging in size from one professional (sole practitioner) to 21 or more professionals, asking them to rank the most important practice management challenges they face. More than 1,000 CPA respondents completed the survey, twice the number that participated last year.

Staff recruitment and retention led the list of top five issues for the sixth successive year. Although staffing was the leading issue over all, among respondents from firms with 11 or more CPAs, the staffing issue placed second and "succession planning/identifying and developing future owners" is their leading concern. For sole practitioners, "changes and complexity of the tax law" topped the list. (See the lists at the end of this article for details of the top concerns by firm size.)

One reason for the unease about staffing in recent years has been a scarcity of accounting graduates. Recently, however, this trend seems to be reversing, partly because of the AICPA's student marketing campaign to increase the number of students who major in accounting and become CPAs. Jim Metzler, AICPA Vice President, Small Firm Interests says, "Clearly staffing is an issue that is impacting the entire profession. Here at the AICPA, we are committed not only to providing resources to help firms overcome this hurdle, but also to exploring how to help firms of different sizes."

The AICPA and PCPS/MAP groups continue to conduct research and develop programs to address staffing shortages. In late 2000, PCPS sponsored a survey of leading non-partner CPA professionals, the "Top Talent" survey. This assessment was followed in 2002 by the AICPA's Recruitment and Retention Survey of CPA firm partners, which identified the obstacles CPA firms face in attracting, hiring, and retaining quality staff by evaluating trends and assessing current policies. Results from these surveys can be viewed at www.pcps.org.

Such efforts as these will be...