Said accounting profession veteran Kim Moody in Financial Post:
In my view, the system is very close to a tipping point of massive non-compliance in a number of areas of tax law. Put simply, if taxpayers and their advisers (and even tax specialists) have a hard time understanding new legislation, it can and will lead to non-compliance. The system then breaks down.
Combine the challenges of finding new talent to enter the accounting profession, interpreting massive new and complex legislation and reporting requirements, and the increased attrition (because of older accountants retiring and some outright leaving the profession because of the above issues) and there is a significant shortage of accountants that may leave some people having trouble finding one when needed.
The author may be from Canada but it’s no different down here.
You’re welcome to discuss on X, in the comments below, or screenshot the text and put it on Reddit, we don’t care. Please just read the whole thing first.
Give your accountant a hug — you may not find another one [Financial Post]
Agree and Politicians, Gov’t Bureaucrats and ivory tower educators don’t get it – all incompetent or living in their fantasy world.
What specific factors contribute to the challenges of finding new talent to enter the accounting profession? Additionally, how do these factors intersect with the complexities of interpreting new legislation and reporting requirements, as mentioned in the article, and how do they collectively exacerbate the shortage of accountants?
As a CPA since 1975, I have a different perspective. The people in Stamford wouldn’t know how to do a audit if they had to. That’s why there are so many incomprehensible pointless pronouncements. In my own experience, I was an expert on a significant case where Anderson and my old firm Coopers (where I became a partner in 1986) were being sued for $85 million. The Anderson expert was very proud of his experience as an intern at KPMG for six months, the sum total of his actual audit experience. During the litigation, he became the president of GASB.
I think we are already there. The Employee Retention Tax Credit was exploited to the tune of $10s of billions by unethical operators who hit the IRS with the “bums’ rush”. If an honest accounting of this credit is ever done, I believe it will prove to be the largest fraud in history. Enacted and then changed multiple times by a Congress without the first thought on how it would be enforced. A complete travesty.
I give you an example…right now there is discussion in congress regarding the expansion of the CTC..given that we are about halfway into tax season…practitioners have to guess whether they should file taxes now or wait until the legislation passes…..think of all the unpaid work this is going to cause for both tax preparers and taxpayers…nuts…this happens every year.