Blog: AICPA Economic Crisis and Recovery Center

Department of Labor provides support to displaced workers on COBRA

My blog post on 4/23/09 discussed the Cobra coverage benefit through the new American Recovery & Reinvestment Act. This was a guest post from Paychex, Inc. The U.S. Department of Labor has now provided additional guidance on their website to displaced workers. You can read an updated article on the AICPA Economic Crisis Resource Center.

Compliance with this provision is very real and employers should take note that the DOL is providing employees, past or present with the information necessary to make sure they take full advantage of this program in the event of a layoff.

CPAs in practice should alert their clients of this new information. It will make it easier for businesses to provide instant information to past and present employees about the program. CPAs in business and industry should alert their human resource department of this section of the DOL site.

– Mark Koziel

Accounting Jobs still looking strong

Forbes.com reported in their May 15^th “Where the Jobs Are: Accounting” that accounting jobs still remain strong.

In this article, Bill Demario, chief operating officer of Ajilon Professional Staffing stated, "Over the last six months the nation has lost at least 500,000 jobs a month — but when you look at accounting, the profession has added 3,000 jobs a month."

The article discusses general accounting positions and looks more specifically at CPA positions. The article reinforces the need for accounting in the business community and the need for CPAs showing that accounting is still a great career option.

The CPA profession can always use positive press and it proves even more in this down economy how great this profession is as a career option. I’m still proud to be a CPA. And I’m even prouder that my chosen career offers growth and opportunity during good times and bad. This can be a great retention point for young people working in firms or businesses and a recruitment point for young people looking for a recession-proof career.

What about you, are you proud to be a CPA? Post a comment.

– Mark Koziel

AICPA/UNC Kenan-Flagler Business & Industry Economic Outlook Survey update shows small signs of economic improvement

On April 28^th my blog post was about the first quarter’s survey results and at that time, while there was a bit of pessimism, there were some signs of slight improvement. Fast forward to 2Q 2009 and the trend from the AICPA C-Suite members are showing signs of continued improvement in the economy. The 2Q results of the survey are now available on the AICPA Financial Management Center.

I found it interesting that respondents were more optimistic about their own organization than the economy as a whole.  Also, respondents expecting to expand have almost equalized with respondents expecting to contract.  To me, that’s positive.

There was a slight increase in respondents thinking of layoffs, compensation freezes and hiring freezes in the 2Q.

No doubt we’re still in this recession, but I like to look at the positives in this environment.

Are you seeing signs of recovery? Post a comment.

– Mark Koziel

Where will I take my car for service?

USA Today on Monday reported that GM notified 1,100 dealerships they’d be closing and Chrysler notified 789 of the same thing.  So I wonder, where will I take my car for service?

I don’t know about you, but whenever I had to take my car for service, it seemed to take 2-3 weeks for the earliest appointment.  So, if I’m driving a GM or Chrysler, will it now take 6-8 weeks since there’s less choice?

In the last ten years, dealerships have taken on a different look and feel.  Dealerships today offer popcorn and latte’s for those waiting patiently for service.  You can buy logo’d shirts, steering wheel covers and hanging dice for your mirror.  Going to the dealership is now an experience rather than a chore.  This was done to increase the service experience as you were having repair work done. The dealership experience now is around the corner, but in the future may be across town. Will you make the drive?

The Internet certainly has changed the old dealership model.  The old days of haggling over price just don’t hold true with Edmunds.com and other sites that will tell you what you should expect to pay.  For dealerships, the annuity income comes from the service, not always the auto sale.  Customers will still need their cars serviced, especially for warrantee work.  As dealerships close, it may be more difficult to find a dealer, let alone an appointment.

This shows how unusual and deep this economic crisis is for Americans.  It’s no longer business as usual.  How we conduct our lives has changed, possibly forever.  Even the simplest, most automatic decisions of the past—taking a car in for service—has been disrupted and displaced.

And that’s not all bad. It means that it’s time to re-look at the way we conduct business, shore up our finances and focus on sustainability. When the next downturn comes—and it will because that’s the way of the economy—we have an opportunity to be prepared.

So my question to you, what will the auto service model look like in the future as dealerships close? Post a comment

– Mark Koziel

How are accounts receivables these days?

In the last few days I’ve taken a few calls from members looking for sample letters or scripts for collecting on receivables.  This seems to be a great concern for many companies out there today.  As you hear about bankruptcies on the rise, it’s inevitable that some receivables will not get paid.

While we didn’t have specific scripts for our members today, I did walk them through a 3 point process to try and get paid.  If the customer has been outstanding for a while, here’s what I suggest during the collection call:

1. Has the service level been satisfactory? Maybe the service wasn’t up to the expectations of the customer and now you have the opportunity to fix it. If the service level was fine, move on to step 2.
2. Is the company suffering from cash flow constraints? If you’re a firm and this is your client you have a tremendous opportunity to help the client fix it.  For all companies, it’s an opportunity to try and work out a payment plan to get the customer caught up.
3. When can we expect this to be paid? If the answers to number one and two were that the customer was satisfied with the service and cash flow is fine, you can now ask the customer when they will be mailing your check.

Ultimately, this mini system is about talking to your customer.  It may not be enough to send the third, fourth or fifth invoice and hope it gets paid.  It’s much more difficult to turn down a person than it is to throw out an unpaid invoice.

What have you done to creatively collect on receivables? Post a comment.

– Mark Koziel

Smaller CPA firms are making it through the recession just fine

Based on my experience last week at the 2009 AICPA Practitioner’s Symposium and preliminary data from the AICPA’s Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) 2009 Practice Management Top Issues survey, it seems smaller firms are doing just fine.

Informal polls and conversations at the Symposium found that many of the smaller firm attendees are looking for marginal growth in the upcoming year and some are even expecting double digit growth! The PCPS Top Issues survey is starting to show the same thing. This survey will close at the end of May with the results completed by June.

This is encouraging news for the CPA profession. Many firms seemed up beat, saying their tax season was easier than the last few. They attribute their success to losing a few clients, making their workload a little more manageable.

Many of these firms weren’t as successful in finding and retaining talent during the CPA boom of the last few years, but now, the tides are turning. Some larger firms have had minor layoffs in the past two months allowing for the smaller firms to find the talent with the culture fit they need.

Smaller firms are finding success hiring CPAs from the larger firms and boomerangs from business, industry and government. If you are a smaller firm in need of talent, be sure to post your job on the AICPA CPA Job Finder which is still available free to AICPA member firms.  For instructions on how to get the free job posts, email me at mkoziel@aicpa.org.

If you’ve been recently displaced, get your resume up on the AICPA Job Finder today. There have been quite a few jobs coming and going on this job site.

So how was your tax season? Post a comment.

– Mark Koziel

Has the economy affected your training strategy?

I was listening to the recent “Top Tech Initiatives Podcast: Learning & Competency” posted on the AICPA Economic Resource Center. While this podcast focuses on learning and competencies from a technology perspective (you must take the  half hour to listen), it made me think about training and learning budgets in today’s uncertain economy.

Many companies are trying to trim budget dollars, and the learning budget seems an easy target. I’m sure our business, industry and government folks are taking a good, hard look at this line item since they often dedicate more resources to learning and training than public accounting does. In my three years at the AICPA, I’m amazed by the variance in amount of training organizations provide their teams.  Some may think it’s a big company, little company difference, but I don’t think that’s true. It really comes down to organizational culture. There are some organizations that find it necessary and beneficial to the organization and their people to invest in learning.

I realize every situation is different and some may opt to reduce training dollars rather than cut people, and I agree with that philosophy.  There are ways to cut the training dollars without sacrificing the learning. Make sure you talk to your people and let them know that the training methods will change during these challenging times and the organization will rethink the strategy once the economy stabilizes.

I will confess that I’m writing this blog post a little early as I have to leave for the AICPA Practitioners Symposium in Las Vegas May 4^th through 6^th. I feel good about this year’s conference and based on attendance, there are plenty of small firms who still feel strongly about training. There are some firms bringing three or more attendees. I know in years past, some firms would make Practitioners their firm retreat. It looks like that is happening again this year.

So what about you? How has the economy affected your training budget? What methods are you using to keep your team learning during the economic downturn? Post a comment.

– Mark Koziel