The State of the Profession

Analyzing the Results of the 2016 Practice Management Survey

The second annual NYSSCPA–Rosenberg Survey identifies trends from the national 18th Annual 2016 Practice Management Survey and provides a comparative qualitative analysis to participating New York State CPA firms. The survey contains a wealth of quantitative and qualitative assessments of the current state of CPA firms in the United States.The quantitative portion of the survey provides valuable analysis, actionable guidance, expert insight, and practical recommendations for CPAs. It also presents insights and assessments by some of the top consultants in America, who specialize in providing expert qualitative guidance to CPA firms. The national survey's main takeaways for 2016 include the following: 1) revenue growth is stronger, the strongest since 2008; 2) mergers continue to have a huge impact on revenue growth; 3) income per partner was higher than last year, as was profitability; 4) firm leverage was significantly higher than last year, as staff/partner ratios increased across all firms; 5) despite this robust growth in revenue, firms actually experienced a decrease in their partner ranks, which played a huge role in the dramatic increase in leverage; 6) the aging of CPA firms took an unexpected twist, as for the first time in survey memory, the number of partners over age 50 declined from the prior year; and 7) for the first time in the survey's history, the percentage of female partners declined from the prior year.