The State of the Profession

Analyzing the Results of the 2017 Practice Management Survey

In BriefFor the third year, the Rosenberg Survey identifies trends from their national 19th Annual 2017 Practice Management Survey and provides a comparative qualitative analysis to participating New York CPA firms. The survey contains a wealth of quantitative and qualitative assessments of the current state of New York CPA firms as compared to CPA firms across the United States.The quantitative portion of the Rosenberg survey provides valuable analysis, actionable guidance, expert insight and practical recommendations for CPAs. It also presents insights and assessments by some of the leading consultants to accounting firms in the United States. The national survey provided several takeaways for CPAs in public practice: 1) the average age of partners, and percentage of partners over 50, declined; 2) revenue growth remained solid but core tax and attest services faced continued pricing pressures; 3) income per equity partner was up; 4) merger activity was down; 5) the percentage of female equity partners grew in large firms but actually declined in small firms; 6) technological changes are coming but not yet here; and 7) large firms increased their financial advisory services practices; 8) new, young managing partners are heralding a change in management philosophy.But this year, the survey also uncovered quantifiable differences between some national trends and trends in New York State. This article will discuss those differences, present selected quantitative results, and excerpt insights from the experts.