Survey Open: May 7 – July 18, 2025

Losing an employee isn’t just a financial setback – it disrupts teams, lowers morale, and can threaten a firm’s ability to attract and retain new talent. With growing client demands and too many unfilled positions, firms can’t afford to lose employees. Yet due to fear of legal repercussions and political pressure, many are shelving DEI efforts – in essence cutting off their nose to spite their face – reducing the firm’s ability to innovate, thrive and maintain morale.

This year, the Accounting MOVE Project will examine the true impact of attrition, pulling from global data, industry insights, and interviews with firm leaders, to highlight how firms are retaining talent, fostering belonging, and future-proofing their workforce. Without a strong focus on equal access to opportunities and career growth, firms risk losing the very culture that fuels their success. This report will provide actionable strategies to help firms build resilient, engaged teams and sustain long-term growth.

 Target Stakeholders: HR Professionals and Accounting Firm Leaders

Survey Opens: Late Spring 2025 (staff), Fall 2025 (clients)

Last year we introduced you to our Advisory 360 research conducted in collaboration with Avalara and CPA Trendlines. In our first round of research, we revealed surprising insights about the role of advisory vs. compliance services in a firm’s success, and now we are looking into:

• Perceptions of a firm’s staff in whether compliance or advisory makes the firm a more attractive place to work; and
• Whether compliance or advisory-focused firms have a greater impact on the success of the firm’s clients.

 Through the results of this second round of research, accounting firm leaders will:

• Learn which elements their staff feel contributes to a firm’s success—which can be used to improve recruiting and retention programs;
• Better understand how accounting firms impact the success of their clients;

We are asking Research Allies to help recruit firms' leaders, staff at firms, and clients of firms from their membership and ask them to participate in the research or share the survey with their staff or clients.

Target Stakeholders: Clients of Accounting Firms, Firm Leaders and Managers, and Firm Staff

Survey Opens: Summer 2025

Last year, the Center had great success with our staffing strategies survey, which highlighted the issues from the growing staffing crisis in the accounting profession and also identified the key staffing strategies utilized by firms that are successfully navigating the crisis.

In what came as no surprise, the study showed that 68% of accounting professionals reported experiencing burnout, and nearly a quarter of respondents expressed dissatisfaction with their firm’s turnover rates. This highlighted the need for additional research on staff retention.

This year, we are delving deeper in the form of a Staffing Pulse Survey to measure staff turnover, intention and job satisfaction. It will look at:

1. Employee burnout indicators;
2. What factors contribute to the success or failure of staff job satisfaction, engagement, and embeddedness;
3. What staffing practices help reduce staff turnover

Participation in the survey is free, and participants will receive a copy of the final report. If a firm would like a report specific to their firm, there will be an additional fee for a firm-specific report, including benchmarking against the full population so that firms can see how they compare to other firms. Associations and state societies can also receive benchmark reports for their membership or geographical area for an additional fee.

Target Stakeholders: HR professionals and Accounting Firm Leadership (to distribute it to the staff at their firm), Staff at Accounting Firms

Survey Opens: Mid-to-Late-Summer 2025

The evolving landscape of technology continues to transform operations for small and mid-sized accounting firms, driving the need for effective practice management solutions to optimize firm operations and growing client expectations. Understanding the specific challenges and opportunities within this space is essential for firms looking to optimize team performance, improve client experience, and sustain long-term growth.

While the top 200 firms often dominate the conversation, this survey will help create a snapshot of the underserved small and mid-sized market, which utilizes a broader range of products presenting an opportunity to contribute to the broader understanding of practice management while gaining insights that can help drive strategic decision-making. This research aims to gather insights into current industry practices, key challenges, and satisfaction with existing tools. The findings will provide a comprehensive view of best practices and emerging trends, offering valuable insights for firms, associations, and industry vendors alike.

Target Stakeholders: Accounting Firm Leads, Small and mid-sized accounting firms, Solution Providers