Smaller practices flag up advisory as growth area
Business advisory and tax services flagged up as top areas for growth among smaller practices, according to IFAC's survey
BROAD GROWTH is expected among the world’s smaller practices, according to a survey by global accounting federation IFAC.
Its research into the business sentiment of 5,000 practices around the world found tax and business advisory services were expected to be the biggest money-spinner over the next year, with nine-in-ten now offering some form of consulting to clients outside of compliance-driven services.
Regulation and competition were key areas of concern for firms over the next five years, while most saw up to a quarter of clients experience financial difficulty in the last 12 months.
Business intelligence and customer relationship management technology were most likely to impact these practices over the medium term.
A quarter (27%) of smaller and medium-sized practices are currently part of a network, alliance or association, while another quarter are considering joining one.
Many (44%) have at least 5% of clients operating internationally, compared with 69% of 20+ partner firms.