Advisers concerned about capacity to meet demand
As clients look to push on as sentiment improves, some advisers fear they will fail to meet the demands put upon them
ACCOUNTANTS are concerned that they will fail to cope with client demands as the economy improves, according to a new survey.
Six in ten (61%) of advisers believe they might not have the capacity to meet to meet increasing demand posed a medium or high risk to profitable growth – up from 46% the previous year.
The risk of increasing wage bills to keep staff is cited by 36% of the respondents.
Martin Casimir, MD at Bloomsbury Professional, said: “Ensuring that accountancy firms are prepared for the anticipated uptick in workload is crucial if they are to capitalise on the growth opportunities amid the recovery and maximise their profits. At the same time, they are aware that competition for talented staff will quickly heat up and are recognising that they may have to pre-empt that with higher pay rises sooner rather than later.
“If those pay rises kick in before the firm’s own workload increases or before fee rates improve, then it will certainly hurt profitability.”
Bloomsbury Professional spoke to 40 firms, representing a cross section of the industry.