Client Retention Dominates AICPA's 2009 CPA Firm Top Issues Survey

CPA Firms of Different Sizes Face Varying Challenges

NEW YORK, July 7 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The most significant challenge
facing CPA firms of all sizes across the nation today is client retention, an
indication of how the economy is affecting business practices for accountants
and other professional service providers, according to the American Institute
of Certified Public Accountants' 2009 CPA Firm Top Issues Survey.

"There is no doubt that the weakened economy has shifted CPAs' concerns from
staffing to client retention," said Jim Metzler, AICPA vice president, small
firm interests. "Client retention did not even make the Top 5 list in the last
survey in 2007. The AICPA is vigorously working with firms to help them
provide better client service and more strategic planning during this
recession, as well as rolling out value-added services and tools for CPA
firms," Metzler added.

The CPA Firm Top Issues Survey gathers information from a wide range of
practitioners in five different size segments from sole practitioner to firms
with over 21 professionals in an effort to get a snapshot of the most critical
challenges facing AICPA members.

Marketing and practice growth reappeared in the AICPA's Top 5 issues list for
the first time since 2005 across all five of the firm sizes that were
surveyed. Technical training standards and succession issues also topped the
2009 list. The top issues varied by firm size. After client retention, tax law
complexity and changes were top concerns for sole practitioners while partner
accountability and succession planning are top issues for firms with more than
20 professionals.

"CPAs can use these lists to benchmark their own experiences against those of
other practitioners," said Metzler. The survey is used to create additional
programs and resources that meet the real needs of AICPA members and their
firms. Specific AICPA resources designed to help CPA firms manage challenges
are available in the Private Companies Practice Section Firm Resource Center
at http://pcps.aicpa.org/.

The survey results show:

-- While staffing dropped from the top spot since the last survey,
finding
qualified staff is still a top 10 concern for firms with 2 to 20
professionals;
-- New regulations and standards on small firms was a top-5 concern for
firms with up to 20 professionals, and was in the top 10 for
practitioners in forms with 21 or more professionals;
-- Partner accountability and succession planning continue to be top
issues
for firms with 21 or more professionals;
-- Tax law complexity standards was the second largest challenge for
firms
with 5 or fewer professionals.

The AICPA's Private Companies Practice Section (PCPS) CPA Firm Top Issues
survey is a bi-annual survey study that provides a unique snapshot of the most
significant challenges facing practitioners across the country. The 2009 CPA
Top Firm Issues Survey was conducted for the AICPA by IntelliSurvey from April
29 to May 30 by an email questionnaire sent to the AICPA's PCPS Membership. Of
the 1,012 respondents, 235 are sole practitioners; 431 are from small firms
with 2 to 5 professionals; 151 are from firms with 6 to 10 professionals; 99
are from firms with 11 to 20 professionals; and 96 are from firms with 21 or
more professionals. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage
points.

More information and full poll results are available on the AICPA's PCPS
Website at http://pcps.aicpa.org/

About the AICPA
The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (www.aicpa.org) is the
national, professional association of CPAs, with more than 350,000 CPA members
in business and industry, public practice, government, education, student
affiliates, and international associates. It sets ethical standards for the
profession and U.S. auditing standards for audits of private companies,
non-profit organizations, federal, state and local governments. It develops
and grades the Uniform CPA Examination.

To further support members and CPAs, the AICPA maintains the Economic Crisis
Resource Center www.aicpa.org/economy. With more than 200 items, the site is
the most comprehensive online resource for the CPA profession in this economic
environment.

The AICPA maintains offices in New York, N.Y., Washington, D.C., Durham, N.C.,
Ewing, N.J., and Lewisville, TX.

Media representatives are invited to visit the AICPA Online Media Center at
www.aicpa.org/mediacenter.

SOURCE American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

William Roberts, +1-202-434-9266, wroberts@aicpa.org, Mitchell Slepian,
+1-212-596-6177, mslepian@aicpa.org, both of the American Institute of
Certified Public Accountants