Bankstream index: Outlook good, but hard work ahead

Early soundings from the Bankstream Accountants Confidence Index survey show the profession in an optimistic mood, but excessive workloads and continuing staffing issues hint at clouds on the horizon.

Every quarter, Bankstream polls the AccountingWEB community to take stock of how practitioners are feeling about the performance of their own firms, and their small business clients.

Based on responses from the 200 accountants who have taken part so far, the composite index is on course for a score of 7.3 out of 10, up from 7.2 last quarter and 7.1 in the spring.

This upward path is fuelled mainly by practitioners sensing good times ahead for their own firms - up to a confidence rating of 7.6 compared to 7.5 last quarter , compared to a rating of 7.1 for their performance in the past quarter and a prediction of 7.1 for their business clients in the next three months.

But lurking behind the practitioners’ positive vibes are some lingering concerns about excessive workloads and staffing issues. “Too much work” regularly tops the list of most pressing concerns for practitioners in the Bankstream Confidence Index, and this jumped from 19% to 23% in the early responses.

Staffing issues are also up significantly, and the problems appear to be worse than anticipated in the early summer survey. Regulation remains in third place as a source of concern for accountants, but the number of accountants worried about this over the past three months jumped by more than a half. Could the index have picked up signs of anxiety about the the dividends tax/incorporation effect?

With tax season looming, the index for this quarter delves into year-end activities and is polling accountants about the scale and profitability of this work. The numbers are not yet definitive, but already we can expect to see some surprises about just how much reconciliation work is getting written off.

While some firms are planning ahead for the year-end peak by recruiting new staff members or implementing new technology, more than half of the respondents so far anticipate that they will deal with the extra workload by working longer hours.

Do these initial findings match your experiences? Take part in the Bankstream Accountants Confidence Index survey to let us know - and feel free to add any observations or anecdotal evidence by commenting below.