Ninety-eight percent of the 2,500 respondent firms in the 2002 PCPS Management of an Accounting Practice (MAP) Survey either grew or remained the same size in the past year, despite the large impact recent corporate scandals have had on the economy and the accounting profession. Of the total, 13% experienced an increase of 20% or more in their fee revenue. This is the first time that PCPS, the AICPA Alliance for CPA firms, has partnered with the Texas Society of CPAs to offer this survey.

The average respondent firm has a total of 12 employees (eight of whom are CPAs) and revenues of approximately $1.5 million. For all respondents, the three largest sources of income were tax services (45%), write up/data processing (13%) and auditing & attestation (11.2%). On the other side of the balance sheet, the largest expense for the firms surveyed was non-owner professional salaries, totaling, on average, $386,580, or 25.5% of total expenses.

"PCPS is extremely pleased with the record number of respondents for our inaugural collaboration with the Texas Society of CPAs. We are grateful to all 38 state societies who helped us reach their members and to all of the firms who participated," noted Bill Balhoff, chair of the PCPS Executive Committee. "The survey is a critical point of reference for our members, providing them with data against which they can benchmark their policies and performance."

The Time Clock
The average number of hours charged by the CPAs at firms across the country ranged from 1,273 per year for an owner to 1,513 for a CPA with four to five years of experience. During the busy season from Mar. 1 to Apr. 15, 72% of respondent firms expected a minimum of 49 or more hours per week from their professional employees. The average billing rate of an active owner is $153/hour, while a CPA earning roughly $50,000 would have a billing rate of $83/hour.

Payday
Not surprisingly, average CPA salaries at respondent firms grow steadily with experience--ranging from $31,031 for an entry level CPA to $66,981 for a CPA with more than 10 years of experience. On average, owners earn $161,481 each year. In addition, on average owners took home 33% of their firm's income, which for a typical respondent firm equals $500,000. Interestingly, the much-debated 150-hour educational requirement seems to have little impact on new hires' salaries. Those new hires with 150 hours earn an average of $34,755 and those without 150 hours earn $32,693--a difference of 6%.

Plugging In
CPA firms are increasingly taking advantage of the Internet. A full 98% of the respondents now have e-mail. Sixty percent of the firms surveyed have a Web site and the same percentage file electronic tax returns. The other top uses of the Internet include tax research (88%), purchasing supplies (71%) and account research (64%).