San Diego (June 14, 2002) -- Accountants are facing challenges in both growing their businesses and learning exactly what their small business customers want from them, according to a new survey from Intuit.
The nationwide study, "The Voices of Small Businesses and Accountants" found that while roughly half of the accountants surveyed offered non-typical services to their small business clients, like financial planning and technology consulting, clients have been slower to sign up.
"While the vast majority of clients (78 percent) rely on tax services from their accountants, only 66 percent are taking full advantage of the other accounting services," the study found.
The poll also found that accountants view their worth to clients in a much more favorable light than clients do themselves. While 93 percent of accountants felt that their clients were very satisfied with the level of service they were receiving, only 68 percent of small business owners indicated they were very satisfied with those same services.
Forty-one percent of accountants felt that time commitments are keeping them from building their practice, while 33 percent said they found it difficult to keep up with the latest industry news and trends.
--Electronic Accountant Newswire staff
