
Courtesy of Whittemore, Dowen & Ricciardelli, LLP
By Susan Elise Campbell
Accounting firms country-wide are having as much trouble as other businesses finding enough people to hire, according to Paul Dowen, CPA, a principal of Whittemore, Dowen & Ricciardelli, LLP. WDR is headquartered in Queensbury and provides accounting, advisory and tax services primarily for small businesses.
“Even the IRS can’t find enough people to help resolve tax issues,” said Dowen. “You can rarely get someone to answer the telephone.”
One reason for the shortage of qualified accountants may be the five years or 150 credit hours it takes to earn the degree.
“College students weighing their options wonder if they really want to take on an extra year of schooling and the extra debt,” he said.
For the last three years, the Covid years, Dowen and his associates have had to turn down income tax preparation for individuals, referring them and some smaller businesses who were not already clients “to the big box companies.”
“We’ve had to be selective, which we never had to do before,” he said. “We would be forced to raise our fees to price out those smaller returns, even though we would like to help them out.”
The client base at WDR is primarily businesses ranging from $250,000 to $2.5 million in gross receipts. Dowen said his firm wants to know each client well, “not just crank out tax returns.”
“It comes down to the relationship,” he said. “I want to know who you are, what are your life goals. Do you want to get ready to retire, sell your business or turn it over to family members?”