Bloomberg Tax outlines the details of PwC’s decision to combine their tax prep and audit services, as well as discussing the implications of this shift for accounting firms in general. The article begins as follows:
Big Four accounting firm PwC LLP’s announcement that it will package its tax prep and audit services together under a single umbrella represents a sign of a seismic shift in how accounting firms are managed.
“It’s a breakthrough that’s about 150 years in the making,” said Allan Koltin, a consultant to accounting and law firms on how to manage their businesses. “It’s groundbreaking. I wouldn’t be surprised to see every major firm in the country, every global firm move to a structure that resembles this.”
Koltin called the move a long-overdue acknowledgment that accounting firms provide just two types of services: compliance work that companies have to get done but are loath to pay for, and advisory services that clients are willing to pay top dollar for. Computers are doing more and more of the compliance work, making it a commodity, and PwC probably would have announced its plans sooner if not for the Covid-19 pandemic, Koltin said.
“It’s a sign of the times. It’s a sign of the bot and the bot replacing the human,” Koltin said.
To see the full article, click: “PwC Restructures for Future of Bots, Post-Covid Advisory Boom”
Posted by Marin Larkin, Associate Editor, Wealth Strategies Journal.
