Accounting Today, the leading resource from Arizent for public accountants, publishes its latest research report, The Year Ahead: 2025 in Accounting, providing insight into the strategies, concerns and expectations of accounting professionals as they navigate the coming year. Sponsored by Zoho, the findings paint a picture of optimism and growth, despite some noteworthy obstacles.

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For the third consecutive year, firms are forecasting strong revenue increases, with 70% expecting revenue growth of 4% or more and nearly a quarter anticipating double-digit growth. Additionally, 87% of respondents predict the 2025 tax season will be as smooth as, or better than, the previous year’s.

However, the findings reveal some challenges:

  • Advisory aspirations unmet: While 49% of firms aim to expand their advisory services, they report spending less time on them in 2024 than they had hoped. Compliance work continues to dominate, consuming nearly half of firms’ client-facing time.
  • Hiring struggles persist: Although 52% of firms plan to hire in 2025, they expect ongoing issues with finding quality talent.
  • Technology tension: Keeping up with technology remains a top challenge, with cost and cybersecurity being primary concerns. While AI tools are gaining traction, only 23% of firms currently use them.

“All in all, this is a picture of a profession that continues to move forward, but faces some inhibitors to evolution,” says Janet King, Vice President of Research at Arizent. “Firms aren’t moving into advisory services to the degree they’d expected, and keeping up with technology in terms of both cost and expertise is another brake on progress. As tech becomes more critical to day-to-day functions, firms have to integrate it into their strategic thinking, keep up with the latest trends and protect their own data as well as their clients’. This creates growing sources of friction in firm operations.”

Technology continues to consume more than a fifth of firm budgets, and this is similar across firm size and type. Additionally, 60% of firms are expecting to up their IT spending next year, which is up 10 percentage points from the 50% who expected an increase the two prior years

For a deeper dive into actionable recommendations and trends — including the perception of remote work, staffing challenges and expectations for tech investments — download the full report here: https://www.accountingtoday.com/research-report/a-balancing-act-between-confidence-and-resistance

Research methodology

This research was conducted online by Accounting Today (an Arizent brand) from mid-September to early October 2024. A total of 291 accounting professionals completed this year’s survey.