Invest: spoke with Craig Forness, CEO of Moss, Krusick & Associates LLC, about the state of the tax and advisory sector in the Greater Orlando region, technology, and how artificial intelligence can be implemented to enhance the sector’s efficiencies to attract top talent.
What have Moss, Krusick & Associates’ overall contributions or impact been in the Greater Orlando region in the past year?
For several years, our most significant impact has been our involvement with the UCF School of Accounting. We spend a lot of time promoting the accounting profession, which benefits not only MKA but also the region. Accounting is an industry that’s looking for students from other industries, so it’s important to ensure there are enough students to serve the region.
What is the state of the tax and advisory sector in the Greater Orlando region?
Orlando is experiencing the same trends as the nation. It is the war on accounting talent. As noted before, we are seeing fewer and fewer students choose accounting, and, to some degree, experienced professionals leave the industry at a higher rate. This trend has been going on for several years. Unfortunately, this is going to impact pricing. As the industry experiences fewer accountants to do the work, firms are forced to increase their payroll faster than inflation.
The other trend we’re seeing is also not necessarily local. Many smaller firms’ partners are at retirement age, so we’re seeing a lot of rollups. The small firms are really disappearing—Moss Krusick is one of the last regional players our size.
What specific strategies do you use to differentiate yourself from other firms?
Being one of the last regional firms in Orlando separates us from the rest. We are a full-service firm. For example, many smaller firms don’t necessarily perform audits, so that makes us stand out. However, from the standpoint of clients, client service and responsiveness have been some of our biggest differentiators. Clients are getting rolled up into these big firms, and the biggest complaint is that no one is returning phone calls. Lastly, we are an independent member of the BDO Alliance, which allows us to be a nimble firm with the resources of a large firm.
Greater Orlando is a naturally diverse region. What is MKA’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion?
We have 53% women partners, which is significant. It is interesting because we have only focused on attracting the right talent. The lifeblood of accounting firms is recruiting. ESG (environmental, social, and governance) is important to the younger generation, so it becomes important to firms as they work to recruit the next generation of leaders.
How is technology enhancing both internal processes and client-facing interactions?
Technology is an interesting component in the accounting industry, and a lot of investment is going on. Between the transactional nature of our business and the talent war, efficiency is becoming an important competitive advantage. AI is going to be a big part of the next technology push. It is causing a lot of buzz but is still in the early stages of making a significant impact. There are a few non-value-added activities that AI could help automate. Another opportunity for technology is to enhance how accounting firms interact and communicate with clients, focusing on improving the client experience.
We’ve implemented an AI tool that helps us do research, which has been fantastic because it is specific to the tax law. It is just searching the tax law, so when you get an answer, you know it is right. The benefit we have seen here is reducing the time it takes to answer some of our client’s unique tax situations.
You will see that the firms that survive can be at the forefront of the industry’s technology and become very good at winning the war on talent.
What specific services or areas have seen a surge in client demand?
Our audit department has seen a surge in demand. The regulatory environment continues to get harder to navigate, with more and more rules coming through on the audit side, making it difficult for smaller firms to train and retain audit staff. At the same time, we’re seeing national firms continue to go upstream, leaving many clients looking for new auditors.
What is your outlook for MKA in the next three to five years, and how do you see the tax practice evolving?
Our outlook is bullish. We feel lucky to be in Orlando, with its incredible market growth. Our reputation and position in the marketplace help us to pick up a lot of organic growth. Our plan is to continue focusing on excellent client service, continuing to be responsive to our clients, staying involved in our community, and developing a great team.
