NACPB Public Bookkeeping National Survey 2007

Executive Summary
NACPB's Public Bookkeeping National Survey provides valuable information public bookkeepers and accountants can use to manage their bookkeeping and accounting businesses more effectively. NACPB also uses this information to better serve and promote the public bookkeeping profession and help its members gain a competitive edge.

The Survey consists of 20 questions on public bookkeeper Owner and Business information as follows:

Owner Information

  1. Professional Designations
  2. Accounting Education
  3. Certifications or Accreditations
  4. Years of Experience

Business Information

  1. Business Entity
  2. Home Based Business
  3. Part-time of Full-time Professionals
  4. Years in Business
  5. Number of Business Owners
  6. Number of Professional Employees
  7. Website
  8. Annual Gross Revenue
  9. Number of Bookkeeping Clients
  10. Services Provided
  11. Billing Methods
  12. Billing Rates/Fees
    1. Bookkeeping Hourly Rate
    2. Accounting/Write-up Average Monthly Fee
    3. Payroll Average Monthly Fee for 5 Employees
    4. Tax Preparation Average Form 1040 Fee
    5. Tax Preparation Average Business Return Fee
    6. QuickBooks Setup, Personal Training, and Support Hourly Rate
  13. Industries Served
  14. Financial Software Supported
  15. Financial Software Used Internally
  16. Member Affiliations

NACPB Regions
The Survey asks the public bookkeeper to identify his/her geographical location by region. NACPB divides the nation into five geographical regions as follows:

  1. Midwest - Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, and Wisconsin.
  2. Northwest - Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming.
  3. Northeast - Connecticut, Delaware, District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, and Vermont.
  4. Southeast - Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
  5. Southwest - Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, and Utah.

The Survey responses are listed according to these regions.

Qualification
NACPB's Public Bookkeeper National Survey is not a scientific survey. A representative sample of public bookkeepers is invited to participate in the Survey via press releases, email, and direct mail.

Press releases are sent to national bookkeeping, accounting, payroll, and QuickBooks media; email is sent to NACPB's collective email database of over 18,000 emails, and direct mail is sent to over 16,000 small business bookkeeping, accounting, and payroll provider Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes. Thus, the Survey includes a comprehensive representation of public bookkeepers, accountants, payroll providers, and QuickBooks advisors.

The 2007 Survey includes the following number of responses based on NACPB Regions:

Midwest
Northwest
Northeast
Southeast
Southwest
National
511
219
635
707
1501
3591

Conclusion
In our opinion, the NACPB Public Bookkeeper Annual Survey presents fairly, in all material respects, the owner and business information of public bookkeepers in the United States as of May 31, 2007.

Copyright
NACPB's Public Bookkeeper Annual Survey 2007 or any part thereof can be used or cited without the consent of NACPB, providing NACPB is recognized as the source of the information used or cited.

Tip: If you have taken the Survey, we suggest you compare your responses to the Survey results. If you have not taken the Survey, we suggest you take the Survey and compare your responses to the Survey.

To take or view the 2007 Survey, go to www.nacpb.org/survey2007.cfm.

OWNER INFORMATION

Professional Designations
Percentage of public bookkeepers using the following designations:

Description

Midwest

Northwest

Northeast

Southeast

Southwest

National

Bookkeeper

55%

64%

69%

58%

63%

62%

Accountant

78%

64%

54%

66%

44%

56%

Payroll Provider

39%

50%

35%

38%

47%

42%

Tax Planner/Preparer

61%

55%

55%

52%

59%

57%

QuickBooks Advisor

39%

64%

46%

48%

50%

48%

Accounting Education
Percentage of public bookkeepers with the following accounting education:

Description

Midwest

Northwest

Northeast

Southeast

Southwest

National

One Year Certificate

6%

5%

3%

4%

7%

6%

Associate's Degree

24%

9%

17%

11%

17%

16%

Bachelor's Degree

41%

55%

49%

56%

36%

44%

Master's Degree

10%

5%

11%

3%

17%

11%

None

20%

27%

20%

25%

23%

23%

Certifications or Accreditations
Percentage of public bookkeepers with the following certifications or accreditations:

Description

Midwest

Northwest

Northeast

Southeast

Southwest

National

Certified Public Bookkeeper (CPB)

6%

14%

2%

10%

5%

6%

Certified Bookkeeper (CB)

2%

9%

5%

3%

5%

4%

Certified Public Accountant (CPA)

18%

14%

11%

3%

10%

10%

Public Accountant (PA)

6%

18%

9%

10%

7%

8%

Certified QuickBooks ProAdvisor

14%

23%

17%

13%

25%

19%

Enrolled Agent (EA)

29%

23%

22%

27%

45%

33%

Years of Experience
Percentage of public bookkeepers with the following years of experience:

Description

Midwest

Northwest

Northeast

Southeast

Southwest

National

Under 1 year

0%

0%

2%

0%

0%

0%

1 to 3 years

4%

0%

2%

1%

2%

2%

3 to 5 years

2%

5%

2%

4%

3%

3%

5 to 10 years

12%

5%

5%

7%

10%

8%

10 to 20 years

25%

27%

22%

18%

22%

22%

Over 20 years

55%

64%

69%

68%

58%

62%

No response

2%

0%

0%

1%

5%

3%

BUSINESS INFORMATION

Business Entity
Percentage of public bookkeepers with the following business entity:

Description

Midwest

Northwest

Northeast

Southeast

Southwest

National

Sole Proprietor

35%

55%

52%

32%

45%

43%

Partnership

4%

0%

0%

6%

1%

2%

Limited Liability Company

12%

9%

23%

13%

13%

14%

Corporation

12%

27%

3%

11%

11%

11%

S Corp

25%

9%

22%

30%

22%

23%

No response

12%

0%

0%

8%

8%

7%

Home Based Business
Percentage of public bookkeepers with home based businesses:

Description

Midwest

Northwest

Northeast

Southeast

Southwest

National

Yes

41%

50%

60%

41%

35%

42%

No

59%

50%

40%

58%

58%

54%

No response

0%

0%

0%

1%

7%

3%

Part-time of Full-time Professional
Percentage of public bookkeepers working part or full time:

Description

Midwest

Northwest

Northeast

Southeast

Southwest

National

Part time

22%

9%

22%

21%

19%

20%

Full time

78%

91%

78%

76%

75%

77%

No response

0%

0%

0%

3%

5%

3%

Years in Business
Percentage of public bookkeepers with the following years in business:

Description

Midwest

Northwest

Northeast

Southeast

Southwest

National

Under 1 year

0%

5%

6%

8%

4%

5%

1 to 3 years

14%

14%

11%

4%

8%

9%

3 to 5 years

12%

5%

5%

13%

7%

8%

5 to 10 years

18%

18%

11%

11%

11%

13%

10 to 20 years

14%

27%

23%

15%

19%

19%

Over 20 years

43%

32%

43%

46%

43%

43%

No response

0%

0%

2%

1%

7%

3%

Number of Business Owners
Percentage of public bookkeepers with the following number of business owners:

Description

Midwest

Northwest

Northeast

Southeast

Southwest

National

1

80%

86%

86%

79%

69%

77%

2

12%

9%

11%

13%

21%

15%

3

4%

0%

2%

3%

4%

3%

4

2%

5%

0%

0%

0%

1%

5

0%

0%

0%

1%

0%

0%

Over 5

0%

0%

0%

1%

1%

1%

No response

2%

0%

2%

3%

6%

4%

Number of Professional Employees
Percentage of public bookkeepers with the following number of professional employees:

Description

Midwest

Northwest

Northeast

Southeast

Southwest

National

None

35%

23%

38%

28%

31%

32%

1 to 3

47%

64%

40%

44%

44%

45%

3 to 5

10%

14%

9%

13%

11%

11%

5 to 10

6%

0%

8%

8%

3%

5%

Over 10

2%

0%

2%

6%

3%

3%

No response

0%

0%

3%

1%

9%

5%

Website
Percentage of public bookkeepers with a Website:

Description

Midwest

Northwest

Northeast

Southeast

Southwest

National

Yes

43%

50%

45%

62%

49%

50%

No

51%

50%

52%

38%

51%

48%

No response

6%

0%

3%

0%

0%

2%

Annual Gross Revenue
Percentage of public bookkeepers with the following annual gross revenue:

Description

Midwest

Northwest

Northeast

Southeast

Southwest

National

Under $100,000

55%

50%

54%

44%

45%

48%

$100,000 to $250,000

27%

36%

22%

31%

30%

29%

$250,000 to $500,000

4%

9%

11%

10%

11%

10%

$500,000 to $750,000

8%

0%

5%

4%

5%

5%

$750,000 to $1,000,000

0%

0%

2%

1%

0%

1%

 Over $1,000,000

4%

0%

3%

6%

2%

3%

No response

2%

5%

5%

4%

7%