Article Title

Is Public Accounting Eating Its Seed Corn? An Assessment Of The Outsourcing Of Tax Work

Authors

Timothy J. Fogarty, Case Western Reserve UniversityFollow
R. Drew Sellers, Kent State UniversityFollow
Dave Jones, Temple UniversityFollow

Document Type

Article

Abstract

For many years, public accounting firms have sent much of their tax compliance work to overseas centers for assembly and initial processing. This has achieved labor cost savings for the firms and is made possible by digital data conversion and the belief that the work itself has been commodified. Relocating the work that used to be done by US tax staff may have had some dysfunctional long-term consequences including inhibiting US staff skill and expertise development. This paper offers the data created by 27 interviews with US tax professionals to inform this domain. We also consider possible solutions suggested by the participants in this community of practice.

Recommended Citation

Fogarty, T., R. Sellers, and D. Jones. 2021. Is Public Accounting Eating Its Seed Corn? An Assessment Of The Outsourcing Of Tax Work. The North American Accounting Studies 4 (1): 34-50.