But, what is the quality of the information given to clients when official requirements haven’t been fulfilled? How will clients know how to make business decisions if the requirements are taken care of—but they don’t know what their financial metrics mean?

Neither compliance nor advisory is enough on their own for a client to meet the minimum requirement of being compliant as well as financially literate.

This is why compliance and advisory must go hand-in-hand.

In 2020, Canada saw over 250 federal and provincial regulatory changes within payroll guidelines alone. And with a larger country and more complex regulatory system, the climate in the United States is just as, if not more, challenging.

Although many firms usually manage payroll within their bookkeeping or accounting service segments, 2020 required compliance specialists to keep up with the sheer volume of changes.

We saw:

• An increase in the segmentation of payroll services as a specialized service line within firms

• Facebook groups for payroll administrators grow astronomically

• Small businesses become the fastest-growing segment of the Canadian Payroll Association

• Webinars discussing payroll compliance changes become some of Wagepoint’s best-attended

This shake-up in the payroll world has created opportunities for accounting firms that understand that payroll is not simply a bookkeeping task, but a specialized stream for compliance.

Providing strategic advisory services upon the solid foundation of compliance is the best way to deliver beyond your clients’ expectations.

Read the Rising Beyond the Challenge: A Practice Excellence Special Report for more insights on how the accounting industry has evolved since the pandemic.