An Analysis of Operating Strategies to Promote Performance in the CPA Industry in Taiwan

Abstract

This paper investigates the impact of four factors, including business location and business style, market regional distribution, human configuration and business specialization or diversification, on the operating performance of an accounting firm. The data is obtained from the “2011 accounting firm service industry survey report” compiled by the Financial Supervisory Commission (FSC), which provides 571 valid firms as a sample. This paper conducts a two-stage empirical test using multiple-regression analysis combined with a univariate statistical test. The dependent variable, to measure operating performance, is total business revenue. The independent variables include the number of business locations, resident CPA service, regular resident CPA service, resident professional service, city concentration, region concentration, human configuration concentration and business specialization. The control variables include the number of employees, period since establishment and partnership or sole proprietorship. According to the findings of this paper, more business locations and higher human configuration concentration result in better operating performance; and branch firms adopting two business styles, such as resident CPA service and resident professional service and higher region concentration experience poorer operating performance. The findings of this paper provide a reference for practical decision-making in terms of operation orientation, internal manpower distribution, and business strategies and form the basis of future improvements and the formulation of operating strategy.