tax pros are expanding and earning more
income tax prep prices hit $248 for individuals, $604 for business returns.
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
pricing, fees & billing rates
it’s okay to say no to clients (even the large ones)
working with “smaller” clients can often be more rewarding – and profitable – than “big” clients.
by frank stitely
the relentless cpa
there’s a reason you aren’t actively training clients to allow you to work efficiently. you’re afraid that you’ll lose clients.
i guarantee that you will.
more: control your time: avoid ambush meetings and calls | get clients to bring tax docs early … yes, early | why time tracking still matters | make fewer mistakes, increase revenue and capacity | six ways to create a millennial-friendly firm | do you know your turnaround time?
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clients have trained you to be inefficient. they’ll resist retraining. some of them will leave and infect someone else’s practice.
the reason you fear losing clients is that you fear you can’t replace them.
stop sending the wrong message to audit teams
audit is becoming further commodified.
by alan anderson
transforming audit for the future
instant download:
“the new manifesto for accountants.“
the value of what we provide to clients has declined until it has become a commodity. that, in turn, drives our fees down.
the lack of innovation means that our clients can’t tell the difference between the audit we do and one done by the firm down the street. none of them provide relevant information or any value to our clients.
more: three fundamental questions to ask in audit | how auditors can beat ai | the big issues in audit: frustration, inconsistency and technology | five ways to increase audit efficiency | early adopters gain an edge in audit | talent retention: five tips for an audit adjustment | six benefits of an internal audit | the ten financial controls that’ll make you a hero | five cash reports you can’t live without | when an audit is a great thing
if our clients don’t see the value, then the audit is only being done to meet a regulatory or banking requirement, and in that case, the cheapest option that meets that basic requirement is the one they choose.
five rules for a marketing orientation
why the alternatives don’t work anymore.
by august j. aquila
price it right: how to value accounting services
let’s look at the different focuses or orientations that firms can take toward managing and running their practices and see which ones the traditional pricing methods encourage.
more: the damage that traditional fee methods do | four ways to prepare for new business development | ten keys to marketing success
any organization, whether an accounting firm or not, usually tends to have one of four focuses. they are either selling-oriented, product-oriented, production-oriented or marketing-oriented.
read more →
the damage that traditional fee methods do
the rule of three and cost-plus overlook some key considerations.
by august j. aquila
price it right: how to value accounting services
the time has come for the accounting professional to rethink the paradigm on which pricing has been based. let’s discuss the traditional methods of price setting and how they can have a negative impact on a firm.
more: four ways to prepare for new business development | ten keys to marketing success
somewhere along the line accountants began to believe that an hour of their work had a set value to their clients. as we shall see, this false assumption has led to the current state of affairs and has caused accountants to:
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the role of strategy in pricing
consider the value conferred to the customer.
by ed mendlowitz
77 ways to wow!
pricing strategies need to vary based upon what is being sold.
products sold range from commodities all the way to highly customized products or services. factors determining the pricing and value to the customer are the product and its classification, the perception of use and value, the impact of branding in creating the quality, ease of availability or degree of scarcity, how delivered and timing and cost of delivery, volume and frequency of orders, inventory needs and type of customer.
more: how to react to trends | where is your firm in its lifecycle? | wow clients with trend analysis | trends are all around us | six kinds of loan covenants | 26 ways to wreck a financial projection | how to prepare business plan financial projections | what’s more profitable, raising or lowering prices? | three ways to run a break-even analysis
cost is also a factor in the pricing, but it is unrelated to the value to the customer. no business can sustain itself if the pricing does not permit a profit.
read more →
get clients to bring tax docs early … yes, early
the secret? humor, sarcasm and shame.
by frank stitely
the relentless cpa
there are easy ways to get clients to do what we need them to do. in our office, we call the process “training” clients. one of our biggest headaches is the late delivery of tax materials. so, we train our clients to bring their tax documents in early.
more: you train your clients, whether you mean to or not | train your clients before they train you | why time tracking still matters | business owners face one of three exits | don’t let clients dictate tax workflow | make fewer mistakes, increase revenue and capacity | how small firms can win the talent wars | easy ways to avoid ‘done but’ tax returns | six ways to create a millennial-friendly firm | do you know your turnaround time?
we accomplish this through a series of e-blasts explaining our deadlines. the e-blasts start in december, and we call them “countdown to tax season.” they cover much more than our deadlines for clients to provide business and personal income tax returns documents.
when it comes to pricing it’s about ‘can’t afford not to’
pricing based on efforts is all wrong.
by w. michael hsu
how often do you hear from clients that you’re too expensive or xxx firm can do it cheaper? the lesson in having that conversation is that it can’t be ‘can you afford it’ it’s: “can’t afford not to.’
more w. michael hsu: seven principles to work less and achieve more | how do firm leaders learn? | why your approach to cas and cfo services is wrong | your client base is global |
the concept of “you can’t afford not to” is a popular one in the world of entrepreneurship and one that cpas, especially those pricing cas services, need to learn. it is the idea that sometimes, even if something seems costly, you cannot afford not to do it because the cost of doing nothing or doing it yourself is even greater.
this idea is often applied to outsourcing or hiring, where entrepreneurs may feel they cannot afford to hire someone else or outsource a task. however, the truth is that they cannot afford not to.
three demos: pricing your value add
how to take that big first step.
by penny breslin
it’s not just the numbers
the big part of pricing is the value added. how do we go from fixed to value-added pricing where the firm actually can really make a difference and move from just back-office support to client advisory services? the steps to get there mean providing the base of bos so that you have the needed knowledge to perform client advisory services.
more: set expectations with an anticipatory set | get the most out of your client meeting | why bos calls for flat rates | four steps for controlling source documents | why you need standard naming conventions | procedures require regular revisiting
the u.s. bureau of labor statistics states that about 20 percent of small businesses will fail in their first year and by the end of the fifth year 50 percent will fail.
read more →
the why behind your cas why
four ingredients to consider.
by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide
“why did i start my accounting firm/practice?”
if you are the owner of your firm, print this in a bold, big font and post it somewhere in such a way that you can see it, even if it is just in your peripheral vision, every moment when you are working at your desk.
more: who is the professional?
if you are a partner of the firm or an employee, print the following question to post it where you can see it all the time:
“why did i get into the accounting profession?”
read more →
jackie meyer: be a problem solver, not a number cruncher
jackie meyer: redefine your boundaries and stop conforming to inappropriate behaviors.
subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: apple, google, spotify, iheart, deezer, amazon music and audible, player fm, audacy, gaana (india), and boomplay (africa).
the disruptors 
with liz farr for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
jackie meyer is a fan of value pricing and niching your practice. her favorite area is tax planning, which doesn’t require a huge investment of time to provide huge financial benefits for clients.
her own firm tripled revenues by focusing on tax planning.
more: randy crabtree: follow these three rules to keep employees happy | erik solbakken: yes, you can work less and make more | donny shimamoto: future firm growth requires a mindshift | jennifer wilson: empower young workers to build the firm everyone loves | mike whitmire: re-think your hiring and training practices | hector garcia: success strategies of a quickbooks youtube superstar | blake oliver: why tax work yearns to be free| private equity explodes in u.k. | brannon poe: the status quo must go | accounting nerds, unlock your super powers | disruptor: jason statts shakes up the status quo | think small to think big with matt wilkinson | when financial statements go extinct with corey schmidt | can geraldine carter save accountants from themselves? | re-inventing accounting with tyler anderson
firms that focus on low-volume, highly-niched areas solve several problems at once.
why bos calls for flat rates
timesheets are used, but for tracking productivity.
by penny breslin
it’s not just the numbers
let’s get to the big questions that confound professional service providers of all types in today’s tech environment:
- how do i charge my client for these services?
- how do i continue to get paid?
- how do i charge hourly for processes that will be taking less and less time because of the application of technology?
more: four steps for controlling source documents | why you need standard naming conventions | how to develop internal procedures | workflow tools can deepen client relationships | going viral: today’s top marketing strategies | which kind of team do you have? | meet the new bos | why ai is not the enemy
fixed pricing
flat-rate billing is the logical choice for back office support (bos) services. this fixed pricing is typically used for monthly recurring work. we can do this by knowing how long it takes to create any given transaction. there will be swings in time, but the idea is that the fixed monthly rate considers the busiest season or months for the business. that way, on less heavy months, you receive the same rate and it makes up for the times when the workload increases.
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clayton oates: one way to keep clients for life
play the infinite game and 11 more takaways
subscribe to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 podcasts anywhere: apple, google, spotify, iheart, deezer, amazon music and audible, player fm, audacy, gaana (india), and boomplay (africa).
the disruptors
with liz farr for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
“we’re ultimately in the people business. we’re in the relationship-building business. we just happen to do accounting.”
that’s how clayton oates, the founder of qa business, views the accounting profession.
more: randy crabtree: follow these three rules to keep employees happy | erik solbakken: yes, you can work less and make more | donny shimamoto: future firm growth requires a mindshift | jennifer wilson: empower young workers to build the firm everyone loves | mike whitmire: re-think your hiring and training practices | hector garcia: success strategies of a quickbooks youtube superstar | blake oliver: why tax work yearns to be free| private equity explodes in u.k. | brannon poe: the status quo must go | accounting nerds, unlock your super powers | disruptor: jason statts shakes up the status quo | think small to think big with matt wilkinson | when financial statements go extinct with corey schmidt | can geraldine carter save accountants from themselves? | re-inventing accounting with tyler anderson
oates also believes accountants can choose whether they are playing a finite, zero-sum game with clients or the infinite game, which continues forever and results in an abundance forever mindset with clients, who will then be your clients for life.