Accounting Today – A Secret Weapon for Growth: Market Research
- Unlike their counterparts in other professional service sectors, accounting firms are largely missing out on the benefits of market research.
- Firms that engage more in research have had significantly higher growth rates and profitability while spending less on marketing.
- These firms also leverage technology better, track metrics more confidently, and have strategies to deal with talent shortages.
- “Data is like X-ray vision. It lets you see what’s actually happening in your organization.”
Accounting Today – Voices Art of Accounting: Finding the Flaws in Your Exit Strategy
Here are insights to help improve your firm exit strategy:
- Balance Exit Goals and Work Style – Acknowledge the inherent conflict between maximizing present income and building a business for an optimal exit strategy, and make a deliberate choice based on your personal preferences and lifestyle.
- Hiring Strategy: Current Needs First – Focus on hiring staff that meet current operational needs and complement your work style, rather than primarily for their potential in a future buyout.
- Consider Staff’s Entrepreneurial Spirit – When considering staff for future partnership or ownership, evaluate their entrepreneurial tendencies, such as whether they have successfully run a side practice.
- Analyze Long-Term Financial Impact – Carefully evaluate the financial implications of an exit strategy, including additional costs over time, and whether these can be recouped in a buyout.
- Prepare for Unforeseen Circumstances – Develop contingency plans for unexpected events, like premature retirement or the loss of a designated successor, to ensure business continuity.
- Understand Human Dynamics in Succession – Recognize that interpersonal and generational dynamics will influence the timing and nature of transitioning ownership.
- Evaluate Partnering with Smaller Practices – Consider partnering with owners of smaller practices for immediate practice expansion rather than as an exit strategy, as this offers different dynamics and benefits.
- Reflect on Various Exit Options – Thoroughly explore all exit options, such as selling, merging, or transitioning the firm to its staff, and tailor your strategy to your personal circumstances and preferences.
- Decision Timing and Flexibility – Avoid rushing into decisions regarding exit strategies and remain open to adjustments as circumstances and goals evolve.
Accounting Today – Voices Navigating Tax Season Amid the Accounting Attrition Crisis
- More than 300k accountants and auditors left their roles in the past two years, and this significant attrition is exacerbating the accounting profession’s staffing crisis.
- Some ways to navigate the staffing shortage while continuing to provide excellent service to your clients include the following:
- Maintain Year-Round Communication With Clients – Engage with clients continuously, not just during tax season, including providing them with prompt updates regarding significant changes in tax laws and regulations.
- Embrace Cloud Accounting Software – If you have not done so already, implement cloud-based solutions to automate accounting processes.
- Adopt Emerging Technologies – Integrate artificial intelligence into your firm’s processes processes, which can allow staff to work on higher-value work that is more engaging.
CPA Practice Advisor – Eight Steps For Building Better Client Engagements
Some ways to enhance the quality of your client engagements include the following:
- Manage your clients’ expectations including the cost and timeline they can expect
- Foster transparency and trust
- Get clients to accept your engagement letters before you start your work, and ensure they clearly specify your scope of work and how conflicts would be resolved (e.g., mediation or arbitration), and
- Focus on providing a high-quality customer experience for all client touch points with your firm.
CPA Practice Advisor – Personalized Client Surveys Can Create Stronger Relationships
- Client Surveys Enhance Relationships – After tax season, implement a client satisfaction survey to deepen your firm’s understanding of clients’ experiences and preferences.
- Set Clear Survey Objectives – Define the survey’s goals, whether it’s to assess client satisfaction, gather service feedback, or identify future client needs.
- Personalize Survey Communications – Use client names and tailor questions to their specific interactions with your firm.
- Keep Surveys Brief and Relevant – Design the survey to be concise, aiming for 10-15 questions to respect clients’ time while still gathering sufficient data.
- Use a User-Friendly Survey Design – Create surveys with a clear layout and simple questions.
- Offer Incentives for Participation – Encourage survey completion with a thank you note or a small reward, like a donation to a nonprofit for each survey a client completes.
- Customize Questions for Your Firm – Tailor survey questions to reflect your firm’s services and your clients’ industries, ensuring relevancy and targeted feedback.
- Clearly Communicate the Purpose of Each Survey – Send a personalized email to clients that explains the survey’s importance and how their feedback will help improve the services you provide them.
- Take Action Based on What You Learn – Implement changes based on the feedback you receive, and share with your clients what changes you made based on their feedback.
Forbes – 20 Growth Strategies To Elevate Your CPA Practice
- Use AI – Adopt AI tools to automate mundane tasks, which allows people working at your firm to focus more on substantive and high-value activities.
- Prioritize Partnership Over Sales – Focus on being a trusted partner and advisor to your clients to build long-term relationships with them rather than merely focusing on selling services to them even if it wouldn’t be a great fit.
- Integrate Automation for Efficiency – Implement automation in operations, such as data entry and invoicing, to free up time.
- Foster Collaborative Client Relationships – Work closely with clients to understand their needs and provide tailored solutions.
- Build a Global Team for Talent – Address talent shortages by creating a global team, shifting focus from the number of hours your firm spends working for a client to an outcome-based business model.
- Focus on Tax Planning Strategies – Incorporate tax planning alongside preparation, advising business owners on strategies like SEP IRAs to minimize tax burdens.
- Collaborate with Diverse Advisors – Recognize and address clients’ unmet needs by collaborating with a network of professional advisors for comprehensive solutions.
Future Firm – What My Firm’s Sales Process Looked Like
Here’s a summary of the sales process Ryan Lazanis used for his CPA firm, which he described in a recent Future Firm Podcast.
- Initial Inquiry Stage:
- Receive inquiries through the website.
- Include a button on the website for a free assessment.
- Direct clients to a simple form requesting name, email, and a multiple-choice question about their needs.
- Pre-Discovery Call for Information Gathering:
- After the initial form, direct clients to a second, more detailed form.
- Ask about 10 questions on a scale of 1 to 10 to understand areas of pain in their accounting processes.
- Use this information to identify client concerns and potential service needs.
- Scheduling and Email Confirmation:
- Prompt clients to schedule a discovery call on the same page.
- Send an email confirming the call and stating the firm’s starting prices.
- Use this step to filter out price-sensitive clients and test clients’ tech savviness and cooperation.
- Discovery Call:
- Conduct a 45-minute to 1-hour call to learn about the client’s business and the scope of work.
- Focus on understanding what drives value for the client.
- Proposal Presentation:
- Schedule a second call to present three service options (Gold, Silver, Bronze) at different price points.
- Explain each tier of service and ask the client to choose the preferred option.
- Engagement and Expectation Setting:
- Send out an engagement letter defining expectations and scope of work.
- Include the agreed-upon monthly fixed price.
Public Accountant (Australia) – How to Use Technology to Recruit Young Accountants and Earn Client Trust
- Identify Needs Before Implementing Technology – Prioritize identifying the specific challenges or opportunities in your firm before implementing any technological solutions to ensure the technology you implement serves a clear purpose.
- Attract Young Talent – Appeal to younger accountants by offering opportunities for meaningful client interactions and professional growth.
- Promote Staff Training – Continually educate your team on effectively leveraging technology to enhance their productivity and service quality.
- Understand Young Accountants’ Values – Recognize that younger professionals often seek positions in smaller firms for closer community, mentorship, and broader skill development.
