bonus: how verticals and the gig economy can help you.
by penny breslin
it’s not just the numbers
taking on a client’s internal accounting work requires a level of comfort for both the business owner and the accounting firm. a client that has already provided you with access to sensitive financial data is easier to work with than a new business with no previous relationship. once you have done it well with current clients a few times, then you are ready to do this with prospects.
more: eight things to stop doing now | keep the accountants focused on accounting | which kind of team do you have? | you don’t have to do everything | what do you want advisory services to be? | meet the new bos | why ai is not the enemy
reader favorite: the 24 personalities of individual tax returns (and the clients behind them)
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
understand that to be able to effectively in-source your client’s internal accounting work to your accounting firm, you need on-demand access to your client’s information. it doesn’t work if you have to wait for someone to send you the information you need. understand that the processes you use today for write-up and compliance work will not transfer well to this level of client collaboration.
hopefully, most of your clients will be able to make the change to the new tech-focused way of working together, but not all of them will. all things change, or they die. ai is here, it is not going away, it will change quickly and change is imperative in order to survive in this new accounting future.
ten client types you need to know
technology may change, but human behavior doesn’t. more important than the accounting software or the type of work you perform is the relationship you and your staff have with your clients. keep this in mind when identifying prospective clients and evaluating your current clients. your firm may have its own measure of client types. here is a description of the types of clients, adapted from jack knight.
- the low-tech client: looks confused and disoriented when discussing anything high-tech. doesn’t like email and needs to go over everything multiple times. they bring in the shoebox when they get around to it. if they do the paperwork themselves, it is usually a mess. this client is often joked about, but nicely. they take a lot of time to service, but they do appreciate your expertise.
- the disinterested client: wants things done with as little effort on their part as possible. ask them questions about their finances or their business and they just don’t care. they rarely provide required information. have fun calling them and bugging them often for the work you need.
- the hands-on client: they were a back office support (bos) in a previous life. they know their books. they know what they want and just come to you for compliance work. if you see something wrong in their numbers or methods of doing the numbers you may feel compelled to tell them, knowing they will most likely ignore you. they pay but complain about fees because they are doing all the work anyway, aren’t they?
- the paranoid client: okay, so they were also a bos in a previous life. they will not use online anything. they complain often and trust nothing you tell them. place them in the pile that annually gets a dismissal letter and your competitor’s business card.
- the appreciative client: embarrassingly praises everything you do. they make your life easy and are enthusiastic for all your recommendations. they know what they do well, are self-aware and realize each person brings their core knowledge to the table. treat them kindly and be thankful you have them in your life. they are the gold in your business (if you look up, you will find them).
- the get-a-good-deal client: the fun is in the negotiation for them. they like bartering and will sometimes provide good referrals. cut them a fair deal but do ask for that referral.
- the i’ll-know-it-when-i-see-it client: aka, from the “show me state,” similar to the disinterested client, except they can never come to a decision. they will suck up a lot of time. a key question you should ask yourself when dealing with this type of client is, “have i got the time?”
- the always urgent client: always late and always a day after deadline. they may have good intentions, but frankly, this is not a priority for them until it becomes impossible for you. they cause stress and load-leveling your time is impossible. charge high hourly rates; they typically pay, so why not? with bos services, these clients really are a liability.
- the decision-by-committee client: they have to ask their spouse, partner, neighbor or dog before they can commit, even when you bring them good ideas in areas where they truly need help. if they are in your client pool, give what you can, move on and do not worry. once they check in with everyone and after the dog walk, they will get back to you.
- the budget client: if they see the value of your budget, great. if they want something for nothing, like the get-a-good-deal client, but are so tight, and all their referrals are the same … move on!
consider specializing in a vertical
besides selecting the kinds of clients you want to work with, you might also consider specializing in a particular industry niche. having a vertical focus can take several forms. maybe you like to work with service-based clients because inventory is not an area you want to deal with. retail pos systems are cloud-based in many smes and have integrations to cloud-based accounting packages. this makes managing a retail back office much easier than it has been in the past.
over the last decade, we’ve seen the rise of industry-specific accountants. for example, geni whitehouse, cpa, who serves as countess of communication at brotemarkle davis & co in napa valley, focuses on wineries. some new industries, such as cannabis, have their own slew of cloud-based back-office add-ons to accounting programs. real estate, farming, ranching and light manufacturing are other examples of industry verticals. the list is as long as the sic code list.
do you speak another language? korean, spanish, portuguese? this type of vertical is common in specific areas of the country.
nonprofits are another industry vertical which can be further broken down into specific types.
the benefit of specializing in an industry niche is that once you develop a set of processes and apps that work well for one client, you can roll out those learnings to more clients. build once, and do the work for multiple clients instead of building something new for each client.
the gig economy
in the last few years, there has been a focus on the gig economy. intuit has pushed both mint and quickbooks self-employed to that group. wave (waveapps.com) started by reaching out to these folks. 17hats is a project management system aimed at solo entrepreneurs.
there are a lot of gig workers and freelancers out there, and they need help too. i utilize uber almost everywhere, even in other countries. i always jump into the front seat and ask the drivers about their work. why do they do this? when did they start? how do they feel about it?
then i ask, “so how do you track the income for tax purposes?” invariably the u.s. uber drivers end up with my business card. i never offer it – i wait for them to ask for it. i then send them to a good bookkeeper or accountant in their area.
meetup groups are big in the gig world. i always give my business card out because people ask for it, not because i just pass it out automatically. a single good bookkeeper could build a nice monthly recurring business. i know because i did, and i am not even a salesperson or a “bookkeeper.”