don’t make the mistake of allowing a partner to scope the engagement alone.
by jody padar
radical pricing – by the radical cpa
partners, managers and accounting professionals must all understand scope to deliver the right amount of work for the engagement.
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everyone needs to be aligned. everyone needs to know what the customer ordered, how to deliver it and where the work ends.
fixed fees and up-front pricing rely on alignment and transparency and offer a different experience than clients find at traditional firms. when you let go of the billable hour and embrace a value-oriented mindset, your team starts thinking about value, customer experience and service needs. it all accrues to the best interests of the client and the firm.
your partner and managers also play an important role in maintaining scope alignment. the partner typically sells the service to the client. however, staff accountants and managers will do the bulk of the labor, so it’s important for managers and partners to be on the same page throughout the scoping and pricing process.
it’s also important the partner hears the manager, who is far more engaged with the file and has a better idea of what it will actually take to get the work done.
it’s important for all parties—clients, staff, managers and partners—to be aligned on scope and price to keep everyone happy and committed.
because the partner typically leads the sale, they often want to scope the engagement alone. bad move!
having the manager and partner on the same page is important because managers need to articulate and manage the scope of an engagement as staff accountants tackle the work. also, managers often have a more realistic perspective on what the engagement requires.
when a partner goes it alone, the price often doesn’t align with the actual requirements of the engagement. suddenly, the client isn’t getting the deliverables on time, and the firm’s costs are higher than anticipated. everyone ends up in hot water.
like anything good in this world, it takes a team.