history could help accountant-vendor relations

think about where you want your business to be.

by seth fineberg

the phrase “history is the greatest teacher” can be applied in many ways, but to me it does not ring truer than when thinking of the current state of accountant-vendor relations. in short, it’s not all that good.

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the accounting profession has evolved to the point to where there is a tool for every task, and the choices have never been more plentiful or the process of selecting one more challenging. at the same time, having overseen this profession as long as i have, the thing that’s been clear is the risks of tying so much of what you do to one vendor.

this isn’t to say that there are no benefits to building much of your practice around a particular product set. but when it gets to a point at which whatever a particular vendor decides becomes damaging in some way to your practice, you may want rethink how you’ve structured your business.

in my history, i’ve seen where tying so much of your own business to a particular vendor can indeed have a negative impact. at the very least, it becomes disruptive.

product prices fluctuate and then somehow advantages you may have enjoyed or felt and that sense of being a part of a network or general “consideration” whenever product changes were made became a memory. what you are left with is what you started with: your business as you’ve set it up and the decisions to evolve it (or not).

the main argument i am making is that no software vendor you choose should have a negative influence on your ability to run a profitable business. certainly, there is a level of trust that you have with the service providers that you choose to align with that they won’t do anything to adversely affect your business. in return, you will continue to use and even recommend their products. but that only goes so far.

in the end, big software companies are going to behave like big software companies and not community businesses or charity organizations. i know it sounds obvious, but the evidence is historically consistent, and in the accounting sector it’s no different.

i’ve personally witnessed where small or midsized firms using a software company from their “early days” stayed with them through their own major growth, somehow expecting to be treated exactly the same with pricing and service as they’ve always been. i can call out brands like microsoft, sage, thomson, cch and, over the last several years, intuit. these are all companies with deep, historical ties to the accounting profession.

and make no mistake, just because a company establishes an accountant-centric program, it doesn’t mean they are responsible for your business. their job is to sell to you or through you to their clients, that is all.

again, this may be obvious, but when companies do things in their own interest as a business, don’t respond like they are doing it to you. even if ads come out appearing to attack you and what you do, that’s on them, and poor advertising will eventually come home to roost.

certainly, pricing and service do matter, that is a given. just as when you increase your own prices, you don’t expect service to stay stagnant or diminish for your clients (nor do they, for that matter). and yes, ultimately, there should be some line of communication to prepare for such changes so that your business can make necessary adjustments.

so as you look to make plans for the new year and beyond, think about where you want your business to be. do you want to be so tied to a particular vendor that you can’t effectively pass on the costs or even have enough positive revenue that whatever they do won’t matter in the end? considering solutions like subscription pricing or other inclusive “packages” can help with the structure, as well as higher-value service offerings.

back to the software platform decisions you make, remember that these days you do have choices, more than at any other time in the profession’s history. use what you need, not what you feel you have to, and make those products and relationships work for you and your clients.