bridge the gap between our views and those of clients.
by hitendra patil
the definitive success guide to client accounting services
over the past about three years, i have been keenly observing, following and analyzing the evolution of cas as one of the topmost new revenue and growth segments for firms of almost all sizes. i have been reading every piece of content, whitepapers, documents, research reports, survey results, etc., related to cas, and discovering and debating insights from them.
more: how cas makes firms better | cas: finding the why behind the why | how to lead clients into client accounting services | cas begins with a mindset
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my day-to-day work involves interacting with customers. for the past 16 years, i have been working exclusively with accountants. every day, i speak with accountants about what services they offer under cas, what is working and not working, what are the challenges in creating their cas practices, how is cas differentiated, and so on.
in my personal capacity, i have conducted a brief private survey to find out what are the top questions accountants have in their minds about cas. i found 18 unique, but common questions, and six of them were the most commonly asked. in this series of posts, i will cover the answers to these critical questions.
the cas survey by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
i partnered with rick telberg, ceo of www.g005e.com, to launch a professionwide, much larger cas survey. the survey went on to become perhaps the largest such cas survey undertaken in the accounting profession.
it took us nearly three months to design the survey as we questioned each question that we put on the survey – to analyze which insights could come out from the answers of each question and whether those insights would be beneficial for the accounting firms and professionals. we took the survey to firms of all sizes, across the country, to firms offering different types of services – to make sure that the survey results would be highly representative of what is happening in the accounting profession’s leap toward cas.
the cas survey summary
the summary of survey results described here can give you only a glimpse of what are the underlying drivers of establishing and growing a successful cas practice. as i continue these posts, i will uncover a more in-depth analysis of many of these findings, including the contrast between cas and non-cas firms.
respondent profile
- nine in 10 respondents are owners or ceos of their firms.
- about 88 percent of respondents work in public tax, accounting, bookkeeping or consulting firms.
- some 52 percent of respondents work in firms of two to 10 persons.
key findings
- the biggest reason accounting firms give for not offering client accounting services is a lack of capable staffers, cited by 45 percent of firms.
- many firms that currently do not offer cas are already providing many of the functions that make up cas.
- among firms currently offering cas, 88 percent say cas is “important to the firm’s future,” including 64 percent that agree strongly.
- among firms currently offering cas, 95 percent also provide tax prep, followed at 71 percent by tax strategy advisory services.
- among firms that offer cas, 41 percent price it at a fixed fee or flat rate.
- among firms offering cas, 44 percent use cas-specific engagement letters.
- among firms offering cas, 42 percent are “satisfied” with the performance of the firm’s cas business, and 15 percent are “very satisfied,” totaling 57 percent. the rest are neutral or, to some extent, dissatisfied.
- some 80 percent of respondents are currently offering client accounting services, with almost half of the rest, 9 percent, considering it.
some key insights that emerged from the survey
- there is a gap between the value of cas offering as seen by accountants and that perceived by clients, putting pressure on pricing, and hence profitability. one key challenge to overcome in this regard seems to be how to make clients/prospects understand the value of cas measurably and clearly.
- staffing and talent shortage seems to be a common theme that lowers firms’ satisfaction with their cas results.
- the most common theme for enhancing satisfaction at firms seems to be the eternal quest for improvement that has been the driving force of the accounting profession’s progress for years. cas is no exception.
- cas is seen as transformative at the firm level, and hence disruptive too, to some extent.
- this realization makes it possible for firms to anticipate the new possibilities of firm performance but also the reality check that reduces satisfaction in the current level of cas performance.
- being busy in producing and delivering work seems to have kept firms from identifying and working on creating new or additional value services that can be sold under the cas offering.
we designed the survey to help analyze the impact of cas on firms’
- profitability,
- revenue growth,
- staff morale,
- client satisfaction and
- ability to attract new clients.