providing client accounting services gives them your best.
by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide
an accountant in practice in germany sent me this message after purchasing “the definitive success guide to client accounting services:”
“i only began reading your book today in the morning before work. when i browsed through the content, i already was blown away. being 60.5 years old, i try to stay fit body- and mind-wise. sometimes i doubt, a little bit, whether i should carry on. but when i read your soul-touching intro, i felt the fresh energy flowing. thank you so much for showing the shining of true potential!”
more: 15 services that cas clients need | a job description for client accounting services | why cas is great for revenue growth
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yes, i felt a sense of fulfillment. but the bigger reason their message is more important for me is that professional accountants’ experience and expertise are so much more vital and necessary than ever before.
i have been interacting with leaders of some more accounting firms that bought the book. one of the common new insights that emerged from these recent discussions is that clients need their accountants to guide and lead them, especially in this economy.
i believe this was always the case, but the pandemic being the first such global health and resultant economic crisis experienced in the lives of all entrepreneurs, this recognition is crystal clear now.
but, how does this fact turn into practical, new decisions for accounting firms? here are some quick thoughts.
- it is evident to many firms that the increased needs of clients simply mean providing more services to their clients. in the cas research that we conducted, it was discovered that cas firms offer 2x the number of services non-cas firms provide. firms that now want to deliver cas or expand their cas practice can add new knowledge, processes, technology, and overall competencies. but not necessarily so. i discussed this in detail in the cas book but to quickly share a starting point: it is easier for your firm to review your existing processes, identify duplicative efforts and remove them, especially by leveraging automation in accounting and related software. you can release staff capacity to do more cas work and increase revenue/profit per staff while helping clients with more services, advice, and guidance.
- it is not just about ppp/employee retention credits, etc. – additional services/work that emerged from the new, short-term legislation intended to provide relief from the pandemic’s debilitating effect on business. it did make clients realize that accountants are the best-suited professionals to help them navigate the new complexities, now and in the future. accountants need to leverage this strengthening of client relationships, and that is where cas has the most powerful potential. offering cas is inevitable for accountants who feel their true purpose in life is about helping others succeed. the more types of accounting-related work you do for your clients, the more you would understand clients’ businesses, trends and situations, to be able to really help clients strengthen their businesses.
- at many firms, the accounting services staff is predominantly tasked with processing/producing work. generally, such staff does not interact much with clients about how to leverage insights from accounting information for enhancing their businesses. clients now need more help and quickly. to quickly deliver value, without partners’ time being the bottleneck, reskilling/upskilling of staff is necessary. it is not difficult to do so and does not require several hours of classroom training. i have provided some proven ideas on this in my book. for example, you can create a centrally updated document of questions that each of your clients is asking and then have periodic staff meetings to go over the answers that partners provide. invariably, you will find there are some repeating, most common questions clients ask.
- when you provide cas, you are privy to almost all fundamental business drivers of your clients’ businesses. you connect the dots between sales, purchases, payroll, taxes, compliance, internal processes, and most importantly, the business decisions your clients make or do not make. the financial numbers of clients’ businesses reflect the net impact of all these fundamentals. cas gives you the opportunity to have an overall, more comprehensive sense and feel of your clients’ businesses. and that empowers you to help and guide your clients in more of their needs.
- if you do not offer cas, if you do not provide comprehensive insights and advice that your clients need in what perhaps is the most fragile time in their entrepreneurial lifecycle, somebody else will. this statement is not to induce fear but to draw your undivided attention to the fact that clients now need you far more than before.
it is not just an opportunity but the calling to your core purpose of becoming a professional accountant. isn’t it?
how are your clients’ expectations changing?
please feel free to email me or add to the comments below.