client accounting services

why it is worthwhile.

by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide

client accounting services essentially requires an ability for your firm to be able to best serve the needs of all your clients. in other words, your firm’s technology stack, services, processes and pricing packages need to cater to businesses of different sizes, turnovers, as well as various levels of tech-savvyness of the business owners and their employees. in yet other words, your firm should have the ability to do part of the accounting work or all the work your clients offload to your firm.

more: yes, you have the staffing for cas | six steps to spreading cas awareness | how to tell who fits cas | cut cost by three quarters with cas? yes, please | client wants vs. needs | the big money in cas for small firms
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

in such cases, you want the technology stack to be as standardized as possible to avoid costly, error-prone and time-consuming need to deal with a variety of software. at the same time, when clients do part of the work, you must seek to implement collaborative technology on the cloud to eliminate duplication of data entry and mailing/emailing information back and forth between your firm and clients. this will, most likely, require you to convince your clients of the benefits of common, collaborative, cloud technology platform, and more likely than not, train the clients onto newer technologies. but the experience of hundreds of firms shows that the payoff far outweighs the cost of such efforts.
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it depends on your cloud use.

by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide

your firm’s current processes/procedures adapted to your current technology stack, or vice versa. trying to “fit in” client accounting services into your existing technology stack may become a challenge for you – not just from a procedural point of view but also from a profitability point of view. if your current technology stack is still more of desktop software, it could be nearly impossible for you to offer cas as profitably as potentially possible with non-desktop solutions.

more: yes, you have the staffing for cas | six steps to spreading cas awareness | how to tell who fits cas | cut cost by three quarters with cas? yes, please | client wants vs. needs | the big money in cas for small firms | the mindset you need for client accounting services
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

before you start thinking, “oh gosh, this is going to be a hugely expensive technological overhaul of my firm,” stop. cas does need you to adapt to an optimal technology mix, but it does not mean you just throw away your current technology and bring in entirely new technology. cas does not need a technological transformation of your firm. depending upon your existing technology stack, it may only require some reorganization, integration and adjustment.
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your clients may not know how it would help them.

by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide

what is stopping you from offering client accounting services? maybe your clients aren’t asking for it. no matter. unless you are providing only tax return preparation services only to individuals, you can, and should, make sure your clients learn about the many benefits of cas.

more: why firms shy away from cas | how to tell who fits cas | cut cost by three quarters with cas? yes, please | client wants vs. needs | the big money in cas for small firms | the mindset you need for client accounting services
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

i sent a quick one-question poll to randomly selected people. i had no clue if such people bought any services from accountants. the question was simple: “what word comes to your mind when you hear the word ‘accountant‘?”
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automate more? check. sell more services to the same clients? check.

by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide

if you feel offering client accounting services will bring in a lesser profit for you compared to the other services you are offering now, you may feel it is not a fit. it may be because you may have experienced others providing a lower rate, lower profitability commoditized services that you believe are actually cas offerings. if so, it is not your fault because there has been a great deal of confusion in the profession about what exactly is cas.

more: why firms shy away from cas | how to tell who fits cas | cut cost by three quarters with cas? yes, please | client wants vs. needs | the big money in cas for small firms | the mindset you need for client accounting services
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

you may still feel that some of the cas components are low-profit services, but those are like essential building blocks that lead to higher value, higher priced and hence higher profit services that you can sell to the same clients. what steps can you take to make cas one of the most profitable service segments for your firm?
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tell clients what they will lose if they decline.

by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide

when you pitch client accounting services to your existing clients and new prospects, your communication and messaging changes quite a lot. it is no more packages, hourly rates and standard deliverables mentioned on your website, in your emails, engagement letters and sales brochures/materials.

more: hook your firm on cas | cut cost by three quarters with cas? yes, please | client wants vs. needs | the big money in cas for small firms | the mindset you need for client accounting services
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

cas is not a sales pitch to your existing clients. it is a value pitch, an upgrade pitch.
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don’t just introduce, reinforce.

by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide

unless you become the “cas champion” or make someone accountable to be one, your client accounting services practice will not take off the starting blocks.

more: cut cost by three quarters with cas? yes, please | why you can be a virtual cfo | clients’ new expectations | what cas is and isn’t
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and the single biggest initial challenge for the cas champ is how to communicate the value of cas to the firm’s future fortune to every stakeholder – be it partners, staff, clients and prospects. for this post, i will assume that your cas champ absolutely “gets it.”
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it’s not just about the cloud.

by hitendra patil
client accounting services: the definitive success guide

in the desktop days, write-up, bookkeeping and accounting processes were perceived more as “data-entry” work. the price clients were willing to pay for data entry put so much pressure on fees that many firms found it is not worth the hassle.

more: why you can be a virtual cfo | can you identify real cas prospects? | 8 ways to create your cas practice | do you value your cas value?
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

other services such as tax preparation, financial statements preparation, etc. brought in higher per-hour dollars than write-up, bookkeeping and accounting work could. such work got more and more “outsourced” by accounting firms to bookkeeping firms, freelancer bookkeepers and “processing” firms operated by non-cpas/non-accountants.
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