pricing, fees & billing rates

the disruptors: can geraldine carter save accountants from themselves?

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go pro for the complete video, notes, analysis, takeaways and transcript.

the disruptors
with liz farr

geraldine carter is on a mission to make accounting more attractive as a profession, and to make accountants more profitable, particularly soloists and small firms.

more: the disruptors: re-inventing accounting with tyler anderson |  the disruptors: how to scale with new padgett coo amanda aguillard | eat that frog: asking for a prospect meeting | growing revenue through client service | lease accounting is about to get very real | google ads for new tax season clients | exclusive: eisner ceo charly weinstein explains the private equity deal  | flash briefing: a “call to arms” after private equity deal | four ways to beat the staffing shortage, with pasha malik

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in this episode of the disruptors with liz farr, carter explains the trouble with “orphan 1040s,” how to “level up” your firm, the priceless value of emotional intelligence, and why giving your all is too much (80 percent is enough.)

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beyond tax prep: the big cha-ching!

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five reasons business clients are ready for tax advisory services.

credit for data: intuit

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

question: if half your tax clients were buying planning or advisory services for five times what they’re paying for tax prep, what would that add up to?

answer: a big cha-ching!

more on tax season: crisis at the irs | the irs’s 10 biggest problems. here are just the first five. | fear and loathing for tax season ’22 |  padar joins vc-backed tax fintech for banks |  covid chokes an already crippled irs | tax regs for the metaverse | 10 steps to a superior tax department | accountants critical of competitor price-cutting |  automate busy season with apps you already use | sales & use tax costs are higher than anyone thought | survey: nobody loves the wayfair decision | busy season forecast: more chaos  | a woman named wanda leaves an ira nightmare  | are you under-pricing your client accounting services?  | your best advice: get smart, get tech, get moving | worries for small business clients |

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this may be the season for tax filing, but accountants failing to leverage prep into planning and advisory are missing out on a lot of potential revenue.

the average annual fee for tax planning and advisory services is $2,351—five times the average annual tax prep fee of $459, according to a new study. read more →

updated: accountants critical of competitor price-cutting

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the average firm may be trimming billing rate increases. but 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 readers aren’t average.

cpa firm price increases slowed to a month-to-month increase of 0.4 percent in november, down from a 3.1 percent in september, and a fraction of the year-ago 1.9 percent hike. the picture in tax prep is even dimmer, with month-to-month slowdowns and year-to-year declines.

 

lohrey
ayster: not afraid to raise rates

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research

heading into tax season, cpa firms may be facing new pricing pressures, even as wages and consumer prices increase at record rates, according to a 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 study of new government economic data.

what are today’s best pricing strategies?
join the survey. get the answers

to be sure, many 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 members responding to our survey are resisting the pressures, and plan on pushing ahead with price increases.

more surveys & research: sales & use tax costs are higher than anyone thought | are you under-pricing your client accounting services? | survey: nobody loves the wayfair decision | survey: worries for small business clients | busy season forecast: more chaos | salt: the small business disaster waiting to happen

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while inflation is pushing prices up at record rates in major sectors of the u.s. economy, cpa firms appear to be trimming their billing rate increases, slicing 0.2 percent off the average price from october to november, according to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research.

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turn your business model upside down and reap the rewards

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illustration of man pushing "services" buttonyour secret weapon to exponential profits.

by matt solomon

learning to price, sell, and deliver through a simple, proven process streamlines the way you communicate your value and makes it easy for clients to say yes. it’s your secret weapon.

more: shift 2: step into the role of a business advisor | shift 1: stop depending on compliance work | take the nine-point practice checkup | three ways to leverage today’s uncertainties for renewed growth
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with practice, your ability to price, sell and deliver will be as routine as a 1040

but it’s worth a whole lot more: between $36,000 and $180,000 per year, per client.
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are you under-pricing your client accounting services?

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cas revenues are surging 20 percent, but profits are lagging. discuss.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

growth in client accounting services appears to be accelerating, but the expansion may underlie simultaneous growth in personnel turnover and trouble in the pipeline of professionals, according to new research.

more: show clients why they can’t say no | your firm needs a cas champion | how cas drives virtual cfo billings | lower your costs by 75% with cas | your top six cas questions | the roi on identifying clients for cas |

the new benchmarking study found a burgeoning median growth rate of 20 percent, nearly double the rate of 2018. net client fees per professional shot up by 17 percent to average $112,293 as cas practices continued to move toward fixed fee and value billing methods.

and apparently, profits could have been even higher.

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cpas see best outlook in three years, with notable exceptions

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some 76% of cpa corporate executives are now optimistic about the prospects for their own organization, less so about the u.s. economy in general.

cpa execs forecast economic boom.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
via aicpa

the economy is poised to come roaring back in the year ahead, with forecasts for revenue and profit growth not seen since 2018, according to the second-quarter aicpa economic outlook survey of members in business and industry.

more surveys & research: women lag men in accounting jobs recovery  |  tax season ends with pros covering 54% of returns  |  tax pros retake market share from diyers  |  tax pros race to the finish line |  making partner: what managers need to know  |  survey: tax season swings into the red  |  who’s heating up accounting tech?  |  another tax season from hell?

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there are concerns, however. “availability of skilled personnel” reemerged as the top-cited challenge for businesses as job recruitment turns up. and two-thirds of business executives now express concern about inflation, up from 44 percent last quarter.

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the cpa’s best role: leveraging knowledge, not just process

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david bergstein says you’re wasting your time and your client’s money if you’re not focussing on the future.

with steven sacks
the new fundamentals: thriving in disruption

to be more competitive, cpas need to shift their focus from compliance service to process-oriented, value-added work, veteran cpa david bergstein tells 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间. this means working with clients to understand their business operations, competition, and financial challenges, such as liquidity, solvency, and profitability.

more on value-add: how cas communications are different | how value billing eliminates guesswork | avoid last-minute deal making | how a great managing partner impacts firm growth | tax season client meetings: kill them now | do you give yourself too much credit? | the 17 rules for making partner at a cpa firm | family feud isn’t just a game show

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see more 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 videos here | see more david bergstein here

^ download and subscribe to the podcast on itunes here

the key takeaways:

  • accountants need to switch their focus to look to the future and real-time accounting, which means that the right way of doing things these days is to take advantage of all technology and automation.
  • it’s a small and mid-size business that doesn’t have a bookkeeper, that doesn’t have an accountant, that doesn’t have a controller, that doesn’t have a cfo that looks to cpas to help them. cpas’ advantage is to use that technology to automate all those processes and then spend time selling value-added services.
  • today, to be successful as an accountant, you must identify what platform or platforms you’re going to use to capture your clients’ data at the source to move it through the system.
  • payroll tax processing services can be expanded by setting up the human resource tools that go with it. beyond processing payroll, cpas can find ways to get lower workman’s compensation; automate the onboarding of employees, and provide various benefit options.
  • as part of the de-emphasis on process, younger staff members don’t want to do vouchering anymore, which will be supplanted anyway by automation. so, it’s great for firms to offer more training opportunities to their younger staff regarding analytical thinking, selling, and how to consult with clients to find out what their needs are.

 

transcript

david bergstein, interviewed by steven sacks
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when value billing eliminates guesswork

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businessmen standing on dollar billplus three other ways to bill clients.

by jody grunden
building the virtual cfo firm in the cloud

when i attend cpa conferences across the united states, i often hear from cpas: “i don’t want to bill for my time.”

so, how do you bill your clients?

more: make tech your ally in protecting clients | be more efficient with tech stacks | not all employees will work out | learning to love video calls | be more effective remotely with disc | protect client files from cyberthreats | get ready to launch virtual cfo services | riches in niches
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client billing can include hourly billing, but it can also include flat-fee, retainer-based and/or value-based billing. most people use one of these four methods. some use all of them or even a hybrid.

let’s take a closer look at each of them:
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price-sell-deliver is broken

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what to do instead.

by matt solomon

the way you price your services, how you sell them to clients and whether you can deliver at (or beyond) their expectations are key factors that determine the level of your success. if you do those three activities well, it should be easy to grow a profitable business, earn a great income and maintain a clear work/life balance.

more: the path to a conscious business | are you running your practice by default? | your secret weapon for exponential profits
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the problem is that accountants often don’t know how to price, sell and deliver correctly. in fact, the old (traditional) model that accountants use to price, sell and deliver services to their customers often leads to customer dissatisfaction, employee frustration and you working too many hours under too much stress.
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14 better uses for timesheet data

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woman reading paper document at office desk in front of computerif you just pay people and move on, you’re missing critical information.

by ed mendlowitz

question: i keep timesheets for billing purposes but am not clear how i can use them to better manage my practice. how can i do this?

more: tossing timesheets is just the start | how’s your overhead? | 9 must-haves for firm growth | collect more by clearing up billing | envision your future, then plan for it | 5 ways to build teamwork
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answer: analyzing time records is a very effective practice management tool and is an essential part of most professional services organizations. some people contend that timesheets should not be used because they should not be the basis of any pricing, with fees solely based on the value to the client.

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hate billing? use a different method

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businessmen standing on dollar billwhat services do your clients value the most?

by jody grunden
building the virtual cfo firm in the cloud

when i attend cpa conferences across the united states, i often hear from cpas: “i don’t want to bill for my time.”

more: protect client files from cyberthreats | boost efficiency with tech stacks | the only 3 metrics you need | how we sell audits online | 3 steps to better client communication in a crisis | four key financial metrics for growing any business | transferring clients to a new employee
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

so, how do you bill your clients?
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tossing timesheets is just the start

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pen ready to fill in blank timesheetrecommended: two books to read.

by ed mendlowitz

question: i’ve read that many firms are no longer using timesheets. how do you feel about that?

more: how’s your overhead? | 9 must-haves for firm growth | collect more by clearing up billing | envision your future, then plan for it | 5 ways to build teamwork
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

answer: there is a growing group of firms that no longer use timesheets.

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how’s your overhead?

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//www.g005e.com/2020/09/14/how-to-determine-overhead/plus a tip for increasing revenue if needed.

by ed mendlowitz

question: are there any rules of thumb for a cpa firm’s overhead and salary costs?

more: 9 must-haves for firm growth | collect more by clearing up billing | envision your future, then plan for it | 5 ways to build teamwork
goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

answer: the rosenberg survey has excellent metrics and is highly recommended. on a less scientific basis you can use as a general rule of thumb 1/3 for salaries, 1/3 overhead, 1/3 partners salary.
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