a radical close look at value pricing

pen ready to fill in blank timesheetbonus checklists: 5 reasons not to manage employees by timesheet and 4 factors of fixed pricing.

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pricing strategies and billing rates

by jody padar
the radical cpa

ron baker and ed kless of the verasage institute are the hands-down experts on value pricing. they do a phenomenal job of explaining how it works and why you shouldn’t track time. i’ve done it for the last eight years and i absolutely love it. i would never go back to time and billing. my quality of life has changed dramatically because of it. what it’s done for the culture of my firm can’t be measured. it’s an intangible. i started doing it because i figured out that there had to be a better way to sell my services. i didn’t want to sell myself by the hour and i found out that it worked without reading all the economic theories. so i continued.

more on radicalism: get radical about pricing | make radical connections | let’s get radical about content | each social channel has a language | get ready for radical transparency | 5 radical ways to be social and strategic | how i got started being social | how social media transforms firms to their core | six competitive advantages for the radical cpa | radical tenet #1: embrace the cloud | radical customers are on their way | 5 radical transparencies; are you ready? | 4 questions radical firms must face | being radical starts with being the change | why start being radical now? | going radical: the 4 tenets of a ‘new firm’ | the roots of ‘radical’ cpas | the first 3 questions i should have asked before starting my own practice

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the technology is only getting faster and better. eight years ago my payroll only took two minutes using paycycle. i had to ask myself: how could i make money on it? i believe that the pricing model finally is going to change. ron baker was the early adopter and started this 20 years ago. i believe the technology has now caught up. if firms don’t change our pricing model, we’re either going to have 25,000 customers or we’re not going to make any money if we continue to charge by time.

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when clients prefer social media

…firms. the majority of respondents (60 percent) were owners, partners, or principles within those firms. sixty-seven percent of those firms had an annual revenue of kless than $5 million. twenty-six…

8 times when hourly billing trumps value pricing

ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and aand when it doesn’t.

by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

question: i am trying to switching to value pricing and am having trouble getting completely away from time-based billing in certain situations.

response: value pricing is a great method and concept. i suggest reading, and thoroughly understanding ron baker’s “implementing value pricing: a radical business model for professional firms.” i like what he suggests, have used some of his techniques even before he started writing and speaking about them, and recommend it in many situations.

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44 critical criteria for accounting staff performance evaluations

question: do you work from a checklist when you’re conducting staff performance appraisals?

response: silly question. checklists? do i have checklists?

seriously, staffing is a big concern, and i believe many smaller firms settle and hire the wrong people, which i’ve written about and probably beaten to death expressing my views.

more practice doctor q&a: why i don’t hire on experience  |  5 time management tips for an overworked accountant  |  staff training starts with doing something  |  11 business-getting tips for the young staffer  |  when staffers don’t listen to you  |  questions and answers on selling a practice to staff members  |  measuring growth in yourself, staff and partners  |  complaining client? no wonder!

here is a checklist to get you started.

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2014 roundtable: the gloves are off

2014 top trends logo vf
click for the full rosenberg map survey

mandatory retirements.

see the complete 2014 roundtable

by allan koltin
koltin consulting group

analysis

first — people, people, people. i believe the white gloves have officially come off when it comes to recruiting talent from other firms in our industry. i’m seeing much more sophisticated strategies in terms of how firms target talent and, more precisely, go after that talent. read more →

value billing on the 19th hole

any billing method that relies on client ignorance is certain to fail.

by frank stitely, cpa
stitely & karstetter, pllc

value billing advocates exhort us to bill based on the benefit a client receives, but that’s just the demand side of the economic equation. competition is the supply side. here’s a little fable based on ed mendlowitz’s “value pricing: a lesson in applying judgment,” where a cpa asks for billing advice and then bills a client $7,000 for three hours’ work.

“great day, al.  have you ever shot an 80 before?”

“no, jay.  this is my first.  this round of drinks is on me.”

jay continued, “you’ve had quite a week.  first, you got your line of credit.  now the best golf round of your life.”

al had just finished a round of golf with his banker, jay; a neighbor, john; and john’s cpa, greg.

“jay, i am blessed with having great friends and advisors.  you did a marvelous job.  but, i should give some credit to my cpa, frank.  he put the entire package together for seven grand.  that seems like a great price.”

al saw the puzzled look in greg’s eyes. read more →

why value billing won’t transform your life

what do cpas have in common with french fry cooks? maybe more than you think.

by frank stitely, cpa
stitely and karstetter 

a french fry professional, who was employed by a national franchise with a creepy clown for a mascot, wondered how he could make more than his current $7.25 per hour.  so he attended a value billing seminar.  when he returned, he opened an excel spreadsheet and calculated his worth to his employer.

more about pricing and billing:  the problem with timesheets? not enough timesheets!   |   the problem with frank stitely? we need more frank stitelys!  |   who’s missing in action from your workflow processing system?  | how to make an extra $72,000 by working smarter  |  seven ways to increase fees in 2013  | the big issue for 2013: fee pressure   |   five ideas to reduce client price-sensitivity  |

he determined that he was personally responsible for the frying of 1,126,438 french fries in a year.  while he earned only $15,000 in a year, his employer sold his output for $30,000.  using what he learned in the seminar, he scheduled a meeting with his boss to ask for a raise, because he wasn’t making what he was worth. read more →

the problem with timesheets? not enough timesheets!

time tracking and the v.b.t. (value billing taliban)

by frank stitely, cpa
stitely and karstetter 

i have long been a true believer in value billing.  five times a day i kneel towards the east and pray, “i am not selling time.  i am selling expertise.”  however, i just can’t follow with the end of the prayer which goes, “time trackers are evil.  we must stone them.”   time tracking is essential to value billing, done profitably.

more unconventional wisdom from frank stitely, cpa: who’s missing in action from your workflow processing system?  | how to make an extra $72,000 by working smarter

let’s invite some people to leave our discussion.  if you are a coach, consultant, or some other type of cpa advisor, who has never owned an equity position in a cpa firm, please exit stage left.  yes, i know you have decades of experience observing cpa firms.  i have decades of experience watching professional football.  that doesn’t qualify me to coach the redskins.  veteran poker players know that playing someone else’s hand is easier than playing your own when big money is on the table.  if you’re a cpa firm employee, please stay.  some day you’ll need this information.  but sit there silently until we are done.

there are three reasons time tracking is important: read more →