pricing rates

卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 forum: tax season prep tips?

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readers’ forum: hours worked. firing clients. setting prices.

chris basom
chris basom
  • chris basom, managing partner of your money matters in mission viejo, calif., wants to know the “one thing you wanted to implement before tax season but just couldn’t get to.”
  • “is cash still relevant?” asked solo practitioner roxann otto of otto tax & accounting services in slinger, wis.
  • charles g. read in the melbourne, fla., area would like to know how other accountants arrive at the charges they present.
  • deborah mcdowell cain of her eponymous firm in fort worth, texas, asked, “does your firm work five, six or seven days a week? is overtime for staff mandatory? are senior staff hourly, salaried, offered overtime or comp time?”
    • and harking back to the busy season, she also asked, “how many people touch a return? why?” read more →

14 ways to switch to value pricing

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and aby ed mendlowitz 

question: how do i switch to value pricing?

response: there are a number of ways. ron baker’s books tell how to do this. so does dave cottle’s but in a different way. i believe most firms do some sort of value pricing and that is when a fee is determined in advance with the client. i’ve written previously on this and have presented programs for cpa firm management groups, but here is a descriptive checklist to use as a guide: read more →

pricing, billing, costing: don’t blame clients

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communication negotiation pricing istock_000020509177how good communication habits can head off problems.

by ed mendlowitz
implementing fee increases

professional fees are typically billed based on time. yet, clients want outcomes and place a value on results, which doesn’t necessarily relate to time spent.

ingrained habits are hard to break away from. for ages, many professionals quoted jobs by providing hourly rates and possibly a range of expected hours. some projects are open-ended in the sense that no one knows where it will take them and what will be uncovered once work commences. this might include a forensic investigation, litigation where the discovery process becomes acrimonious, unraveling transactions in a complicated bankruptcy, a first-time audit of a multinational corporation or a tax audit for a reasonably sized business.

however, for most work, there is an understanding of what will need to be done and the approximate value to the client. this could include an annual audit, tax return, setting up a cost accounting or internal control system or a transfer price study. read more →

is the profit squeeze over?

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new trends emerge in net profit margins and accounts receivable.

after years of intensifying and debilitating pressure on bottom lines, profits at tax, accounting and bookkeeping firms appear to be hitting 10-year highs, according to information obtained by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 from sageworks, the specialist in tracking private-company financials. read more →

keeping clients in line: start with late fees

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and a

plus five more clauses you might want to consider.

by ed mendlowitz
101 questions and answers

question: you state on the bottom of your invoice that you charge 1.5% for balances over 60 days. do you actually implement that or is it just warning? do you do it on all clients or just some? do clients pay that or complain? if they send in payment without that, do you write off the finance charge or leave it open? read more →

suing a client

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and a

by ed mendlowitz
“tax season opportunity guide“

question: a former client owes me a lot of money and will not pay or even discuss a settlement. i want to sue him. what can you tell me about this?

response: i don’t know the details so cannot address your specific situation. however, i have some comments about suing that i would like to share with you. read more →

doing as little work as possible

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and aby ed mendlowitz
“tax season opportunity guide“

question: i have many clients who always expect me to do extra work as part of our fixed fee agreement. how can i get paid extra for work beyond the scope of our agreement?

response: this is a recurring theme, and one that has many answers. one approach: don’t take on the extra work.

here is another approach. read more →

value billing on the 19th hole

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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 →

are your clients price-sensitive? maybe it’s you, not them

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by sandi smith leyva, cpa
accountant’s accelerator

i hear more accountants grumbling every day about how price-sensitive their prospects and clients have gotten.  and they are right, to a degree.  the economy has caused even the rich to count their pennies, and the percentage of people who look at a price tag before they buy has increased over the last five years.

yet studies show that roughly 54% of buyers are not price-sensitive, and i would be willing to bet even more are selectively price-impervious depending on what they buy:  women’s shoes, men’s cars, personal services, jewelry, vacations, cosmetics, and hair, to name a few exceptions.

so why are so many accounting clients and prospects price-sensitive? read more →