pricing rates

audit fees edge up 5% at biggest companies

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public companies now pay an average of $3.9 million per year.

big four firms seem to be finding difficulties in boosting billables to their biggest audit clients, as the clients themselves hammer hard on costs and take on more work internally, according to a new study. on the other hand, the average tenure of a cpa firm is now about 20 years per client.

companies are reporting only modest increases in audit fees and total hours worked from the year before.

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the accounting profession promise that could change everything

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“30 minutes or it’s free;” “absolutely, positively overnight;” “no surprise billing. ever!”

edi osborne

by edi osborne
mentor plus

what do these three tag lines have in common? predictability.

dominoes and fed ex built their entire business model on making (and keeping) an uncomplicated predictability promise to the customer.  dominoes and fed ex looked at their marketplace and asked one simple question, “what is your number-one  frustration in dealing with pizza and package delivery?” those frustrations were dissected and turned into game-changing promises that rocked everyone else in their industry.

in the same way, accounting firms that adopt a “no surprise billing” promise could be game changers in their marketplace as well.

more from edi osborne for 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 pro members (go pro here):

game changing innovations are not limited to big companies. in fact, even the smallest of accounting firms are in a position to be game changers.

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13 reasons timesheets will never die

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ed mendlowitz

nor should they.

by edward mendlowitz, cpa
partner, withumsmith+brown

time sheets are an essential part of any professional services organization. some people contend that they should not be maintained since they should not be the basis of any pricing – that fees should be solely based on the value to the client. i disagree.

editor’s note: timesheets, billing, cost accounting, value and pricing strike at the core of the accounting firm business model. for more on the topic, see:
> 14 steps to find the right “value price,” by bruce w. marcus
> you may be value-billing but don’t know it, video with terry putney
> why the next boom could be the worst thing that ever happens to accountants, with ron baker

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the profession’s four biggest dilemmas

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and four simple solutions.

by rick telberg

if this is february, then it’s the season for already forgetting our new year’s resolutions. i don’t know about you, but i’ve already broken a few of them.

but there are some new year’s resolutions that we cannot afford to ignore. for accountants, here are just four. that’s right: only four. that’s all we have space for here. but each is hitched to a pervasive dilemma within the profession.

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dave sibits, cbiz: five new niches

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strategy 2012: leadership, pricing, competition

what are your critical challenges for 2012, and what can do you about them? a number of the profession’s leading lights have been sharing their thoughts with accounting today. here’s one:

dave sibits
cbiz financial services

accounting firms are facing: 

  1. an aging of leadership at the partner level.
  2. second, firms are facing a continued erosion of pricing in service areas, which is mostly a result of a challenging business and economic climate.
  3. the last concern is the competition for the best and brightest talent, especially among top firms seeking to add specialty expertise or employees to groom for the future. read more →

new survey results: busy season prices heading up 4.1%

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source: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

after a conservative 3.2% price increase last year.

complete findings are published in the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practitioner’s tax season performance review and outlook report. (learn more here)

tax and accounting practitioners are again cautiously raising prices this year, prompted by years of little or no rate hikes and continuing step-ups in labor and technology costs, according to new 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 survey data.

becky klotz, the head of small local firm of tax consultants in oregon, says that, with an economy where “i don’t see much improvement in the near future,” her firm will be raising pricing, but “just a bit.”

on the other hand, wray rives at rives cpa in coppell, texas, is holding the line. “we believe we are priced at the right level for our market,” he says.

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