by ed mendlowitz
when you perform additional services on a tax return that you will be charging for, list it as a separate item along with the fee for that service. this way the client will know that something extra was done and the charge.
by 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 →
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 →
…as accounting firms redefine value. by bruce w. marcus professional services marketing 3.0 today’s modern accounting firm — and there are more of them than we think, and fewer of them than we’d like to think – is still evolving. … continued
even if the first one gets away.
by ed mendlowitz, cpa, abv, pfs
author of implementing fee increases;
the 30:30 training method; and tax season opportunity guide.
question: i just heard from a client we hadn’t heard from in seven or eight years and he says he has an “emergency.”
here’s the story: he had started a business eight years ago and he used us for a couple of years until some big money was raised and they switched to a big four firm. he also stopped using us for his personal return switching to the big four firm. then, just last week, he called us to ask for assistance in evaluating a multimillion-dollar termination package. he needed to meet with me right away since he did not want the offer to slip away. he then asked what the rates would be and could he have a discount since he was once a good client (he was – seven and eight years ago!). the asking for a discount left a bad taste in my mouth.
ed, how should i handle it? i feel like i could bill $2,000 to $3,000 and i want to do the work. is that the right price?
frank stitely, cpa, cva, and the managing member of stitely & karstetter cpas, likes to stir things up – especially when it concerns the intersection of timesheets and value pricing. here’s a piece of fiction (we assume) that he titles…
– the editors
cpa firm nightmares
by frank stitely
in this week’s show, my brother and famed practice management consultant, gordon stitely, visits the venerable firm, value, billem, and dunn. vb&d managing partner bob cratchett took over the firm when founding partner izzy dunn died unexpectedly after jamming an rj45 cable into an electrical socket. cratchett knew he had to modernize the firm, and he started by banishing timesheets.
related:
why value billing won’t transform your life
the problem with frank stitely?
when he left his previous employer, scrooge & associates, p.c., he vowed never to sell time again. he would sell knowledge. he hired a value billing consultant to implement a new business model that eschewed timesheets in favor of trusting employees, since costs will always take care of themselves.
here comes gordon striding into cratchett’s office. read more →
in response to “the problem with timesheets? not enough timesheets!“ more comments here.
by greg kyte
www.gregkyte.com / @gregkyte
frank stitely’s 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 article “the problem with timesheets? not enough timesheets,” a courageous response to what he refers to as “the value billing taliban,” was flawless from start to finish.
to start with, since most timesheet detractors are required to grow a beard, are pissed that women can read, and have up to three wives, comparing them to the taliban was spot on, and was in no way incendiary or belligerent.
with insights like frank stitely’s, we can all come closer to winning the race to the bottom.
next, he made a great call telling everyone to stop reading his article except firm owners and future firm owners. only firm owners can understand how to run a firm in the same way that only highly successful nfl players can ever be great nfl coaches. take vince lombardi. he never played pro football, and now people are like, “vince who?” read more →
but that’s not the real problem.
a media outlet contacted me the other day to ask:
“what challenges or opportunities do you predict for the accounting profession in 2013?”
here’s what i told them: read more →