value

when not to offer a free initial consultation

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are we giving it away too easily?

ed mendlowitz answers some of the toughest questions practitioners can throw at him. he’s the right one to ask. after more than 40 years in the business – building his own practice, running the firm, and eventually selling it to a major regional firm, withumsmith+brown, where he remains a senior partner and consultant to professional services clients – he has the answers.

related: measuring growth in yourself, staff and partners  |  what do you think you’re doing?  | can you teach judgment?  |  clients’ calls at home  | what you need to know before expanding into business valuation | asking an attorney for a referral fee  |  are partner retreats really worth the cost? | audit reports without doing the work? | should i really spend the time making checklists? | what’s a tax practice worth today? |

question: i was wondering what your thought is regarding initial consultation fees. currently, i do not charge a fee for an initial consultation, and it seems that most cpas do not charge either (at least not the sole-practitioners that i know). would the fee deter new clients or actually weed out the ones who are most likely not going to become clients anyway? if a fee is charged, then how much, and how long should the consultation last? should the fee be applied to any work that i am eventually engaged for?

it seems to be a toss-up between two different philosophies:

  • people value something more when they pay for it
  • you don’t want to create any barriers to entry

i am eager to hear your thoughts. read more →

five tech questions before adopting value pricing

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keys to success in value pricing.

by drew west and ken mccall
boomer consulting

in order to avoid competing on price for commoditized services in the face of a wider array of competitors, more and more firms are evaluating value pricing as a model for the future. industry leaders including large firms such as kennedy & coe, llc in kansas and smaller ones like lawhorn cpa group, inc. in tennessee have already made the move.

perhaps your firm is already considering adopting a value pricing strategy but you wonder if your processes and technology will support it. read more →

eleven easy ways to deliver more value to clients

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(and add to revenues.)

by sandi smith

as you build your relationships with your clients, it’s always a good thing to see how you can serve them even better.

here are eleven ways you can add value to your existing services which will enable you to stand out from the competition, serve the client better, and put more green in your bank account.

as you go through the list, check them off to see which ones you are doing, and which ones sound good to add to your business.

1. offer add-on peace of mind services

if you are in the information business, offer to run or set up a backup system, store a backup of what you just did, or otherwise keep copies of your work so that the client does not have to worry about recovery issues. if you offer products, this may translate into an insured package that can be tracked and monitored. what kind of safety net can you think of to create for your clients?

read more →

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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end the 40-hour work week

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blumer
blumer

count your passions, not your hours.

by jason blumer
blumercpas.com

did you see the video where mike rowe of the “dirty jobs” tv show was talking about the importance of work?

if not, here it is again:

mike discusses how wall street and madison avenue have helped us define work into something it is not really. this is one of my favorite ted talks.

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technology raises the bar: four things accountants must do to keep up

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dustin lubertazzi

principles of accounting remain unchanged, but…

by dustin lubertazzi,
senior consultant, sageworks, inc.

luca pacioli, an italian mathematician and franciscan friar, is widely known as the “father of accounting” for publishing 36 chapters on the double-entry accounting method used by venetian merchants during the italian renaissance. his book, summa de arithmetica, geometria, proportioni et proportionalita (which translates, “everything about arithmetic, geometry and proportion”), was written as a textbook for students in northern italy at the end of the 15th century. pacioli’s documentation of double-entry accounting and ledgers taught entrepreneurs of the day how to conduct business using timely and accurate financial information, and it established the fundamentals of accounting still practiced today.

pacioli’s fundamentals were only feasible thanks to the written numeral system and the abacus developed before that. and since then, the industry has seen further and more ground-breaking developments including the introduction of the typewriter, then computers, and later the internet. with each of these milestones, technology not only impacted how accountants handle financial information but also how they interact with their clients.

with the changing technological landscape, what must accountants do to stay competitive in the future, and how will technology change the future role of the accountant?

read more →