{"id":115043,"date":"2023-09-17t11:57:36","date_gmt":"2023-09-17t15:57:36","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/?p=115043"},"modified":"2024-08-27t17:01:12","modified_gmt":"2024-08-27t21:01:12","slug":"your-cas-engagement-letter-needs-a-reset-option","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2023\/09\/17\/your-cas-engagement-letter-needs-a-reset-option\/","title":{"rendered":"your cas engagement letter needs a reset option"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/strong><\/p>\n even with the best definitions, scopes can change. here\u2019s what to include.<\/strong><\/p>\n by hitendra patil<\/i> \u201cpeople think of us (accountants) as the compliance agents \u2013 the necessary evil.\u201d<\/p>\n this sentence haunts me even today, after hearing it nearly 15 years ago from a multi-award-winning, highly experienced cpa.<\/p>\n perception!<\/p>\n more: <\/b>structure insights as what-why-what<\/a> | cas reports are better. here\u2019s how.<\/a> | is it time for your firm to outsource?<\/a> | raise cas awareness among your clients<\/a> | which clients are best for cas<\/a> | how much can automating bank feeds save you?<\/a> | wants vs. needs: why not fill both?<\/a> | get sticky with cas<\/a> | who is the professional?<\/a> has the accounting profession\u2019s brand been (predominantly) perceived as \u201ccompliance\u201d only?<\/p>\n \u201cwe deal with the past. we do audits. and we deal with the present. we do taxes and books. future \u2013 is not our business.\u201d when some experienced cpas expressed this, i was even more puzzled. i did a quick one-question poll, which i sent to randomly selected people. i had no clue if such people bought any services from accountants. the question was simple: \u201cwhat word comes to your mind when you hear the word \u2018accountant\u2019?\u201d about 46 percent of the respondents said \u201ctax,\u201d and about 26 percent said \u201cbalance sheet.\u201d that means a total of about 72 percent of respondents think \u201ctax or balance sheet = accountant.\u201d<\/p>\n merriam-webster dictionary defines \u201caccountant\u201d as:<\/p>\n the dictionary defines \u201caccounting\u201d as:<\/p>\n while technically these definitions can be considered literally accurate, they are more of clinical\/academic definitions. these do not fully reflect what an accountant does in today\u2019s world, and what the impact of an accountant\u2019s work is.<\/p>\n contrast these dictionary definitions with the wikipedia description of an accountant:<\/p>\n is the wikipedia definition comprehensive? it is debatable. \u201caccountant\u201d and \u201caccounting\u201d defined by many dictionaries and other reference materials surely does not<\/strong> reflect the modern-age work that accountants do.<\/p>\n now, contrast it to the merriam-webster definition of the word \u201clawyer\u201d:<\/p>\n lawyers advise based on the interpretation<\/strong> of the laws.<\/p>\n accountants, in today\u2019s world, advise clients on several crucial aspects, but the dictionary definitions do not cover that part. advice in the accounting profession emerges from the interpretation of several facts, laws, regulations and business context. <\/strong>only a trained, experienced professional accountant formally educated in accounting, business, finance and technological aspects can provide reasonable advice.<\/p>\n the more i researched, the more i spoke with cpas and accountants, the more strongly i recognized that overcoming this centuries-old perception \u2013 that accounting is (mostly) about compliance and the past, somewhat about the present, but not the future \u2013 is one of the most critical problems for the accounting profession to solve.<\/p>\n the (long-term) solution?<\/p>\n when the profession manages to create the perception that accountants are for:<\/p>\n \u2026 it will form the \u201cperfect engagement ring\u201d that creates long-term, ever-relevant, meaningful, blooming and rewarding relationships between clients and accountants.<\/p>\n the real question is not whether<\/strong> accounting professionals can create the engagement ring. it is how<\/strong>. and how fast<\/strong>. and that is where your critical attention and effort must be invested in to make your client accounting services (cas) practice better.<\/p>\n broadly, accountants\u2019 engagement letters can contain the following main parts:<\/p>\n it is essential to specify what the \u201cshared responsibilities\u201d are, i.e., the client\u2019s responsibilities and the accountant\u2019s responsibilities, i.e., \u201cwhat\u201d each party will do. but it is equally important to specify the expected timelines for each party to complete those responsibilities, i.e., \u201cwhen\u201d should things happen from each side.<\/p>\n let us now see how this \u201cstandard\u201d engagement letter can be turned into a cas-specific engagement letter that also becomes your firm\u2019s marketing and value statement.<\/p>\n i partnered with rick telberg, ceo of www.g005e.com, for perhaps the largest cas survey undertaken in the accounting profession. the survey revealed that the following five are the top internal tools cas firms use for growing and managing their cas practices:<\/p>\n cas firms use cas-specific engagement letters\/agreements twice as frequently as any other internal cas tools for growing and managing their cas practices. i gathered cas engagement letter\/agreement samples\/templates from some of the accountants that i know of. i reviewed the most common and most uncommon aspects of such engagement letters. i also noticed that most accountants do not include some effective methods when creating their firms\u2019 cas engagement letters.<\/p>\n for the purpose of this post, i will exclude the legal prose of such engagement letters because, based on your location, certifications and other factors such as state regulations, the legality of such agreements is a specialized responsibility best handled by relevant attorneys. from cas clients\u2019 and firms\u2019 marketing and sales perspective, i recommend that you include the following in your cas engagement letter template:<\/p>\n your cas-specific engagement letter, therefore, should broadly have the following structure:<\/p>\n if you analyze the most recent instances of conflicts and unhappiness your clients expressed or the \u201cbad reviews\u201d clients posted online for other accounting firms, you can sense that the root cause is many times the \u201cmismatch in expectations.\u201d such expectations mismatch arises because of, first, lack of clarity in communications from the firm and clients both, and also because of non-performance of stated responsibilities of both parties to the agreement.<\/p>\n your cas engagement letter is, therefore, the perfect tool and opportunity to set the correct expectations in your clients\u2019 minds. it should also unambiguously state what happens when the responsibilities of each party are not adhered to in the time they are required to be adhered to, i.e., define and state the consequences. \u201csurprise consequences\u201d trigger negative emotions quickly. your engagement letter should aim to remove the surprises. even after you specify such implications in the engagement letter, it would not be prudent to expect clients to remember all the stuff mentioned in the agreement. your firm needs processes to identify\/bring to attention such issues as quickly as possible, e.g., the client did not send you the information about a large payment made to a new vendor\/payee. if your process comes to a halt because you are awaiting information from the client, do not just remind the client to send such information to you but specify the consequence in the reminder, e.g., \u201cwe still haven\u2019t received the details of the payment of $____ that you made to <payee name>. this may be a transaction that may have an implication on depreciation and hence, taxes. in the absence of this information, we are unable to reconcile and close the books. hence the financial statements will be delayed by x days.\u201d<\/p>\n as discussed earlier, you may include a clause that allows you to increase the price if the client\u2019s work volume increases or decreases by, say 10 percent or more. this is the \u201creset\u201d clause that can reset pricing and also client expectations. with this clause, the client will not feel surprised for your request for a midterm pricing review and will be more amenable to consider the justifiable data points related to the proposed (required) price reset.<\/p>\n but this requires your firm to lay down processes to measure the work volume of each client periodically. it could be the number of bills paid every month, the number of sales invoices processed, the number of transactions on bank\/credit card statements and so on. without \u201cmeasurability,\u201d it will be challenging to get into pricing reset discussions with your clients. and without such periodic, mandatory measurement processes, you may end up continually reducing your firm\u2019s profitability because some clients\u2019 businesses are growing, and you are processing more work for them. now, do not get tempted to go into \u201chourly billing\u201d methods as those are proven to cause conflicts with clients and loss of trust and goodwill. it is just not worth it.<\/p>\n engagement letters have traditionally been \u201clegal\u201d documents, and they need to be so, i.e., they must clearly state legal responsibilities and liabilities of the parties to the agreement. but that should not stop you from taking a marketing and sales angle to create such cas engagement letters. a primary reason for doing so is people can be expected to read more carefully when they are signing off on anything that requires them to pay and\/or agree to certain possible liabilities. hence, while signing on the cas engagement letter, when they read about more of your services and what those can mean for their business, clients may be inclined to buy more add-on services. most product companies are pretty good at this. take the example of the iphone. when you purchase an iphone, you are asked if you\u2019d like to buy \u201capple care.\u201d instantly, you may perceive the risk of not opting in for such \u201cinsurance,\u201d especially so if you have lost a cell phone or damaged it. apple also shows related accessories you can buy. while you have the utmost attention of the buyer (when they are about to pay or agree to pay), it does not require additional marketing and sales time, effort and cost to sell more to the same clients.<\/p>\n even if the clients do not buy any additional services at the time of signing the agreement, it serves the purpose of making them aware of your firm\u2019s other services and capabilities. when the need arises, clients will remember and reach out to you. i have had several instances when my prospects and clients reached out to me after a few months or even a few years asking for that additio?nal service i provided. it is better that a client asks \u201cdon\u2019t you provide x service?\u201d (confirmation) than \u201cdo you provide x service?\u201d (inquiry). confirmation does not need much additional convincing\/sales pitch (why they should buy a service and why from you); inquiry does. confirmation-driven discussions end mostly in price discovery and negotiation, not the need validation. inquiry-driven discussion go through the entire sales cycle.<\/p>\n it is prudent to lay out all the service \u201cdelivery\u201d choices you can offer to clients. it should be your earnest endeavor to create multiple ways in which clients receive your service delivery. creating and including \u201cself-service, online\u201d service consumption choices in your engagement letters can add several thousands of dollars to your firm\u2019s bottom line by avoiding the time and costs associated with printing, mailing, creating pdfs and emailing and so on.<\/p>\n it is also a good practice to associate service level measurements with each delivery choice. for example:<\/p>\n the more you can drive the clients to online consumption of information, the better it will be for your firm\u2019s profitability.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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\n\u201cwe are \u2018engaged\u2019 with our clients, but the relationship has no guarantee to carry over into the future. we live with them for today and listen to the stories of their past. we do not participate in their future together because we do not have any stake in their future. why would clients want to do anything with us about their future?\u201d<\/p>\n\n
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\n<\/em><\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n
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statement of work \u2013 shared responsibilities<\/h3>\n
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your cas engagement letter\/agreement<\/h3>\n
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setting and reinforcing the right expectations<\/h3>\n
the periodic reset<\/h3>\n
taking the marketing and sales angle<\/h3>\n
service delivery options<\/h3>\n
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