{"id":119720,"date":"2023-12-10t11:55:22","date_gmt":"2023-12-10t16:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/?p=119720"},"modified":"2023-12-10t16:03:42","modified_gmt":"2023-12-10t21:03:42","slug":"the-when-what-how-of-cas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.g005e.com\/2023\/12\/10\/the-when-what-how-of-cas\/","title":{"rendered":"the when, what, how of cas"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/strong><\/p>\n weave review actions into your processes.<\/strong><\/p>\n by hitendra patil<\/i> why review your client accounting services offering periodically?<\/p>\n most accounting firms ultimately optimize their internal processes and resources that produce their services. the measurement of such optimization is the profitability of the firm. when firm owners\/partners feel the pressure on profitability, it is natural for them to measure the factors that contribute to profitability, and the cost thereof.<\/p>\n more: <\/b>your sales success is your proof<\/a> | three keys to developing your cas sales process<\/a> | your clients\u2019 words = your new cas marketing<\/a> | price by outcome, not time spent<\/a> | your cas engagement letter needs a reset option<\/a> | help your clients run their businesses better<\/a> | cas tech stack depends on cloud use<\/a> | five ways to profit from cas<\/a> you can measure the performance of your cas offering in similar ways. but there is a difference that makes cas performance measurement processes somewhat unconventional. it is not just for the cost and profitability parameters you will measure, but because cas is about outcomes your cas clients (are supposed to) receive\/experience, measuring the \u201cpromise fulfillment\u201d of cas is a necessity. and if you do not do it periodically, at pre-decided intervals, it can be challenging to course-correct when it is too late. you might feel this is true for any other service, not just cas. but think about what is the perception of your clients about \u201ctax preparation services.\u201d it is a highly mature service segment that is highly commoditized by technology. client expectations of what they experience as an outcome are nearly unchangeable \u2013 as low tax a preparation fee as possible, filing in time, and the peace of mind that they have not paid more than what they are required to pay. cas is still to find that unchangeable perception\/expectation level in clients\u2019 minds, and that is a great opportunity for accountants to show the new possibilities and deliver the value.<\/p>\n your firm\u2019s cas performance needs to be reviewed periodically. but how frequently? when?<\/p>\n it depends on how new you are to offering cas. because i interact with professional accounting firms day in day out \u2013 with firms that are just starting to offer cas, those that have been offering it for some months and those that have been at it for many years \u2013 i could figure out some common patterns in how firms evaluate their processes, and when. i identified one particular factor that seemed to indicate how frequently accountants review their cas processes is related to the maturity of their cas practice. i analyzed and correlated the frequency of their review to the length of time that the firms have been offering cas. as a rule of thumb, the ballpark timelines for your firm\u2019s cas performance review should be as described below:<\/p>\n measuring your cas costs is just one part of the equation. again, because cas is about outcomes, you must measure it from the cas client\u2019s point of view. from the very basic \u201cwhat did we deliver extra in cas that we don\u2019t deliver in our basic services?\u201d to more ambiguous \u201cwhat value did the cas client perceive from the cas outcomes we delivered?\u201d \u2013 measure everything.<\/p>\n when you deliver cas to a few clients for say three months, review the \u201cbusiness performance indicators\u201d from the client\u2019s financial statements. for example, are your clients experiencing some cost reduction\/optimization in their business because of the insights you delivered? if not, did the clients actually act on the insights you gave them? depending upon the nature of each of your clients\u2019 business, the industry, life cycle of the company, competition, regulatory and technological shifts in their industry, etc., the value of different types of cas outcomes will vary client by client. but the key thing to understand here is you need to figure out what would be a few measurable indicators from a client\u2019s business accounting that will reflect the impact of your cas offering.<\/p>\n for some, it could be a reduction of the average amount of money stuck in monthly\/quarterly inventory; for others, it could be a lesser number of average days to collect receivables (which can reduce overdraft\/financing cost), and so on. the concept here is to be able to measure cas performance. you need to be able to identify what would make a difference to a client\u2019s business and how you will measurably show it to the client.<\/p>\n if you managed to get clients who are a better fit for cas, you would find they ask multiple and more profound questions than other clients who buy lower-priced basis services from you. however, when smaller businesses start growing, the business owners are neither used to asking such questions nor have the time to focus on accounting (hence the cas opportunity for accountants). you will need to educate such clients to ask relevant questions that make them take notice of the cas outcomes you provide. one way to do this is to make a list of common, generic questions that other cas clients ask and tell the other clients something like, \u201cwhen our other clients receive these cas insights from us, generally they ask us such and such questions. the reasons they ask these questions are such and such. do you have any such questions on your mind right now?\u201d after the initial few months of your cas journey, once you are able to identify and lay down the \u201ccas performance measurement parameters and processes,\u201d you will be ready to fine-tune and optimize your cas practice.<\/p>\n many cas performance measurement criteria you find out during your first year of providing cas will continue. but making sure that you show the clients a \u201cbefore and after\u201d comparison of their critical business indicators is a must.<\/p>\n your \u201cbefore\u201d point is the financial statements of your client\u2019s company at the time of signing up for your cas offering, and preferably the immediate past two years of business revenue and profitability trend. you\u2019d want to demonstrate that your cas insights are helping the client enhance their business on multiple parameters. after a year of experience of providing cas, it is advisable to continue to measure cas performance as follows:<\/p>\n there are several performance factors you can track for reviewing your firm\u2019s cas performance. you need to focus on a few most impactful ones. a technique to know which ones are more impactful is to separate the measurement of \u201cactivities\u201d from the \u201coutcomes of the activities.\u201d here are a few examples of what to review:<\/p>\n client-level review:<\/strong><\/p>\n firm-level review:<\/strong><\/p>\n these are just some examples to get you started with the cas performance measurement processes. as long as you can design these review processes around the outcomes and impact of your cas offering, you can expect to enhance your cas practice.<\/p>\n while the cas performance review findings are essential for your firm\u2019s cas progress, it is also important that such review processes are relevant, fast, efficient, effective and useful. therefore, it is advisable to weave the review measurement actions right into your cas processes rather than taking all the information at the end of each review period and trying to analyze it all at once. do not think of these cas performance reviews like \u201cfree consultations\u201d you may be offering to prospects. so, how should you review the performance of your cas offering? here are some starting recommendations:<\/p>\n you are a professional accountant. you innately sense and understand business performance and trends. if you created a separate business for offering cas, how will you analyze the performance of this business? answering this question can give you ideas on how to measure the financial performance of your cas practice.<\/p>\n if you look at each of your cas clients as a cas salesperson for your firm (because they will upsell themselves by buying more cas components or other services from your firm as well as give you referrals that turn into new revenue and profit for your firm), you will find ideas on how to measure the value of each cas client. if you assign even a notional dollar value to your firm\u2019s \u201cbrand,\u201d the number of positive online reviews and testimonials will give you a good measure of the brand value of your cas practice. these are just some ideas on how to think differently when deciding about your firm\u2019s cas performance review system.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" weave review actions into your processes.<\/strong>
\nclient accounting services: the definitive success guide<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
\nexclusively for pro members. <\/span><\/strong>log in here<\/a> or 2022世界杯足球排名 today<\/a>.<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
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\ncas as a revenue segment will continue to evolve, especially given the pace of technological advancement, and also because of comparatively much higher levels of awareness among clients because information is so much more easily available to
\npeople (compared to let\u2019s say about 20-30 years ago). the internet and social media make it easier for your clients and prospects to do their \u201cdue diligence\u201d about your firm. it means cas clients\u2019 expectations will keep evolving and changing. you would want to make sure your cas offering is, at the very least, \u201ccontemporary,\u201d ideally \u201cahead of the curve.\u201d<\/p>\nwhen to review<\/h3>\n
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what to review<\/h3>\n
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how to review<\/h3>\n
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think differently<\/h3>\n
\n<\/a>
\nby hitendra patil<\/i>
\nclient accounting services: the definitive success guide<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1363,"featured_media":96853,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3058,3120,3002],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-119720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-client-accounting-services","category-pro-member-exclusive","category-special"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n