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ADVISORY & CONSULTING

Fine-Tuning the Subscription Fee Model

How CPA Jamie Lopiccolo’s subscription pricing models manage client expectations and the firm’s cash flow.
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With Steven Sacks
The NEW Fundamentals: Thriving in Disruption

James (Jamie) N. Lopiccolo, CPA, CGMA
Lopiccolo

Jamie Lopiccolo, the managing member of a small Midwest firm, has been employing a subscription-based model for more than four years to invoice clients for services rendered. In addition to positioning the CPA as the client’s partner for success, it also encourages those who employ the system to provide maximum value in each client interaction, rather than focusing on getting as much money or billable hours as possible. Catch another conversation with Lopiccolo here: Sell Service, Not Hours.

MORE: Blake Oliver: Why Tax Work Yearns To Be Free| Private Equity Explodes in U.K. | Brannon Poe: The Status Quo Must Go  |  Accounting Nerds, Unlock Your Super Powers  | Private Equity vs. the CPA Firm Partnership The FinTech Flood: Accounting Will Never Be the Same  |  Think Small to Think Big with Matt Wilkinson | Your Sales Tax Headaches Are Only Just Beginning | When Financial Statements Go Extinct with Corey Schmidt  |  Can Geraldine Carter Save Accountants from Themselves? |  Re-Inventing Accounting with Tyler Anderson |  Turning Client Service into New Revenue

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The approach is to both manage expectations by the client and ensure a normalized cash flow for the firm. Additional benefits include a more strategic approach to dealing with new clients because they are getting the full picture of their business’s needs.

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Listen to Learn

Four people meeting for business lunchEffective networking is an art.

By Steven E. Sacks
The NEW Fundamentals: Thriving in Disruption

There is no one right way to effectively network. You can join boards, attend conferences and sign onto various electronic forums, among other ways. No matter how you decide to get yourself out there, the critical factor is the approach you take. Asking others, “How may I help you?” is the positive, proactive way to establish relationships.

MORE: Build the Framework to a Solution with Five Answers | Try for Success, Not a Win
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You as the networker are seeking to build a relationship. If the other person or group benefits from your effort, think of it as an investment for the future. If you are looking for an immediate quid pro quo, it will become transparent to the other party. When you offer assistance, be authentic and sincere in your words and actions. Follow through on your promises.
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Build the Framework to a Solution with Five Answers

Woman and man shaking hands across a deskAvoid last-minute decision-making.

By Steven E. Sacks
The NEW Fundamentals

CPA firms often believe the most crucial part of negotiations to close a deal happens at the final stage of talks. But in order to have a satisfactory conclusion, you must set the tone at the beginning stage with an honest and forthcoming discussion based on mutual benefit – with an underpinning of respect and trust.

MORE: Try for Success, Not a Win
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For young professionals, it is never too early to evaluate your negotiation aptitude. Think about this as a process with key milestones. This gives you the chance to make modifications along the way and to avoid the last-minute pressures of bargaining that can remove the advantages you have created. Adhering to a game plan will reduce the chances of objections from the other party, or even worse, the backing out of an arrangement that you considered to be a “lock.” This can be applied to discussions involving a promotion or a pay increase.
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Try for Success, Not a Win

Three people speaking by videoconferenceKeep your eyes on the real goal.

By Steven E. Sacks
The NEW Fundamentals

We enter into negotiations every day without realizing it, whether it is on a professional or personal basis. Irrespective of whether it is a contractual transaction between a company and vendor or if a husband and wife are deciding on which couch to buy, each side is seeking to gain something. Neither side may get everything it wants because an all-or-nothing-at-all approach will be a barrier to making any progress.

MORE: Civility Goes a Long Way | Don’t Overlook Office Relationships | How to Deliver Authentic Value | Why Deadlines Get Missed | Five Reasons You’re Not SWOT-Ready | Are You Productive or Just Busy? | Accounting Is a Profession, Not an Industry
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Negotiating involves getting and keeping agreements that work for all parties. You can reach an agreement, but the issue is whether you can maintain the agreement and the relationship built around it. Both sides need to have a sense of victory or, at the very least, feel they have not lost, because if this should occur then further conflict will result.
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Civility Goes a Long Way

Business people laughing at lunch in a cafe outdoorsBad reputations spread more quickly now.

By Steven E. Sacks
The NEW Fundamentals

Technology has overtaken the traditional forms of communication that include face-to-face interaction, telephone conversations and of course, the handwritten or typed note slipped into an envelope, affixed with a stamp and dropped in the mailbox.

MORE: Don’t Overlook Office Relationships | How to Deliver Authentic Value | Making the Jump from Small to Mid-Sized Firm | What Sets Your Firm Apart … If Anything? | Why Deadlines Get Missed | Too Busy? You May Need to Reprioritize | Is It Time to Outsource? | Five Reasons You’re Not SWOT-Ready | Who Needs Another Meeting? | 4 Questions for CPA Firm Boards
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But wait. How can professionals succeed if the situation calls for in-person interaction if they have not been given the necessary training in the art of a conversation? Whether you are involved in a job interview or entertaining a potential client over a meal, how you exercise the appropriate behavior will determine whether a relationship is forged or tossed on the pile of failed results.
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