CLIENT ACCOUNTING SERVICES

Why Most CAS Practices Stall | It’s Not Just the Numbers

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…And what the successful ones do differently.

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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead
For CPA Trendlines

Client Accounting Services (CAS) has moved well beyond bookkeeping. For firms serious about advisory, CAS is now a fundamentally different operating model, one that demands new roles, new systems, and a far higher level of internal transparency than traditional tax or audit practices ever required. 

In this episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, Damien Greathead and Penny Breslin draw on more than two decades of shared experience to unpack what actually makes a modern CAS practice work in the real world. Their discussion goes beyond theory and into the structural, cultural, and operational decisions firms must confront if they want CAS to be scalable, profitable, and sustainable . 

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Traditional accounting firms are built around specialization and hierarchy: junior and senior accountants, bookkeepers, managers, and partners, each working essentially in isolation on their own client list. That structure works for compliance, but it breaks down in a CAS environment. 

“CAS requires the team to approach the client holistically,” Breslin explains. “You can’t have people operating in silos. Everyone needs to understand the client’s goals, not just their individual task.” 

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Clients Need Relevance in Your Advice

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woman and man talking in office

Why it is a cornerstone of value.

By Hitendra Patil
Client Accounting Services: The Definitive Success Guide

Providing value to clients involves thoroughly understanding your client, anticipating their needs, and offering advice that is both timely and highly relevant.

We discussed earlier why timeliness is the first essential element of valuable advice. Yet, advice given at the right moment but disconnected from the client’s real-world challenges is like a GPS giving directions without knowing your location.

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In this article, we examine why even the most technically sound advice often falls short when it fails to resonate with the client’s actual context, goals or concerns. Through real-life examples, from generic guidance that missed the mark to targeted insight that drove results, you will learn how to shape advice that fits the moment. It is not just about knowing the client’s business, it’s about understanding what matters most, right now.
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The CAS Bottleneck No One Talks About | It’s Not Just the Numbers

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Poor onboarding frustrates clients, burns out staff, and kills profitability.

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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead
For CPA Trendlines

Winning the client is exciting—but in Client Accounting Services (CAS), that’s just the opening act. The real work, and the real success, depends on what happens immediately after a prospect says “yes.”

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In this episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, hosts Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead make the case that onboarding is one of the most overlooked, underdeveloped, and business-critical functions in CAS firms today.

“Too many firms have no clue what actually happens when a client walks in the door,” Breslin says. “You sold the work, but what happens next? What experience does the client have? And what does your team do first?”

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Why Policies, Processes, and Procedures Make or Break CAS | It’s Not Just the Numbers

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Get more value from the technology you already own. 

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
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Is your firm truly ready for tax season—or just hoping to survive it? Join this 90-minute webinar featuring an Accounting ARC Live panel with thought leaders who know what it takes to optimize performance under pressure.

It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead
For CPA Trendlines

When accountants and bookkeepers talk about building a scalable, profitable firm, the conversation often jumps straight to technology. Which workflow app is best? Should we move payroll into a dedicated platform? Is our practice management system due for an upgrade? 

But as Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead emphasize in the latest episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, software is only as good as the processes that support it. Without consistent policies and documented procedures, even the most advanced tech stack will fail to deliver efficiency or profitability. 

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This lesson is especially crucial for firms offering Client Advisory Services (CAS). Advisory work depends on reliable, timely data and standardized outputs. If every accountant on the team closes the books differently, it doesn’t just create inefficiency; it undermines the consistency and trust that clients rely on.  READ MORE →

Advice Must be Timely to be Valuable

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Meditative businessman is pondering time management while surrounded by alarm clocks

Five real-world examples plus four key elements for implementation.

By Hitendra Patil
Client Accounting Services: The Definitive Success Guide

Good-fit clients who hire professional accountants usually expect more than just basic bookkeeping or tax preparation. They seek deeper, more strategic value.

What they truly value is advice that is specific, insightful and actionable, which helps them:

  • Make better business decisions
  • Reduce financial risks
  • Grow with confidence

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However, even the most brilliant advice can become irrelevant if it comes too late. More than the brilliance of the advice, the value of advice is often judged by its timing. In the world of advisory, insight delivered too late might as well not be delivered at all.
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How to Upgrade Your Clients to Higher-Value Advisory Services

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two men talking across table

Do they understand what you’re offering?

By Hitendra Patil
Client Accounting Services: The Definitive Success Guide

You are more than a billable hour. Do you agree?

Upgrading your clients to higher-value advisory services can be an arduous task. It is challenging, but worthwhile!

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However, what do you do when your clients don’t understand why they should pay for your advice or, worse, why they need it? How can you convince them that it is worth paying for your advice?
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Vanover: 5-Star Firms Don’t Bill by the Hour | The Disruptors

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Measuring impact—not hours—creates happier teams, better clients, and a stronger profession.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
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Is your firm truly ready for tax season—or just hoping to survive it? Join this 90-minute webinar featuring an Accounting ARC Live panel with thought leaders who know what it takes to optimize performance under pressure.

The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

What will it take to kill the billable hour? Chris Vanover, founder of CPAClub, believes it’s not only “outdated and archaic,” but that today’s age of AI and automation “is a recipe for the death of the billable hour.”    

MORE STREAMING: Kless: Profit Is a Result. Flourishing Is the Purpose | Whitman: Build Culture on ‘Progress,’ Not Change | Shein: No PE? No M&A? No Problem | Hood and Weber: Time to RISE | Proctor: Turn Dumb Ideas into Brilliant Solutions | Carter-Gray: How 1 Poor Review Strengthened the Firm | Hartman: Upwork to “40 Under 40” in 3 Years | Telka: Transform Fear into Fuel | Woodard: Move Past Reports; Deliver Results | Baker: Find True Purpose to End Burnout | Brolin: The W.I.N. Leadership Formula | Gertrudes: How EOS & “Unreasonable Hospitality” Reshaped GrowthLab | Vilms: The Power of People in a Tech-Driven World | Dickerson: From Diagnosis to Disruption | Kapilovich: Treat People Like People | Martha Yasso: From Wall Street to Main Street | Jackie Meyer: Tax Plans in 90 Seconds? Believe It  | Erica Goode: Build a $200K Firm in 15hrs/Week |

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CPAClub, formerly AuditClub, operates under a different model. As Hervochon explained in his first appearance on The Disruptors, CPAClub operates as a subscription service, where pass holders have access on a monthly or annual basis to a team of highly skilled auditors and accountants. This innovative business model undoubtedly contributed to the firm’s recognition as CalCPA’s Firm of the Year for 2025.  

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Make Clients Part of Your CAS Team | It’s Not Just the Numbers

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“If they’re consistently uncooperative, they’re not a good CAS client, no matter how much they pay.” 

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It’s Not Just the Numbers
With Penny Breslin and Damien Greathead
For CPA Trendlines

In the world of client accounting and advisory services (CAS), most firms focus on building internal teams, refining processes, and adopting the right technology. Yet, one crucial element often gets overlooked: the client. 

In a recent episode of It’s Not Just the Numbers, co-hosts Damien Greathead and Penny Breslin explore why clients must be treated as integral members of the team, and what happens when firms fail to define the client’s role in the process. Their conversation, drawn from decades of working with accounting firms around the world, provides a blueprint for CPAs and firm owners aiming to elevate their CAS practices. 

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Traditionally, accountants position clients as recipients of a service; for example, the client would deliver documents once a year, and the firm would produce a tax return. That transactional model doesn’t work in CAS, says Breslin. 

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The Three-Lens Model for CAS Conversations

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three magnifying glasses leaning on sidesClients will feel seen, heard and helped.

By Hitendra Patil
Client Accounting Services: The Definitive Success Guide

Many client accounting services professionals are eager to offer “advisory,” but they sometimes struggle to make their conversations truly feel like advice. The tools are available, and the data is clean, yet something still feels a bit off.

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Why? Because most client interactions rely on reactive reporting, when they should be guided by proactive exploration, and that’s the problem. CAS is far more than just about what you say. It’s about how your insights meet your client’s world.
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