CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES Archives - Page 3 of 93

Accountants to the Rescue as Startups Struggle

November 6, 2023

Three ways that you can help.

By CPA Trendlines Research

Small businesses rarely make the headlines, but as a whole they represent a huge portion of the American economy. More than 98 percent of all American businesses have fewer than 100 employees, and 77 percent have between one and 10. Together they account for 36 percent of the national workforce.

MORE: Talent Gap Widening: Be Very Scared | Accountants Hopeful, Concerned and Confused about AI | Looking for Recent Grads? Good Luck | CPA Biz Is Booming, But for How Long? | Survey Respondents See Exciting Year Coming Up | SURVEY: Accountants Economic Outlook Brightens | Research: Accounting Pros Cautiously Optimistic about Generative AI
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Americans, generally an independent bunch, are known for cranking up new businesses. One in 10 small businesses is less than one year old. The attrition rate is high, of course, but 45 percent have held on for one to 10 years, and they account for 34 percent of small business jobs.
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Karen Reyburn: Fix Your Marketing and Fix Your Business

October 30, 2023

By Liz Farr

Not MORE Clients, BETTER Clients.

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music and Audible, Player FM, Audacy, Gaana (India), and Boomplay (Africa).

The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

Karen Reyburn wants accountants to stop thinking “about marketing as this one-off thing where you tick little boxes,” but instead about the ways you can use your marketing to connect to the human experience. Her company, The Profitable Firm, or PF for short, has been helping accountants with their marketing since 2012.

MORE PODCASTS and VIDEOS: Giles Pearson: Fix the Staffing Crisis by Swapping Experience for Education | Jina Etienne: Practice Fearless Inclusion | Bill Penczak: Stop Forcing Smart People to Do Stupid Work | Sandra Wiley: Staffing Problem? Check Your Culture | Scott Scarano: First, Grow People. Then Firm Growth Can Follow | Jody Padar: Build a Practice that Works for You, Not Vice-Versa | Ira Rosenbloom: With M&A, Nobody Wants a Fixer-Upper | Peter Margaritis: The Power Skills Every Accountant Needs | Joe Montgomery: Find the Sweet Spot of the Right Clients, Right Services and Right Prices | Marie Green: Your Bad Apples Are Ruining You | Megan Genest Tarnow: Hire for Curiosity Rather Than Compliance | Clayton Oates: One Way to Keep Clients for Life |

Learn More

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Her new book, The Accountant Marketer: The Structured Approach Any Accountant Can Follow to Attract Clients They Love, provides a step-by-step process for understanding the unique characteristics of their firm and how to connect that uniqueness with their best clients.

In Reyburn’s view, marketing is closely connected to the business. “If you have a marketing problem, you have a business problem. If you have a business problem, there’s often a marketing solution that can help with it.”

This book springs out of a PF coaching group called The Accelerator, where participants were guided through a process of creating a structured approach to content marketing that made their marketing better. Reyburn and PF take a collaborative approach to marketing. “We don’t do marketing for people,” she explained. “We do marketing with them.”

Keep Clients from “Balance Due” Shock

October 17, 2023

By Frank Stitely

With just a little advanced marketing, you can get paid year-round AND have more satisfied clients.

By Frank Stitely
The Relentless CPA

When I talk with prospective clients in any medium, I lead with tax planning. I don’t care if I’m meeting them, calling them or emailing them. I lead with tax planning. The number one complaint clients have about CPAs and tax preparers is a lack of planning. They get tax returns and nothing else.

MORE: Stop Clients from Performing “Favors” | Who Needs Fall Tax Planning? Clients … and You | Get Clients to Bring Tax Docs Early…Yes, EARLY | Why Time Tracking Still Matters | Make Fewer Mistakes, Increase Revenue and Capacity | Six Ways to Create a Millennial-Friendly Firm
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The fun part is seeing the reaction when I mention planning. I tell them that they can know the results while there’s still time to change the results. Tax season is no longer stressful because they know the answers in advance about refunds and balances due.
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Stop Clients from Performing “Favors”

October 10, 2023

By Frank Stitely

“Oh, you shouldn’t have.” (You really, REALLY shouldn’t have.)

By Frank Stitely
The Relentless CPA

We all have clients who bring in tax documents in laminated three-ring binders. They smile big toothy grins and tell us how they’re our most organized client. There’s no reason for us to organize the documents, as they’ve already done us this huge favor. Of course, there will be no reason for us to remove anything from the binder and everything should be left in the binder just as it is.

MORE: Who Needs Fall Tax Planning? Clients … and You | It’s OK to Say No to Clients (Even the Large Ones) | You Train Your Clients, Whether You Mean To or Not | Business Owners Face One of Three Exits | How Small Firms Can Win the Talent Wars | Do You Know Your Turnaround Time?
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We call these people binder boys. They have no clue that organized for them is not organized for tax return preparation. Preparing a return from documents in a binder takes twice as long, at least, as preparing returns from a well-organized PDF file.

We also have the people who use five pounds of staples to organize 20 pages. They don’t want any loose documents falling out of the file.
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20 Things You Need for a Business Valuation

October 9, 2023

By Edward Mendlowitz

How to help a client who wants to sell their business. (Hint: It’s about them, not you.)

By Ed Mendlowitz
202 Questions and Answers: Managing an Accounting Practice

QUESTION: I have a client who’s thinking of selling his business, and he asked me to recommend a consultant to help him get his business in shape to sell. I am afraid that if he finds someone on his own I’ll lose control of the client. He might end up not selling and I could lose the client. I do not know anyone to recommend. What do you suggest I do?

MORE: Valuing a Family-Owned Business: Eight Options | Business Valuation Comes Down to Cash Flow | 50 Ways to Create Value for Business Owners and Board Members | What Earnings Mean for a Business Valuation | Use Organization Charts to Rewrite the Future | What Clients Don’t Know about Cost Variances | Why and How to Track Payroll Costs
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ED’S RESPONSE: I suggest that you decide what is best for the client and proceed that way. You can find consultants by contacting other CPAs, attorneys, or business brokers that work in this area.

However, I also think that this is something where you can probably do most of the work yourself or through your firm. It is not a magic process, but a four-part process.

Would You Buy Your Own Services?

October 5, 2023

By Steven Sacks

Don’t expect potential clients to if you don’t know what sets you apart.

By Steven E. Sacks, CPA, CGMA, ABC

Do you ever wonder why after spending many hours on drafting, editing, proofing, and polishing—and proofing and polishing just once more—your engagement proposal efforts did not result in winning the engagement? And if this happens on a semi-regular basis, the frustration is never easier to take.

MORE STEVE SACKS: How Do You Value Your Most Important Asset? | How to Build a Winning Proposal | Six Ways to Fix Your Firm Agreement | The Great Resignation or a Reshuffling? | Listen to Learn | Build the Framework to a Solution with Five Answers | Try for Success, Not a Win
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You may have the requisite knowledge, experience, and perhaps even a broad view based on a diverse set of clients. However, you may have become complacent by maintaining a “cookie-cutter” approach to developing your proposals. Like the old joke defining a consultant: “A person who takes off your watch, tells you the time, and gives the watch back to you,” implies an approach that you believe is best for your potential client, yet reflects no understanding of what the client actually needs.

Bundle Tax Services with Financial Planning

October 4, 2023

By Edward Mendlowitz

Two sample engagement proposals.

By Ed Mendlowitz
How to Build a Stronger Tax Practice

Following are two sample engagement proposals for tax return preparation bundled with additional financial planning and business planning services.

MORE ON MARKETING: When Clients Haven’t Filed Taxes for Years | Seven Keys to a Complete Succession Plan | The Tax Effects of Buying or Selling a Business | Elder Care: Not Sexy, But Vital | How to Guide Clients through Divorce | Help Clients Manage Their Investments
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Letter 1:

Dear _________________:

It was good meeting with you last week. Ed and I are excited to be working with you and look forward to a long and satisfying professional relationship.
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Who Needs Fall Tax Planning? Clients … and You

October 3, 2023

By Frank Stitely

Avoid balance-due whining sessions AND earn additional revenue.

By Frank Stitely
The Relentless CPA

You’ve surely had this conversation a million times during multiple tax seasons, most often in April. You give a client a tax return with a $20,000 balance due.

Client: I didn’t expect to owe that much.
You: How much did you expect to owe?
Client: About $5,000.

MORE: It’s OK to Say No to Clients (Even the Large Ones) | Control Your Time: Avoid Ambush Meetings and Calls | Train Your Clients Before They Train You | Don’t Let Clients Dictate Tax Workflow | How Small Firms Can Win the Talent Wars | Do You Know Your Turnaround Time?
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Here’s where my conversations may differ from yours a bit.