I wanted to talk about your business model – and the money that you charge for your services.
If you’re a “standard” accounting firm, I bet your business model can be broken into the following steps:
– Complete a service
– Charge for the hours that you’ve worked
If yes, then it’s likely that you’ve trapped yourself in a transactional relationship.
Many of my clients when they first came to me, found themselves with, what they thought was, maximized hourly rates.
No matter how many extra services they added, they thought they just couldn’t justify increasing the amount that they charged for every hour of their time.
Not to mention that often, they spent more hours doing the work than they would charge their clients for!
Millions of people from all over the world are drawn to Machu Picchu in Peru. Its popularity is increasing every year. Why? Content.
Just like Iguaza Falls in Argentina & Brazil, The Wealthy Accountant is viewed externally in a beautiful way.
How often do you find yourself working way more than you charged for?
If you work long hours, delegate very little, and do work that you don’t charge a proper amount for, you’re making the three mistakes that are killing most accounting businesses.
In fact, these are one of the most common problems that keep the people who come to me for help from growing. The good news is, your accounting firm doesn’t have to look like that forever.
Did you know that there’s an estimated 500M+ of small to medium sized businesses in the world?
And pretty much every one of them is ‘connected’ to an accounting firm in some way, shape or form.
Be it by tax, compliance or audit.
Out of that 500M+, around 1.3M are accounting companies – just like yours – generating around US$500BN in revenue.
Let me ask you this – do you often have fun at work?
If your answer is never or something close to it, it’s time to change it.
Having fun in the workplace helps you create an atmosphere you and your employees enjoy. And this can motivate them in ways other things can’t.
The last thing you want is having your team members bolt for the door at 5 pm.
Tackling the price increase conundrum is pretty scary business. With these tips, you’ll build the courage to do it.
How open are you to making changes in your firm?
I think it’s an important question. Change requires upheaval. It requires you to throw a wrench in the works and mess with the status quo.
Becoming an effective salesperson as an accountant can take time – especially if you try to master all the nuances of a sales process.
Thankfully, the more you succeed the easier it should be for you to build on that success, right? In the end, we all know that success is a tremendous confidence booster.
The problem is, way too often we tend to underestimate the value of our achievements.
What’s one of the biggest time suckers for every accountant?
Trying to solve difficult problems where there’s more guessing than actual work.
This is where clear communication with your client can help you.
In the end, why should you be doing all the guesswork, if a 5-minute phone call could save you hours of your time?
No accounting firm can work with just anyone. Picking the right clients can often make a difference between failure and success.
Even the biggest accounting firms out there don’t just accept everyone who knocks on their door. No matter how capable they might be, they’re not willing to work with clients who are not a good fit.
I believe this is an important lesson that all accountants need to learn.
What typically happens first?
1) You communicate more with a client and then they pay more
OR
2) The client pays more and then you communicate more
Typically 2 is the norm. You get a high paying client who needs lots of services. Then you typically speak / meet with them more frequently. So communication follows fee.
2022 Report on the state of the North American Accounting Profession
Get the help that you need to supercharge your accounting firm while working less.