6 tips for launching advisory services in your accounting firm

6 tips for launching advisory services

June 24, 2022 10:44 AM

As I discussed in a previous article, client accounting services or advisory accounting can be highly beneficial for accountants — offering the opportunity to earn more and enjoy a better work-life balance. There are several ways to get started in offering CAS to clients, but I have outlined six effective actions to help with this shift.

Create a written business plan

Once your intentions are set, putting your plans down on paper is the best next step. If you know any peers with CAS experience, it is worth asking them some questions like:

How did they get started?
What advice do they have for someone just starting out?
Can they offer you a list of do’s and don’ts?
What technology has been helpful for them to accomplish their CAS goals?

Once you have responses to the list of questions you pulled together, create actionable steps towards building the foundation of your CAS practice.

Decide on a pricing strategy

One of the big benefits of CAS practices is that in general, accountants who practice advisory services move away from the hourly billing model and instead adopt value-based or subscription-based pricing models. This helps stabilize monthly revenue by requiring payment upfront and ensures you are paid well for your time.

Have a look at all your current clients

Once your plan is built out, you should go through your current client roster, see what industry they are in and what services you are already providing, and then try to identify ways you could offer more value to each of them. Ask yourself questions like:

Is there an opportunity to build out a business development plan?
Is there anyone you know in their industry that you could connect them with?
What additional value can you bring to each client?

Once you have gone through your list and noted the services and possible future services for each client, make a list of the top three to five highest-fee clients and three to five of your favorite people to work with. The clients you enjoy working with are a great place to start with CAS and it is likely that if your relationship is already strong, they would be interested in hearing about the additional advisory services you are offering. The best way to start is by approaching these clients with the areas you could add value. What is working for their business and what is working less or not at all? Once you have a clear picture, pull together a proposal and pitch it to them!

Commit to providing advisory services for five prospective clients

Once you have started your advisory practice with current clients, the next phase is offering these services to new clients. Look at how you can use the experience you had with your first CAS clients and scale those offerings for new/prospective clients. This change obviously doesn’t need to happen immediately — completely transforming your firm takes time. However, the goal is to offer CAS to new prospects. When you interview potential clients, ask them questions about how your advisory services could help them. Make sure to share an overview of what those services are and how they have impacted current advisory clients.

After speaking with several prospective clients, you will be able to develop a standard list of questions you can use when onboarding other clients.

Figure out the tech stack that will work best for you

Employing helpful technology will help tremendously in the efficiency of your firm and in your ability to provide proactive services. Below is a quick list of some of the tools that you can look into — if you aren’t already familiar with them — that can make your life easier.

Calendar tool. Look into a scheduling tool, like Calendly, to help manage appointments and give clients the ability to reach out on your terms.
Client portals. From secure file sharing, to seamless client collaboration, client portals are hugely helpful in facilitating and organizing client requests within your firm.
Cloud-based document management. With a secure cloud-based document management system, it is easier to find the right files and gives time back from searching for physical forms.
Client management system, or a CRM. Have one place for client communications, records, interactions and everything to make accountants feel sane.
Workflow. Many accounting firms use Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel to manage tasks, but project management can be difficult without a centralized management system. Implementing a workflow solution can help you be successful.
Data visualization. With an advisory business model, it’s sometimes less obvious to clients what you have done to help. Putting visuals into Canva or Google Slides help convey where you are in the process on certain projects (or to show what you’ve already completed).