Ben Walker, Author at High Performance Accountants

Play Video about Are Accountants Letters Risky? Landscape

Are accountants letters risky?

Firstly, there’s so much whingeing amongst accountants on signing letters for banks or financial institutions.

We are signing factual information for the clients knowing that we have got disclaimers. Also, we are not taking liability or guaranteeing anything’s going to happen, but rather just signing for the income of the client.

Is the bank's template for accountants letters risky?

Secondly, If we are using the bank’s template and they can’t operate outside of that. They’ve got stuff which does give us risk, we get that. Most of them however, we can reword how we want, so it’s all factual information.

Thirdly, If you don’t sign accountants letters, providing that sort of factual information on behalf of your clients, that’s going to drive a huge wedge between you and them. Especially, where it’s quite an easy or simple no-risk confirmation.

Lastly, we want you to consider the wording of them. Reword and cross stuff out if it’s a template. Only sign something you are comfortable signing so that you know it’s true.

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Play Video about Accounting Firms Giving Away Free Advice To Get Clients Landscape

Are you an accounting firm that’s giving away free accounting advice? I want to encourage you to stop, there is another way to do it.

We made a change in the business in 2014 where we started charging for our sales. Prior to that, I’d meet with a client for about an hour, sometimes longer and I would pour out all this value in the hopes I might impress the client enough that they might come across. However, at any moment, they could walk out the door, take that knowledge with them, and go to a cheaper or another accountant to get that implemented. The problem is, I spent so much time, effort, and value. I got paid nothing for that.

How we stopped giving away free advice

What changed the game for us was that we implemented the ‘Look Under The Hood’ or a second opinion on your tax. We started charging at $500+GST but for the last couple of years, we’ve increased it to $750+GST.

The goal is to find at least, if not thousands of dollars in tax savings for the client. It’s a paid engagement. There’s a paid report they receive and a meeting as well. This has changed the game with conversions and sales. So, I highly encourage accounting firms to stop giving away free advice, your time and energy is valuable.

High Performance Accountants Webinar

If you want to learn how to grow a fun, super rewarding accounting firm that runs like clockwork, join our next High Performance Accountants webinar. You’ll learn the 7 Steps of creating your High Performance Firm.

Play Video about Accounting Services Pricing Landscape

When it comes to accounting services and pricing, a frequently asked question we see is, “Should I charge if someone is late or a no show?”

Here’s the scenario –

An accountant has asked for advice, where they gave away a ‘1-hour free consultation’ to get new clients on board. However, sometimes the prospective clients are mucking them around and they’re doing no shows or showing up late.

Without a doubt, we shouldn’t be giving consultations for free for anything near an hour. In addition, it goes for in-person meetings where you’ve got the added logistics such as traffic and things that can get in the way.

Accounting services pricing recommendations for late or no shows

We recommend a 20 minute phone or Zoom call. Zoom adds a slightly more personal touch where you can see the person face-to-face.

At Inspire, we do a 20-minute strategy call without a cost. We identify what the issues are with the prospective client that is wanting help. If we are a good fit, then we outline the next step in our sales process, which often is a Look Under The Hood or a second opinion on their tax. That’s a paid service of $750+GST and we deliver that over the coming week or so.

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Play Video about eSigning Tools For Account Landscapeants

There’s a few eSigning tools for accountants. We’ve been using eSigning since the very early days of Inspire. In 2013, we used DocuSign, which at the time was the gold standard and one of the first online signing providers. About 4 or 5 years ago, we started to lose the love for DocuSign. They kept hitting us with quite extreme price rises from 60%, 70% to 80% increases per year so we had a suss with another couple of providers.

Preferred eSigning Tools For Accountants

We are now using two eSigning providers:

Xero Sign – which is inbuilt with Xero. We send our clients’ BASs through that. It’s a simple way to send it out and get them signed
Annature – For document packs like tax returns and financial statements for a group, we’re using a software provider called Annature and have been using it for the last six months. The feedback from the team has been pretty good and similarly with clients as well. It’s a great user-friendly option.

Tech Stack Guide

Check out Inspire’s Tech Stack Guide. Inspire has tried and tested different software throughout the growth of the firm. What worked at the start, doesn’t necessarily get us to the next level. We’ve combined a list of the app or tech stack we currently use with a philosophy of ‘best in class’ when it comes to what we select. Take a look and see if there’s some apps that may benefit your firm