Five Ways to Improve Your Pricing…and Profits

Let Marketing and Business Development Lend a Hand

Price is a component of the buying decision. You aim to make it less of one, but when all things are created equally, price is typically the tie breaker. This leads to spreadsheets with multiple variables, guesstimates on hours and blended hourly rates all with the hope of coming up with a price that makes the prospect happy and satisfies your firm’s realization goals. All of this work is done at the engagement level by a partner or partners who will oversee the engagement. Read more

How Much do CPA Firms Spend on Marketing?

In this industry, you often hear people share that firms spend between 2 and 4 percent of revenue on marketing. Well, what number is it exactly? And what is included in that calculation? These are important factors for a firm to properly benchmark how they stand in relation to the industry.

A few years ago, the Association for Accounting Marketing (AAM) partnered with the Hinge Research Institute to better figure that out. Firms were asked to submit their spending, as a percentage of revenue, in specific categories that it felt should be included in a budget. And they are conducting this survey again now to be released in 2017.

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Who Owns Product Management in Your Firm?

When it comes to strategically growing a CPA firm, there are three equally important components – marketing, business development support and product management. You can probably name the person(s) who are responsible for marketing in your organization. You know who is responsible for selling. But who owns the product management function? Most people can’t answer that question. Read more

Enhance Your Growth Sustainability

What do top growth leaders do to enhance the sustainability of growth within a firm? While firms are seeing growth organically and through merger and acquisition, it is organic growth that is imperative to long-term success. If you understand what it takes to drive this growth, your firm can achieve year-over-year revenue increases. Read more

Will You Hit Your Growth Goal?

Planning produces better results

Your firm has come up with a growth goal. It may have stemmed from discussions around client attrition, charge hours and changes in your clients’ businesses. Your partners agree that a 7 percent goal sounds reasonable. So you drop that number into your budget without really looking at how that goal will be achieved. Now what? Read more

Create a Culture that Supports Growth

You’re working to develop a culture within your firm that supports growth at every level. One where everyone understands what you are working toward and their role in the process. One where team members are encouraged and rewarded for putting the goals of the firm before personal ones.

This is a great goal that will produce benefits to your firm for decades to come. However, it won’t be easy. Chances are it will take a few years to make such a monumental shift. You will have many issues that you’ll need to address and things to implement. And you’ll need to make some tough decisions. If you are going to bet the growth leader your firm needs, focus on: Read more

Stop Chasing Every Lead

Every prospect you encounter would be a great fit for your firm, right? Wrong.

Too often accountants try to be all things to all people without realizing how much stronger their firm could be if they were more selective about the types of clients they work with. There are clients you can truly serve better – and they will be better clients. Read more

Creating a Growth Culture Needs Champions & Buy-In

As competition increases, more CPA firms are focusing on firm growth as a way to remain competitive and add revenue to the top line. Typically, a decision to shift direction stems from a strategic planning process or a partner meeting. But what comes next? Deciding to make a change is the first step in a lengthy and challenging process that will change your firm for the better.

Forming a growth culture in an organization requires that you get buy-in from your partners if you have any chance of being successful. And amongst the partners who support your direction, there will be a handful of them who can, and will, help you champion the effort. You need to be able to identify these people early on in the process and use them to help win over those who are still undecided. Read more