Grow a Profitable Accounting Firm

Google’s filled with lists offering expert advice about how to grow a profitable accounting firm. However, only an exceptional few firms actually succeed.

Since it’s not a simple one-size-fits-all, you  need to find your best growth strategy.  It’s a process of trial and error. Are you up for the challenge?

Check out these four tips to grow a profitable accounting firm that were tested by growth-minded accounting professionals.

1. Develop Profitable Partnerships

Many firm owners are lone rangers. You do everything, especially in the beginning.

Your capacity; however, only extends so far.

Leverage solves this problem. Rather than do it all yourself, access your connections to reach more people. Search for a complimentary business that will happily introduce you to their client base.

This strategy emphasizes collaboration, not competition. Basically, everyone wins.

I’ve formed relationships with several business who serve similar clients. One company is LeanLaw, a SaaS (software as a service) company. Accounting professionals who niche with attorneys use their QuickBooks app.

They wanted to add value to their clients and reached out to me. Since then, we collaborated on a series of business development webinars for their accounting clients.

What #accounting resource can you freely share that would be high value to your clients? Read full post. #getpaidwhatyoureworth Click To Tweet

How would you develop a similar strategic relationship? Start to search for complimentary businesses. Remember, both sides need to bring value to the table. What resource can you share that another business would happily offer to their clients?

2. Create a Remarkable Experience

All of your people count. This includes clients, employees and vendors.

Feedback is golden. Start conversations with former clients and vendors. Ask questions to discover in which areas your service excels. Remember to also ask for honest input about the gaps.

Feedback is golden. Start conversations with former clients and vendors to discover ways to strengthen your #accounting practice. Read full post. #getpaidwhatyoureworth Click To Tweet

Don’t simply store this information away. Use these valuable insights to elevate your accounting practice and strengthen your brand.

The Oregon-based tax firm, Amcom, is a great example. The ladies in this office work hard to serve their clients, especially during tax season. The business owners, Pam and Laurie, realize the long days, without a break, are exhausting. After their busy tax season was over, they closed up shop and treated their entire staff to a cruise.

Don’t dismiss your relationships. Take care of your people. Find ways to let them know you value them.

3. Simplify Choices

Ever look at a restaurant menu that offered six pages of options? The variety feels overwhelming.

Research reveals that too many choices stir up confusion. As a result, decision making feels complicated and overwhelming. Your long list of options may sabotage someone’s decision to work with you. That’s the opposite of what you want.

Fortunately, a solution exists. Many accounting firms now offer three-tier pricing to avoid overwhelm.

With this approach, you simplify the options available. Rather than list ala-carte services, offer service packages.

Communication companies have been offering packages for decades. They masterfully bundle services together. Their value package, as you know, combines internet, cable TV and phone.

Now what about you? First, consider the needs and wants of your clients. Then bundle your services together in one package. Remember to lead with quality, not quantity.

Polymath, a consulting firm, serves businesses in the adventure travel industry. They serve a very specific niche market. Rather than build a long list of ala-carte services, they created a three-package model to simplify the ways to work together decision.

4. Build Trust

You can’t grow a profitable accounting firm without trust. How do you gain your clients trust?

You can’t grow a profitable accounting firm without trust. Here are the 6 things that build trust. Read full post. #getpaidwhatyoureworth Click To Tweet

• Share your experiences: People appreciate transparency. As a highly private person, talking about myself felt uncomfortable. Over time I became more comfortable about sharing my setbacks and mistakes. I now realize talking about my experiences serves an important purpose.
• Share Information: Share information about your processes and services. Your clients want to know about your system. By doing this, they gain confidence that you can deliver on your promise.
• Stories: Include testimonials and case studies. Someone else’s experience about your work together can influence a potential client who’s on the fence about whether, or not, to hire you.
• Speak: Speaking to an audience gives you instant credibility. Be a featured guest on podcasts. Speak on stages such as TedX. Get out there and generously share your knowledge.
• Share Content: Share information. For example, create blogs and videos which solve your client’s biggest problems. This is one more way to let people know you’re a subject matter expert.
• Straight Talk: Be straight-forward while conducting business. Whether you are educating your team, networking with referral sources or explaining your services to your clients – say what you mean. People appreciate a direct approach.

Final Thoughts to Grow a Profitable Accounting Firm

Like a house, your firm’s needs a solid foundation. Develop a growth strategy, build a strong company culture and align your mission with your core values. Of course, trust is critical.

Consistently seek ways to reach more people. Rather than do it all yourself, develop partnerships with like-minded companies. Speak on established platforms. And, share your content in a variety of ways.

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