Expanding beyond compliance to provide advisory services can be valuable for accountants. It’s an opportunity to provide support that promotes growth and enhances the value that professionals give to organisations. Accountants are able to charge appropriately for the value they add, thereby creating an additional revenue stream.
Expanding beyond compliance-focussed services is not always easy. There are certain steps that accountants can take to make the process easier.
Identifying areas for high-impact advice
Finding areas where high-impact advice provides most value is integral to the growth of many accounting enterprises. Areas that fall into the high-impact category include the following:
- Financial planning
- Business strategy
- Tax optimisation
- Risk management
- Cash flow forecasting
Choosing focus areas that align with their expertise helps accountants get the best return on the expansion of their services.
Leveraging the latest technology
Technology is a significant benefit to advisory services. For example, data analytics and visualisation tools reveal actionable insights. Analysing available data allows accountants to provide clients with forecasts, performance analyses, and KPI tracking to enable informed financial decision making.
Developing specific expertise
Developing niche expertise optimises the value accountants provide as it enables them to provide accurate and insightful real-time industry-specific advice. Having access to this advice means that companies can navigate regulatory challenges, industry benchmarks, and best practices.
Using highly developed soft skills to develop client relationships and trust
Accountants are traditionally all about the numbers. However, this changes when professionals decide to provide advisory services. They require well-developed soft skills, especially communication, to build client relationships.
These communication skills include the ability to listen to client goals, understand pain points, and communicate complex financial information in a way non-finance individuals can understand.
Using soft skills in advisory work involves having initial conversations with clients, setting long-term goals, and arranging regular check-ins to determine progress and deal with any issues. Putting this process in place allows accounting professionals to provide ongoing support and reinforce their reputation as a trusted business advisor.
Offering value-based pricing
Traditionally, pricing for accounting services follows a fixed-fee or time-based model. However, professionals who expand to providing an advisory service generally find the service is better suited to value-based pricing. This pricing model reflects the value provided by an accountant rather than the time spent with a client or on a specific task. Clients charge based on profitability, tax savings, or strategic growth, so it pays accounting professionals to provide accurate and well-informed advice.
Investing in continuous professional development
Any accounting professional who is successful in an advisory role understands how essential continuous professional development is. This development can involve taking CPD courses, following the latest financial news, or obtaining further qualifications. This type of ongoing training and awareness helps accountants to remain relevant and continue providing valuable advice.
Expanding into advisory services provides access to new revenue streams. It also enhances the impact that financial accounting professionals have at the strategic level of an organisation. To make the expansion into advisory services successful, accountants concentrate on developing meaningful and trusting relationships with clients.
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