As accountants, we perform many varied services for our clients. Most of what we do is pretty similar to what other accountants would do. The similarity is with the deliverable. However, the inputs might not be similar.
My guess is that 80% of what we do is more or less of a commodity nature. It is the extra 20% that we do that creates the strong and trusted advisor relationships with our clients. And that is what we need to work on. Understanding this might help us in the way we allocate our time and efforts.
While 80% might not be the right number, I believe you will agree with the concept. But for sake of discussion, let's use that number. If the 80% is commodity types of services, then this should be work staff could do, and not us. Keep this in mind when scheduling the work.
The other 20% is where we make our mark with the clients. This comprises the added effort, concern and focus we put into everything we do for our clients … and those extras make what we provide to the client better and add value to those so-called commodity deliverables. Additionally our availability and counsel and guidance provide even greater value to the client. These tasks cannot be delegated and require our personal care, and should not be taken for granted.
The more of this 20% we do, the greater the value we will provide. Our job as effective leaders is to have staff do as much of the 80% they can do while training and easing them into some of the 20% we do. That is leveraging what we do best.
Accountants have longevity with clients, and part of the reason is we make sure our clients appreciate the extras we do and the care we put into what we do.
A tax return is not a bunch of forms we fill in. It's a window into the financial affairs of our clients and, if we look closer, into their personalities. A financial report is not an assemblage of some columns of numbers with a lot of words qualifying what those numbers really mean. It represents a review of the client's business trends, the relationships between the amounts that show liquidity, equity leverage, loan value, upward or downward changes in operational efficiency, and that the systems and controls were reviewed with suggestions to improve weaknesses that could provide better security for the business' assets. Trained and concerned eyes can use the data to help our clients imagine, predict and project their future.
Part of that 20% is applying our experience and knowledge of the client to help the client operate their business better and be more profitable, provide for their later financial security when they decide it's time to stop working and to not overpay their taxes. This 20% confers a great responsibility that is far more valuable than the few extra dollars we might charge our clients.
To do better for our clients and ourselves, train your staff to do the 80% the way you would do it and further develop your skills in the extra 20%, so you will add so much value that your fees would not be a concern to the client.
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