Consulting

Many times I have provided services that I believed had significant value to the client, but the client complained about the fee. His value centered on how little he would have to pay for it. This is always upsetting, but this poignantly came into focus a few weeks ago.

Venturing into the unknown is intimidating at first if you’re just getting started with value-based pricing in your accounting practice, but it gets easier over time.

When I started writing these columns three years ago, I felt I could do about 25 or 30 short articles with autobiographical reminiscences colleagues might benefit from. I also wanted to give insights to students and people entering the profession about what accountants in public practice do and how they interact with clients. This column completes three full years: 156 weekly columns. And the ideas keep flowing, so I really feel good about what I am doing, and I hope they help you.

Last week I wrote about certain fixed fee arrangements where I did extras I did not bill for. Here is a further explanation.

Ninety percent of the accounting industry is tied to compliance services in areas such as accounting, audit and tax, but don’t look there for encouraging signs of industry performance.

I found out many years ago that I cannot spend my clients’ money.

Accounting firm management expert Gary Shamis is departing BDO USA LLP to found his own consultancy, Winding River Consulting, in Cleveland.

Nonprofit software developer Blackbaud is predicting record donations on “#GivingTuesday,” the global day of giving that takes place on the Tuesday after Thanksgiving.

Guess what, accountants? Americans really like you.

Acquisitions of consulting firms skyrocketed last year, particularly in North America and with many of the deals done by technology consultancies and Big Four firms, according to a new report.

Joel Curry of Validis discusses in this video the changing relationship between auditors and their clients and how it can move to consulting and business advisory services.

Maureen Schwartz, executive director of the accounting association BKR International, and some of her colleagues describe 10 ways that firms can turn even the newest accountant into a better consultant.

By my reckoning there are about 42,000 accounting firms in the United States, and 41,600 might be considered to be small.

According to recent news it appears advisory firms have started to increase their hiring efforts for seasoned restructuring professionals. This may signal a coming potential increase in bankruptcy filings. If so, fresh start reporting may once again become a critical issue.

The CPA Consultants’ Alliance has appointed Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk of bbr marketing as the group’s new Marketing Chair and Carrie Steffen of the Whetstone Group as the new Deliverables Chair.

I attend Management of Accounting Practice (MAP) CPE programs. In many instances these do not qualify toward the mandatory CPE requirements. Who cares?

If you walked into a Mercedes automobile dealership and the sales person greeted you by asking, “What kind of Kia do you want to buy today?” you just might be a little perturbed. This is how many of our clients see us.

In last week’s column, I described various specializations for accountants. In this week’s column, we’ll talk about gaining the necessary expertise.

As value-based pricing is typically presented, the first steps for transitioning a firm from hourly billing to a value based model are hard to find. Below I’ve outlined a process that will help your firm travel to this strange new place.

I was not a specialist. In some respects, I am the last of the “expert generalists” and generalists are fast becoming extinct.