Here are 4 things to focus on to achieve a profitable CPA firm. These are helpful tips that Tom’s team uses daily and that lead to a more appreciative clientele. These will help you stop chasing money and get the right clients.
1. Training & education
You can bill more when you provide clients with more education and more value. One of the most important things you can do is have confidence in what you’re doing. Your clients can sense your confidence level, especially with billing and collections. If you’re confident in the value you’re providing your clients, you won’t be worried about them paying for it. Since Tom has experience and education, he displays confidence that his clients recognize, and they have no issue paying his higher fee.
As their tax advisor, if you are the right asset, your clients will be happy to pay your fees because of the value you are delivering them. You must be confident. Confidence grows as your knowledge grows. If you have a small amount of knowledge, you and your clients are going to feel uncomfortable. When you know a lot about something, you and your clients are going to feel comfortable and sleep at night. If a client is questioning their CPA, this is a confidence issue.
When you’re educated and continue to seek training and learning opportunities, your confidence grows. Our goal at TFW Advisors® is to revolutionize the CPA industry. We realize that with better education, you can charge more while retaining your clients longer because you’re creating more value. Communication with your client is imperative for retaining your clients. Understand that the more education you have, the less risk you have and the more you are able to charge. As you gain more education, you reduce your stress. Remember that you are the most trusted advisor for your clients, so you need to have the right education and your services need to be worth the fees you’re charging. Your clients don’t want a CPA who’s afraid of an IRS audit. They also want to be confident that your tax return preparation is accurate.
2. Team
When Tom started his business, he began to understand the value of a team. You don’t know everything. Whatever you may lack in knowledge, you likely have team members who possess that knowledge. CPAs are typically self-employed and are solopreneurs, but to improve your CPA firm, it’s important to learn how to develop and work with your team.
3. Systems
Systems are immensely important as they create consistency. You’re going to want to grow your practice and you must have people to serve that practice. You want to make sure they’re delivering the same quality that you would deliver personally. You want high caliber clients and a more profitable practice. Having a system and procedures in place is important. Try to consider writing your processes or procedures down. Doing this gives you an advantage when you hire a new employee, since it helps them understand how to do things the way you do them. Having procedures to follow makes new employees more efficient. They will learn the procedures and be able to prepare an accurate and consistent tax return like someone who has been with your company for years.
With tax consulting, every client is different. This is a challenge most CPAs have. However, a business is a business from a tax perspective. There are not many differences from one industry to another from a consulting standpoint. From a consulting standpoint, approximately 80% of what you deliver to one client is going to be consistent with what you deliver to someone else. The remaining 20% will be unique, and you can create a system for that. One of the things that is particularly attractive about TFW Advisors® is that we have a system. Clients come to us for our system. Our system is for delivering tax planning. It makes it so that we can tell entrepreneurs, investors, and business owners that we can reduce their taxes by 10% to 40% in 3 months or less, every single time.
4. Your mission & identity
You must have an identity and a mission. This applies to everyone, regardless if you are a CPA or a business owner. Evaluate and discover what your mission is. Tom’s mission for his CPA firms is to revolutionize the CPA industry. This mission is different from Tom’s mission for his other audience, his clients. He wants his clients to understand that the tax law is a series of incentives and that taxes are fun, easy, and understandable. The tax law can be your friend. Once you, as the tax advisor, understand this, you will be able to attract higher caliber clients, and they will be attracted to you because of your confidence and your expertise.
Clients want you to simplify the tax law for them and to be positive, especially about the government. Teach them that the government will be their business partner and that it will provide incentives. That’s Tom’s mission. Typically, you fear what you don’t understand. Spend time gaining education, building a team around you, implementing your systems, and developing a mission and seeking to fulfil it. As CPAs, it’s rewarding to serve our clients.
Your clients will be happier when you’re more confident, you’re educated, you have a better team, you have more systems, and they know what they’re going to get from you, (which is your identity). When you do this, you will have better clients, a better practice, and a better life.
To learn more about how joining TFW Advisors® can get you better clients, a better practice, and a better life, book a call with us today!