Client advisory services (CAS), has been a buzzword in the accounting profession for years.
In theory, the business strategy is simple: evolve your firm’s services from transactional-trade-for-time commodities to higher level strategic offerings. This can be built around a niche industry or capabilities inherent to your firm’s team.
However, many accounting firms struggle to build their CAS portfolio unless they take a stepwise approach. This is where an expense management software can play a key role in enhancing your firm’s ability to win more clients who require higher value advisory services.
For more information on this topic, make sure to register for the webinar, "Certainty in expense management during uncertain times" on July 20, 2021. Register here.
Building your CAS portfolio starts with solid expense services
Creating expense management service offerings built on a modern expense management system (EMS) can serve as the flashpoint for deepening your client relationships in an advisory role. It can also help your firm take a critical step forward in pursuing more CAS business.
Additionally, by using an agile and robust expense management software, your firm can provide performance advisory services such as expense management. This positions your firm to help clients with process improvement and spend analytics. This can be a doorway through which your firm can access other high-value service opportunities related to an organization’s overall financial management needs.
Most businesses have a considerable volume of expense data at their disposal. But, many of them do not have a streamlined and systematic way of managing, tracking, and analyzing the data and associated payments. Even when these insights are available, they are rarely used due to lack of time and/or expertise. This leads to businesses not utilizing data to gain valuable insights for policy control.
An advanced EMS drives expense management service success
Implementing a service offering built on expense management performance requires that your firm and your clients use a synced, advanced expense management software.
Advanced expense software such as Fyle, collect, organize and report data directly from typical employee receipts and client invoices. This makes expense policy compliance and tax compliance much easier. It also helps speed and simplify the process of inputting expense information while enabling real-time analytics and insights.
Providing your clients an expense software, makes the tracking and management of expense data seamless. It also positions your firm to offer insights and advice on how they can manage their expenses more effectively within the context of their total financial picture. This is where you can then access a direct opportunity to expand on a lucrative expense management relationship, with your firm’s CAS offering.
The next step is selecting the best expense management software for your firm
Implementing an expense management software as the hub of your firm’s expense management services is the next step in leveraging this simple but effective strategy for incremental CAS growth.
When evaluating an expense software, look for key features such as a mobile-first and intuitive interface, employee-friendly tools, and the ability to handle compliance. Having these tools will make it easy for your clients’ employees to use and for your firm to do month-end accounting through advanced automation capabilities.
Once you have your chosen expense software in place, your firm will be well-positioned to create profitable relationships with the potential of growing into full-fledged CAS client opportunities.
Make sure to register for the webinar, "Certainty in expense management during uncertain times" on July 20, 2021. Register here.