If you are growing your business, client accounting services (CAS) are excellent tools. The average growth of practices using CAS is 20%, which significantly outpaces non-CAS firms with an average growth rate of 5.7%
Much of that business growth comes from performing recurring services, such as payroll, accounts receivable and payable, and managing taxes and bank accounts.
Evolving from offering tax prep to CAS also gives you the ability to advise your clients on more effective ways to run their businesses. And when your clients can connect the dots between your services and an increase in revenues and profitability, your firm will benefit with greater success.
However, reaching the ranks of a successful CAS firm requires adapting your current operation to support this new way of doing business.
How to be a successful CAS business
All successful CAS firms share the following several characteristics:
No. 1. — Mindset
Providing year-round client accounting services requires a more collaborative approach than seasonal compliance services. You need the agility to meet clients’ diverse needs and offer high-level advisory services.
No. 2 — Staffing
Successful CAS firms foster relationships with clients through regular communication with staff. Client-facing team members help build and maintain trusting relationships with clients.
No. 3 — Efficiency
Successful CAS firms find ways to streamline processes, leverage technology, and work collaboratively to deliver the best products and services with the least time and effort.
For example, ProvenCFO shows its clients the value of leveraging data-based solutions to make smart decisions but must meet the needs of a diverse client base of small- and medium-sized businesses. It has implemented cloud accounting to improve efficiency.
No. 4 — Iterative growth
An incremental and systematic approach is best when building a new practice or expanding an existing one.
JBS Corp grew from providing compliance services to offering outsourced bookkeeping, accounting, and controller services. JBS Corp gradually moved hundreds of clients to the cloud and adapted workflows so multiple members of its team could work on a single account.
No. 5. — Network
Successful firms rely on experts for advice and strategically select clients to offer CAS services initially for the best outcomes.
No. 6. — Pricing and billing model
If you billed by the hour in the past, you might need to rethink pricing. New efficient processes may shave hours off the time they take, but the services and insights you are providing are much greater than before.
Find the balance that will result in the greatest profitability and value for your clients.
No. 7 — Technology
Automation will help you operate efficiently, expand your portfolio of services, and enable your team to focus on higher-value tasks and customer satisfaction.
The Key to an Efficient CAS Operation
Attempting to provide client accounting services using traditional paper-based processes is inefficient and costly.
Enabling collaboration with clients on an ongoing basis, accessing data for reports and analytics, and working efficiently enough to provide services to multiple clients requires a cloud accounting platform.
Learn more about the benefits of evolving into a CAS firm in our “Break Free from the Compliance Space” eBook (DOWNLOAD HERE) and contact Xero to see how cloud-based accounting will make the transition easier.
Like what you're reading?
Subscribe to our FREE newsletter and we'll deliver content like this directly to your inbox.