From Compliance to Advisory: Building an Ag Accounting Practice
Speakers: Erin Arick & Mitchell Parks
Sponsored by: Figured
Most farm clients show up once a year, file their taxes, and leave. The financial data that could drive real decisions exists — it's just not being used. For accounting firms with agricultural clients, that's not just a missed conversation. It's a missed revenue opportunity, and a missed chance to become the adviser the next generation of farm operators actually wants.
This session opens the series by tackling a question every firm with ag clients eventually has to answer: what would it take to move from compliance-only service to genuine advisory? Agriculture brings its own complexity, production cycles that don't map neatly to a standard P&L, livestock and crop inventory that tie up liquidity in ways a bank needs to see, and financial stories that get lost in a once-a-year filing relationship.
We'll cover why ag advisory is different from general business advisory, what's actually holding most firms back from making the shift, and how to open the "beyond tax" conversation with a farm client without it feeling like an upsell. You'll see how existing accounting data , the work you're already doing, can become the foundation for ongoing advisory services, without rebuilding your practice from scratch.
This session is designed to stand on its own. If you only attend one session in this series, this is the one that lays the groundwork, what advisory looks like, why now, and where to start.
Learning Objectives
After this session, attendees should be able to:
- Understand why compliance-only engagements leave money on the table for both the firm and the farmer
- Recognize the specific challenges that make ag advisory different from general advisory
- Know how to open the "beyond tax" conversation with a farm client in a natural, non-salesy way
- See how Figured layers on top of existing QuickBooks Online data to enable advisory without building from scratch
- Learn how other firms are pricing and packaging these services
Cost: Free
CPE Credits: 1
Subject Area: Specialized Knowledge
Course Level: Basic
Instructional Method: Group Internet Based
Prerequisites: None
Advanced Preparation: None
Who Should Attend: CPA, Bookkeeper, Accountant, Enrolled Agents, Tax Preparer