Ignition, alongside an industry collective of almost 40 accounting leaders, published an open letter, “Stop Underselling Our Worth.” The industry-wide #CallForChange movement is encouraging firm owners to reclaim the profitability of the profession by putting an end to late payments, unbilled work and inefficient processes.
Former accounting firm owner and Ignition co-founder Guy Pearson says the hard truth is that for years accounting and tax professionals have put up with working for free, not getting paid on time, and avoiding raising prices.
“It’s time we remove the old way of doing business, dragging our profession and client relationships down," Pearson says. "By embracing change, we can improve firm profitability and also invest more time in R&D to uplift client service levels.”
Ignition’s "State of Client Engagement" report recently found that US accounting firms:
- Lose over $76,000 in revenue each year on average, due to unrecovered out-of-scope work
- 94% have to chase clients for late payments
- 43% absorb the time and cost when the scope of client work increases
- 89% delay or avoid awkward conversations with clients
Logan Graf, CPA, and Chief Tax Officer at The Graf Tax Co. has joined the call for change so that the profession finally recognizes its worth. “As accountants, we struggle with valuing ourselves, even though we’re worth it. We provide value to our clients, and deserve to be paid for that value.”
In an effort to provide firm owners with practical tools and key insights to transform their business, Ignition is hosting an exclusive one-off live webinar event with leading entrepreneur and business leader, Gary Vaynerchuk. Also included are accounting industry change-makers Dawn Brolin, Logan Graff and Tiffany Davis.
The webinar—"Stop Underselling: Learn from GaryVee and Experts on How to Grow Your Firm with Technology—will be Sept. 19, noon (EST) till 9 a.m. (PST).
Matt Kanas, Managing Director, Americas, at Ignition and host of the upcoming live webinar with Vaynerchuk says, "As an industry collective, we see a future where everyone can run a zero accounts receivable firm; one where accounting professionals charge and get paid for all their work, price services to reflect their true value, and leverage technology to boost efficiency and improve client relationships.”
Dawn Brolin, CPA, CFE, CEO, Powerful Accounting, says she joined forces with Ignition because accounting and tax professionals deserve more. "We need to stop overpromising our time, and conquer our fear of raising prices. I’m committed to driving our businesses forward, and we need you onboard.”
Tiffany Davis, P.A., MSM, President and CEO of Washington Accounting Services, says the time for change movement is about moving the profession forward. “We need to stop working for free, and start charging for all the work we do to reflect our true value."
In addition, Ignition recently launched a series of new platform enhancements including, Instant Bill and Service Edits, to help firms monetize scope creep.
Throughout the remainder of the year, Ignition will provide additional resources and host educational webinars covering topics such as how to price and sell your services, and maximize firm profitability in 2024 via year-end re-engagement strategies.
For more information on the #CallForChange movement, CLICK HERE.
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