How to get a client to take bookkeeping seriously
Richard Brewin • December 1, 2021
As I look back on 40 years as an accountant I wonder if one of the profession’s greatest failings is reflected in the state of the accounting records of so many businesses. It has seemingly been deemed acceptable for so long that a client can submit ‘incomplete records’ and the accountant would sort them out and at least share the cost and hassle of doing so.
If there was ever an excuse then it was that bookkeeping was time consuming and cumbersome, that double entry was a dark art understood by the accountant alone.
But, the inefficiencies of bookkeeping and the subsequent lack of meaningful information must have held back the development of both the clients’ and accountant’s businesses.
Digitalisation and technology have made those excuses redundant. Finally, we can fix this, but still the resistance remains. So, how do you get your clients to take their bookkeeping seriously?
- Turn your focus onto data, because that is what this is about: timely and accurate data by which to meet your legal responsibilities and manage your business. Reduce stress, improve performance…and data is so much part of the value of a business today.
- If you want your clients to take bookkeeping seriously then first it has to be taken seriously within your accounting firm. Historically, bookkeeping has been the poor cousin of accounting. How can a client value bookkeeping if we undervalue it ourselves? Data is king!
- Decide on the strategy for your firm and clearly message it to clients:
- An effective internal bookkeeping team
- An effective outsourced bookkeeping service
- A clear push back to the client as their responsibility – but trained and supported by you
- Decide on your pricing strategy. Bookkeeping is seen as one of the lowest priced services by accountants and yet data is the bedrock of the entire client relationship and the source of advice that will improve businesses and lives. We need to be bolder!
- The carrot: Create your strategy for educating your clients on the value and importance of accurate data. In this rapidly changing age, a business without an effective dashboard is a failing business, driving blind, guessing at decisions.
- The stick: Create your strategy for educating clients on the necessary requirements of MTD, the cost of failing to do so, the threat of a digitalised HMRC and the practical necessities and requirements of working with a professional accountant for protection and support.
- The Key: We call them Advisory Keys, the spectrum of software tools and Apps on the market that enable an accountant to quickly demonstrate to a client how things have changed in the profession and how much value accountants can now deliver off the back of clean data. Whisperclaims, an R&D credit tool, and VFDPro, a financial management & analytics package, are just two great examples of the genre, tools that are easy to apply but quickly demonstrate your professional worth to your clients. Change the conversation!
- Draw your lines. For many clients, serious conversations about their bookkeeping have been deferred year after year with both the accountant and the client being aware of the time, cost and other objections. No longer can we allow this to happen. The clock is quickly running down for both sides.
- Prepare to say goodbye. Clients who refuse to engage cannot remain as clients. We talk about being the trusted advisor and yet here is a client, despite our best efforts through 1-8 above, still refusing to take our advice. They can no longer be a client, the relationship no longer works.
Nine steps, with enormous value to you and your clients.
Good luck!
Look at any accounting firm website and there is a fair chance that the word ‘proactive’ will be prominent. Ask some business owners and taxpayers whether they consider their accountant to be proactive. There is commonly a gap between the two, between the intent of the accountant and the expectations of the client.
The tag ‘Trusted Advisor’ gets bandied around a lot. Without trying to be deliberately contentious, I often challenge its use. Undoubtedly, accountants were once the trusted advisor to their clients. When I came into the profession 44 years ago now, the older partners, especially, were seen by their clients as their trusted advisor, their ‘go to’ person on any issues, business, family or personal, that were troubling them. Without the filing deadlines of today, these clients were with their accountant primarily because they valued the relationship rather than the products.
All accountants are the same! We’ve all heard it said. It’s nonsense, of course, but, when you are asked what it is that your firm does that differentiates it from other accounting firms, it can be a challenge to come up with something tangible. Accounting firms tend to offer similar services, that’s what makes them accounting firms. Differentiating from competitors based upon services provided is therefore an issue.