The Hidden Opportunities within your CPA Firm

Brought to you by Salim Omar and the CPA Marketing Genius Podcast.

Do you know that you have untapped access to acres of 'diamonds' within your CPA firm? There are hidden opportunities lurking within your firm. Don't let these opportunities go to waste!

Avoid Burnout and Stress

To generate revenues, CPAs generally take on personal tax clients, business tax clients, as well as other services, such as consulting, business formation, payroll services and sales tax. Sounds like a lot, doesn't it! For most firms, this results in a specific amount of revenues and a set amount of net income. However if you want to truly achieve a work-life balance that allows you to live your best life, this method does not bring in enough dollars to hire a manager-leaving you to work long, hard, 50-90 hour weeks. You're grinding it out. This will lead to stress and burnout.

Find the Hidden Opportunities Within Your CPA Firm

What if I told you that there are opportunities within your firm that you can tap into today? 

To illustrate:

• If you've got $200 personal tax returns that are paying you $400, you can take steps for that fee to be higher, leaving you with $80,000. 
• You can raise it to $450, which becomes $90,000. 
• If you've got 75 business clients that are paying you $4,000 a year on average.
• If the same clients bring that value up to $5,200, you've got another $90,000 in revenues.
• If you attract 10 high value clients, that's another $125,000 in revenues as well.

This example illustrates a practice that's generating $400,000 in revenues, that could be increased to revenues of $630,000. This is more than enough money for you to be able to hire a manager, so that you can live the life you have always dreamed about.

*The numbers shared are from existing clients-real life examples of people who went from $400,000 to $630,000. Acres of Diamonds: Russell Conwell's inspiring Book About Opportunity is a book that inspired me many years back. the Dean and founder of Temple University. Cornwell delivered his lecture called "Acres of Diamonds." The theme of his lecture was that opportunity lurks in everyone's backyards, including yours! He states that everyone can and ought to get rich, so that they can use that money for the good of others.

Bringing New Clients In The Mix

I have drawn an example using 10 new clients but there's also revenues from existing clients that matter. My message to you here is not to ignore the hidden opportunities that you already have within your client base. As a CPA you may be well aware of the three pricing models in the industry

• Hourly
• Fixed
• Value based

My favorite is value based because you base your fees on the tangible- the financial benefits that you provide to that client. When you provide your clients a service, the most valuable intangible benefit that you provide to your client is peace of mind that they are working with the best. When you incorporate this into your pricing, it becomes value pricing.

A recent example from a firm I coached allowed the firm to be able to bring in additional revenues- $3,800 in fees, with just one client. We created more work, there was scope and a well put together package. Presented in this way, the client was happy with the value provided and readily paid the fee.

The amended tax returns were approximately $375. The invoice was $500 which translated into a 33% increase there. The personal tax return fell under schedule C. It was going out of the door with an invoice of $400. We bumped it up, created value that was needed, and incorporated value pricing. This equates to an increase of 87.5%.

This is the opportunity for firms to provide value and is the definition of a value based fee- provide the value in the way you communicate with your clients, the advice you give, what you share with them, and how you share it.

As simple as it sounds, these factors are of value to clients. Use the right words. Let the client know what's happening. Allow them to understand the process of what is taking place- the care and the diligence that the CPA firm puts into the project. When you're preparing and reviewing a tax return, your client isn't aware of the effort you put in to achieve the best results. Make them aware. This is how you create value.

Accounting Fees

Charging the fee- opportunity lurks in everyone's backyard, I'm a fan of ringing and signing up new high value clients. These clients are paying up to $20,000 a year. You will be surprised to find that there's a lot of opportunity within your existing client base. 



If you're interested in learning more, click on my special report that I've created called the Three Step Growth Plan.

CPA Marketing Genius offers professional done-for-you services including creating authority, high converting websites, SEO and online marketing. We also offer coaching geared to to help CPA firms owners grow their practice to new levels.