Is your accounting practice doing ‘too well’? It might sound nonsensical, but it’s something to consider.
In truth what we are seeing is that firms have either struggled to deal with their clients (and are losing them), or accountants are ‘trimming down’ their clients. In turn, many practices are picking up clients left, right, and centre.
There are a number of factors that come into play, particularly in terms of a post-Covid settling down period. But the major issue is Making Tax Digital for Income Tax Self-Assessment (MTD ITSA).
MTD is leading firms to make some serious choices about which clients they serve, how they serve them, and what they charge.
Undertaking such a serious and important process is no bad thing. In fact we covered some thoughts on Know Your Practice (KYP) and Know Your Client (KYC) in our last blog.
Where practices are ‘letting clients go’, or pricing them out of sticking around, then some serious consideration needs to be made about why they are being let go, and: would your practice take them on if they approach you? How discerning are you about client acquisition?
There is definitely a concern that there will be an ‘underclass’ of sole traders and landlords who require the service of an accountant, but are considered too low value for many practices to take on.
However, the accounting market is very large, with many players. We work with practices that have different approaches and models, and there is no doubt that those with a highly systemised and ‘volume’ approach will find a way to provide a profitable service to such clients.
In an increasingly complex business and tax environment, our practice partners have increasingly turned to us to help them work through the statutory requirements for their clients – from tax to accounts and more.
We understand that no two practices are the same – however, the successful ones that we work closely with have got to grips with their client base and have put in place strong processes and systems to efficiently undertake the work asked of them.
Whether you have ten clients or 10,000, please get in touch and we’ll help you provide an efficient and profitable service.
Vipul Sheth is MD and founder of AdvanceTrack Outsourcing. If you’d like to speak to Vipul and his team about improving your practice’s processes and workflow, contact him here.
If you’d like to read our ‘know your practice, know your client’ blog, click here.
