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FIRM PRACTICE MANAGEMENT

‘COVID opened the door based and value billing, as well as hourly billing,
Young’s firm, which uses both subscription-

to deeper discussions. If has regular meetings with clients, asking open-
ended questions to understand their pain points.
“You need to be in real time with clients, since it’s
you listened to clients, you difficult to give good advice six months later,” she
said.
When reaching out to clients about advisory
could identify ways you services, start small by identifying the best targets
first, Allen suggested. As part of that process,
could assist them.’ it helps to define the ideal client, he said. Nar-
rowing your target in this way can make it easier
to standardize processes and focus training and
Gwen Young, CPA, partner at Young & Wadlington PLLC in Lexington, Ky. practice development.
Firms may also need to educate staff more
about business advisory services and develop the
soft skills they require, Peterson said. It should
year, can select from a menu of services, and are already be clear which staff are best suited to
allowed to make unlimited phone calls for advice. handle these services based on their ability to step
This approach knocks down barriers and allows up and take on new challenges during the past two
clients to see their CPAs as an extension of their years, he said.
management team. Following their experiences with gaining PPP
“Once that happens, they are less likely to resist and other relief, firms are also well positioned
change and less price-sensitive because they can to play a strategic role in helping clients under-
see the value,” he said. Clients can recognize the stand their financing needs and gain access to
benefits to them of knowing their regular monthly capital, Khait said. After handling applications
fees, gaining new customized insights, and having manually during the first round of PPP funding,
greater access to firm members. Khait’s firm was able to streamline its work using
the CPA Business Funding Portal, a cloud-based
financing platform developed by CPA.com in
association with fintech company Biz2Credit. The
Tools for enhancing your advisory portal was intended to help CPAs assist clients
in securing government-backed business relief,
services such as PPP loans. By using the portal, “we could
handle all the paperwork and then just send it to
Below are some useful tools firms can use to help them offer advisory the client to sign,” Khait said. Over the PPP pe-
services to clients, and to expand upon the advisory services they already riod, CPAs used the portal to help clients process
offer. around 40,000 loans and obtain over $1 billion in
■ The PCPS Trusted Client Adviser Toolbox (available to PCPS Section business relief.
members) can help firms shift their focus to advisory services. Its In fall 2021, a business term loan option for
resources include a sample engagement letter and tools that can assist CPA firms’ small business clients was added to
with client evaluation, client meetings, pricing and overcoming pricing the portal, and plans are in place to add working
objections, ongoing engagements, and more. capital and commercial real estate loan options.
■ The CPA Business Funding Portal (paid subscription required) is a cloud- A FORCE FOR GOOD
based platform that accounting firms can leverage to process and fund CPAs should remember that their firms were a
term loan options for their small business clients. force for good during an economic crisis the likes
■ CPA.com’s Client Advisory Services (CAS) resource page offers tools of which has never been seen before, Simpson
and learning opportunities to help firms grow and develop their CAS advised. “They should be proud of that,” she said.
offerings, including workshops, case studies, and the CPA.com and AICPA “Remember what you were able to do during an
PCPS Client Advisory Services (CAS) Benchmark Survey, which shares CAS insane time, how you adapted and learned new
best practices, including steps to move to value/fixed-fee billing. approaches, and asked the right questions that
kept small businesses afloat.” ■

10 | Journal of Accountancy March 2022