5 Tips to Increase the Value of Your Accounting

With tax season in full swing, you may be looking for ways to increase the value of your accounting. Maybe you're hoping to expand your client base. Or perhaps you'd like to give your loyal customers a service upgrade. Whatever the reason, you can implement some or all of the tips below to ensure your accounting services are indispensable.

1. Be an advisor

The first way you can increase the value of your accounting for customers is by taking on the role of an advisor.

By advisor, I don't mean financial advisor. But as an accountant you can help customers find the best solutions for their businesses.

Accountants not only help clients navigate tax forms or complete the company payroll every week, but they also have interesting insight into the pulse of their clients' business.

Think about it. Who would have a better picture of a business' financial health than their accountant? 

And you can use that to your advantage. Use the information you already have to better direct customers to the services you think they would benefit most from. 

For example, you may have a customer who comes to you for assistance on after the fact taxes. But they also express that they are struggling when it comes to monitoring the fiscal health of their business. 

That's when you can step in to suggest additional services or software that can help.

Remember, most of the time people come to accountants because they're in need of an expert. So don't hesitate to give your expert opinion where you think it serves customers most.

2. Market beyond products and services

When it comes to B2B services or even individualized services, a major mistake providers make is marketing their products or services more than they market their experience. 

Nevertheless, a lot of the times your ideal customer is looking for more than a quick-fix. Instead, they are looking for a long term solution to a problem they have.

As an accounting firm, you can leverage that need to increase the value of your accounting. How? 

Market your experience, knowledge and expertise as part of the products and services clients get. More importantly, deliver on that promise. Take the time to demonstrate to each client how your knowledge base makes you a good match to fill the gaps in their accounting needs. 

3. Help your clients reach their goals

For a good chunk of customers, accounting can seem like an exceptionally daunting back end function.

And while this may have already earned a lot of accountants superhero capes in the eyes of their customers, there's always room for improvement.

A good way to increase the value of your accounting services is to let your clients know that you care about their personal or business goals.

This is an especially a good tactic if you're hoping to add value to your business beyond tax season. So feel free to ask your clients what they see for their business down the line, and tailor services that can help them reach those milestones.

For example, for clients looking to grow their business, suggest taking a look at their cash flow patterns, pricing options, etc. and help them find places where they could grow their revenue.

Or look at it another way.

Let's say you have a customer that's struggling to turn a profit. Offer to take a closer look at their finances and provide them with forecasts that can give greater insight on areas where they could scale back, save money or increase rates.

4. Make your business tech-friendly 

Technology has managed to simplify business platforms in numerous industries. And accounting is no different.

While you may be used to handling the behind the scene functions of many of your customer businesses, you also need to spend time making sure that the front-end of your business is user friendly.

Luckily, you can use technology to do that. 

Consider investing in tools that can help both you and your customers, such as: 

5. Up your services

While tax season can be a busy time for accountants, things can start to slow down after April. 

But there a few ways you can keep busy during the rest of the year and increase the value of your accounting.

In fact, one of the best ways is to expand the services you offer. Here a few areas where you can consider bulking up your accounting: 

In summary...

At the end of the day, there's no point in reinventing the wheel if you're clients are already happy. However, if you're looking to make the wheel run a bit smoother or set your accounting apart from other firms then incorporating some of the tips above might just wind up being a great starting point.