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Tax season puts your accounting firm’s tax professionals face-to-face with their clients. Many of these clients may be strong candidates for outsourced accounting services such as spend management.
Since your firm’s tax professionals have already established relationships, they’re ideally positioned to discover if spend management would benefit their clients. Here’s how they can begin.
Start simple
Ask clients about their business
If direct questions are asked, it’s much easier to engage clients in a conversation that could potentially generate more business for your firm.
Here are some examples of conversation starters:
- What are your business growth goals?
- What is your most time-consuming pain point with your business?
- Are you having difficulties closing your books in a timely manner?
- Would you like help with budgets or forecasting?
- Are you getting real-time financial data to guide decisions?
- Would your company be interested in cashback rewards on its spending, including often overlooked spend like online advertising, software subscriptions, and utilities?
Be on the lookout
Spot warning signs
As your tax colleagues are working with their clients, they should keep in mind these warning signs as evidence of the value a spend management service can provide:
- Missing papers and expense documentation.
- Disorganized and out-of-date books and files that require cleanup.
- Inaccurately coded expenses or expenses missing codes altogether.
- Slow, manual accounting and expense management processes.
- Excessive spend on software subscriptions and duplicate subscriptions.
How to get started
Education
Review the types of client advisory services (CAS)you provide and understand the value these services offer clients. If you do not offer spend management services, consider the value it could create for your firm. If you do currently offer this service, ensure your colleagues are aware of its value by setting up a meeting to discuss how you can work together this tax season.
Internal materials
Create internal materials for your tax colleagues such as note cards with the top five questions or a high-level sales pitch that includes core benefits of your client dvisory and spend management services.
External client materials
Provide external marketing materials about your services that tax professionals can share with clients such as flyers, case studies, a link to your website, and more.
Lunch and learns
Host educational webinars for tax teams to learn about CAS and the technology solutions used for spend and expense management. Technology vendors like BILL, also host product tours for firms and clients.
Firm retreat
At your next firm retreat, discuss cross collaboration of CAS and tax to find growth opportunities and educate on CAS offerings.
Go to market jointly
For firms that specialize in a specific industry, packaging CAS and tax services together can increase value and create stronger client relationships.
Want to learn more?
To learn about the BILL Accountant Program presented in partnership with CPA.com visit bill.com/for-accountants.
