Time for accountants to start increasing fees

I've written about it in more detail here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/never-waste-crisis-brendan-brady

I've been speaking to several accountants about this recently and there is a growing consensus that the current business model used by accountants is not sustainable. Specialisation and a move away from perceived low value services seems inevitable, combined with an increase in fees.

Leave a comment and let me know whether you agree.

punisher5112

Well when you see them only charging€100 to €150 for taxis I do wonder how could they charge so little.

listermint

surely automation of 'low value' services in your practice would be money well spent.

punisher5112

punisher5112 wrote: »

Well when you see them only charging€100 to €150 for taxis I do wonder how could they charge so little.

Many of those firms are not actually qualified accountants so they don't have the regulatory oversight and the associated costs that go with that. But there are also regulated firms who compete on price although there is mounting evidence that low cost providers are rowing back on their pricing strategies.

listermint

listermint wrote: »

surely automation of 'low value' services in your practice would be money well spent.

IMO it is a good thing. The issue that many accountancy firms have is that a large portion of their income is made up of those services which are already being automated...

Jim2007

brenbrady wrote: »

I've written about it in more detail here: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/never-waste-crisis-brendan-brady

I've been speaking to several accountants about this recently and there is a growing consensus that the current business model used by accountants is not sustainable. Specialisation and a move away from perceived low value services seems inevitable, combined with an increase in fees.

Leave a comment and let me know whether you agree.

The alternative to increasing fees is to reduce cost by outsourcing, just like the software industry. Service outsourcing is starting to take off, particularly in the area of HR/Payroll etc. although the current targets are mainly MNCs

There are plenty of Commonwealth countries, where the accountants are very capable of producing accounts etc to review stage. And I gather from friends in India that they are only starting to organise.

Jim2007

Jim2007 wrote: »

The alternative to increasing fees is to reduce cost by outsourcing, just like the software industry. Service outsourcing is starting to take off, particularly in the area of HR/Payroll etc. although the current targets are mainly MNCs

There are plenty of Commonwealth countries, where the accountants are very capable of producing accounts etc to review stage. And I gather from friends in India that they are only starting to organise.

Yes if you want to operate as a low cost leader doing very high volumes of payroll and bookkeeping. However, that is a very tough business arena and one that I think most accountants don't want to play in.

Mongfinder General

Well there are going to be less businesses around in 6 months time so you might need to take account of that.

See what I did there?

Jim2007

brenbrady wrote: »

Yes if want to operate as a low cost leader doing very high volumes of payroll and bookkeeping. However, that is a very tough business arena and one that I think most accountants don't want to play in.

Why would you assume it must be high volume??? If you can push your costs down while maintaining your fees, it's a winner.