Practice Perfect Finola

This week I took a close look at client service and how accountancy firms can up their game. One of the most common reasons I hear from practitioners who are failing to deliver on client service is that simply do not have enough time. This needn't be the case if you learn how to make the most of every meeting you have with clients.

In my last blog post, I explained how many accountants don't follow their own advice when it comes to managing their own cashflow issues.

In this post, I'd like to offer a few pointers for practitioners (based on my own experiences in practice and now as a professional practice consultant) to help with managing billing effectively and dealing with clients who persistently delay their payments.

How many of you ask yourself why you seem to be so busy whilst your bank account or drawings never seem to reflect what you spend your time working so very hard on?

The partners in practice I speak to these days all seem to have a common line of thought; ‘how do I plan for my future when I am so busy working on the present?’ I have heard this so often I feel there is a need to outline what the small accountancy practice can do to safeguard its future and plan in a practical way that is both affordable and doesn’t take too much time away from the current day to day managing of the practice.

Here is a brief practical bullet point overview for any partner or practitioner facing these challenges to use as a point of reference;

In part one, I revealed how I took on a small accountancy practice with a host of problems and stressed out staff into a thriving concern with 250% profit growth, negative WIP and an award winning, go-getting team. In this instalment, I will outline the steps we took to achieve such remarkable changes.

Almost 15 years ago, I bought Landers, a small accountancy practice in Toddington with a good client base, but a whole host of issues to sort out. After ten years of running the practice, it achieved a 250% profit growth, negative WIP and partners enjoyed a four day working week. There were times when this level of change seemed impossible, but we did it and you can too.