Received e mail and read the article.
Okay article, maybe says nothing particularly new but fleshes out a lot we have all digested elsewhere.
Perhaps more aimed at larger compliance factories with enough deep pocketed clients to sustain an advisory boutique in house.
The part that resonated with me was looking at what clients wanted re advice across disciplines and keeping the meetings tight with professionals from different niches present, rather than the "need to refer you to a,b & c" that I have also experienced ,this is precisely what I as a client using advisory services ,wants.
(Stuggling to embed a link here, Tolley registration needed to download/read article)
Advicepower! The tax accountants turning to advisory services | Tolley
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Like a modern version of Groucho Marx, I avoid any process which requires registration simply to download/read an article ... but feel free (not intended to be as patronising as that sounds) to expand, or indeed expound, on points of interest raised in the article - or resultant queries!
It is just a slightly more realistic viewpoint of selling advisory services than most, whilst most accountants offer some advisory the article recognises that a lot are mainly compliance driven and recognises that business size within the client base or reputation of party offering service (cross selling to other accountants) is needed for a critical mass of advisory clients.
I found it slightly refreshing after all the articles that I have read that "the future is bright, the future is advisory" and that it is somehow a one size fits all future for all firms , as we seem to get from a fair few gurus. (their articles are of course nonsense, there are just not enough suitable clients for such services)
It also touches slightly on fee squeeze for compliance activities (which in real terms I have certainly observed over my career) though no solution to this is offered (I suspect in reality there is very little in the way of solution except more "untouched by human hands" services)
As I said, nothing new, nothing original, just a slightly better balanced than usual article on the topic. (Not that it in any way impacts me these days except as a consumer of advisory services)
Thanks ... and shame that I'm being so pig-headed as it sounds like one of the better articles (admittedly in a field that is drowning in self-serving and self-appointed gurus).
FWIW I think you have inadvertently put your finger on the nub (if one is still allowed such colloquialisms) in your final 6 words.
From my personal perspective/experience as a consumer of professional services (which range far & wide beyond accounting), I shy away from the tendency to offer me 'bundled' services ... which reek to me of the unprofessional world of BOGOFs (or, if you're feeling generous, buying something of which you have no need just because it's included).
Conversely I have no problem in seeking out and paying for expert advice when it relates to a situation in which I recognise the need for guidance - and so value it.
And therein lies the conundrum ...
... if you (as the client) operate in an arena where specialist advice is required regularly (such as property investment/management) then you may be happy to sign-up for an ongoing retainer-based services supplier;
whereas if you are a sporadic consumer of services (often in entirely different fields each time) then you're not the type of client sought by those trying to build a future of advisory service provision!
And it's the same with compliance services ... with the added twist, as you say, of the fee squeeze (that is only enabled because HMRC appear to have given up on effective policing).
As a consumer I'm happy enough (most of the time) paying for what I need and only when I need it ... but generally this only coincides with the quality I expect when I select on the basis of niche expertise/reputation (a far more reliable method beloved by some gurus)!
