Rudijansen
Member Since: 3rd Oct 2014
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Rudi Jansen is a practice owner just like you. He also runs a mastermind & coaching programme helping practice owners to achieve their goals by overcoming the challenges and maximising the opportunities that come with running and growing an accountancy practice. Rudi is also a best-selling author and a sought-after speaker at accountancy events all over the world. You can find out more about Rudi by going to www.rudijansen.com.
Accountant's Coach | Practice Owner | Author & Speaker BlackBelt Mastermind & Coaching Programme
My answers
Lots of the older well-established practices typically have high debtors days (so do some of the newer ones).
I've had clients in the past with so much cash tied up in debtors they could buy a fleet of new Ferrari's in cash.
The reality is though that whilst this cash is tied up in debtors, it isn't being invested into growing the ipractice.
If this is the case, then setting and measuring debtors days as a KPI is a great way to make sure it comes down.
Some of the things they can do to improve it are:
1. Automate invoice reminders e.g. in Xero or using other software such as Chaser.
2. Offer more options for your clients to pay e.g. online, over the phone, in the office. The more opportunity you give them, the less they can resist.
3. Have a dedicated credit controller. The mistake most practices make is letting the partner do the credit control. Most of the time, they never get round to doing it or are too worried about damaging client relationships. Having a dedicated credit controller that you can hold accountable to reducing your debtors days absolutely works. Some of my clients work with Credit chase.
Ultimately, moving to Direct debit is the best long-term strategy for reducing debtors and keeping them down. This is becoming more common for practices, especially with more of them adopting a fixed pricing model.
I totally agree with Bryce on this subject.
This is a fantastic way to raise your profile.
At the same time most people fear public speaking more than death...
So to overcome that, a little bit of investing in some great training would be really useful. I'd recommend that you google your nearest Toastmasters club (www.toastmasters.org). These are voluntary organisations that will take you through a very simple, but very structured process to get you to be 100% comfortable on stage delivering fantastic presentations.
And because it is a voluntary organisation run by volunteers, the financial cost is almost nothing...
But once you've overcome your fears (quite easily actually), it does open up a whole new world of client exposure and client acquisition.
Go for it.
Great points Richard.
I think on the whole accountancy practices focus too much on transactional connections (e.g. you phone me up to discuss my accounts) that they end up neglecting relational transactions (e.g. customer service touches that aren't necessarily related to the work I'm doing).
This can have a massive impact of client retention - especially in an industry with increasing competition.
I recently wrote an article on Linkedin about this exact topic with some tips/ideas on what accountancy practices can do differently.
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/seriously-low-hanging-fruit-rudi-jansen-t...