iscoverRecent research we have conducted with accountants and bookkeepers dove into why so many businesses are ending up in failure, and whether they are truly “trusted advisers” to their clients. Spoiler alert: Most aren’t.
Why clients won't pay for your advisory services
29 July 2025
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14 minute read
We recently conducted over 100 interviews with accountants and bookkeepers, exploring why so many businesses are ending up in failure, and whether they're truly "trusted advisers" to their clients.
Spoiler alert: Most aren't.
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When we asked why, the overwhelming response was: "Clients aren't willing to pay for it."
But here's what I observed when visiting one accounting firm: partners arguing about their "value-add services" and "great value pricing," while simultaneously struggling to sell anything beyond basic compliance work.
They kept saying things like "We provide value services" and "Our pricing is great value," followed by the inevitable question: "How do we value add?"
They were obsessed with creating value but completely missing how to capture it.
As someone who has liquidated many businesses over the past 30 years (and more importantly, saved many), I can tell you this: the problem isn't that you don't create value. The problem is that you fundamentally misunderstand what value is and how clients decide what they're willing to pay for it.
In my recent piece on emotion v logic in client communication, I explained why clients make decisions emotionally and justify them logically. That same emotional decision-making is what drives their willingness to pay, and most accountants completely misunderstand this.
The value pricing myth
I recently read an article arguing that "value" is when clients believe the benefits of your accounting services outweigh the fees they pay. Fair enough.
But then it suggested that accountants move from time-based billing to "value-based pricing" by calculating their fixed fee and multiplying it by 1.5, 2.0, or 2.5.
If you've ever tried this approach and wondered why it doesn't work, here's why: you're still thinking about value wrong.
If you've ever found the word "value" slippery and overused, you're not alone. Value is complicated.
The first bit of bad news: you don't decide what's valuable. Your client does.
Value isn't fixed. It's not a number on a spreadsheet or a feature in your service offering. It's a perception/ shaped by the client's needs, emotions, priorities, fears, and context. That makes it inherently subjective, which is exactly why your logical pricing formulas don't work.
The Hannibal strategy
In 216 BCE, Carthaginian general Hannibal marched 36 elephants across the Alps to face the Roman Empire. He was outnumbered 2 to 1, but he understood something about strategy that most accountants miss.
Hannibal knew he needed a larger army, so he banked on the theatre of descending the Alps with elephants – a classic shock and awe event that would inspire rebels to join him. Emotion took over, and they joined. Remember, they were taking on the Romans!
But size wasn't enough. At the Battle of Cannae, Hannibal used a tactical formation that surrounded and captured the entire Roman army, despite being outnumbered.
The lesson? It's not about having the biggest army (creating the most value). It's about positioning and strategy to capture what you've created.
Willingness to pay: the real measure of value
Instead of talking about value, I prefer to talk about "willingness to pay" – the maximum amount a customer is prepared to spend based on the value they perceive.
Here's a simple example: You're buying water in a supermarket. Plenty of choice, no urgency, lots of competition. Your willingness to pay is low, so the price is low.
Now you're in an airport after security. You're captive, convenience matters, and dehydration isn't recommended for flying. Your willingness to pay increases, so the price increases.
Finally, you're at the Vegas F1 race, cheering and sweating. You can't leave, you're thirsty, and what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas. Your willingness to pay skyrockets, and so does the price.
Same product. Different context. Different willingness to pay.
The accounting context
Let's apply this to your practice:
Client A needs basic tax compliance. They see you as a necessary cost of doing business. They compare you to other accountants on price and turnaround time. Their willingness to pay is based purely on getting the job done cheaply.
Client B is a growing business owner who's feeling overwhelmed by financial decisions. They're making good money but don't know if they should expand, hire more staff, or invest in equipment. They're stressed about making the wrong choice that could hurt their growth. They see strategic planning not as paperwork, but as confidence and clarity about their future. Their willingness to pay is much higher because the outcome (making the right decisions) is worth far more than the fee.
Client C is a successful business owner approaching retirement. They're worried about succession planning, tax implications, and whether they've saved enough. They need someone who understands their situation and can guide them through complex decisions. They're not comparing your fee to other accountants – they're comparing it to the peace of mind of knowing their retirement is secure.
Notice the pattern? The clients with higher willingness to pay aren't just different situations – they're different types of clients entirely.
This reveals one of the biggest mistakes accountants make: taking on any client that's sent your way instead of being selective about who you work with.
If you're trying to serve everyone – from the price-shopping compliance client to the growth-focused business owner to the retirement-planning entrepreneur – you're diluting your ability to capture value. You end up competing on price for commodity services instead of commanding premium fees for specialised expertise.
One accountant we interviewed takes this even further. They work exclusively with construction clients. By specialising in this industry, they've developed deep expertise in construction-specific challenges: cash flow timing with progress payments, retention management, subcontractor disputes, and industry-specific tax strategies.
Their perceived value is significantly higher because they don't just understand accounting – they understand construction. When a builder calls them about a problem, they're not getting generic business advice. They're getting insights from someone who's seen this exact situation dozens of times before.
This specialisation allows them to charge premium fees because their willingness to pay isn't being compared to general accountants – it's being compared to the cost of making expensive generic mistakes in a complex industry.
The lesson? The more specific your expertise, the higher the willingness to pay. Generalists compete on price. Specialists command premiums.
The accountants in our research who successfully position themselves as trusted advisors don't just change how they communicate, they change who they communicate with. They get organised about client selection, focusing on fewer clients who value strategic guidance over those who just want cheap compliance work.
Because here's the reality: you can't charge advisory fees to clients who only see you as a compliance provider. The willingness to pay for strategic planning simply isn't there.
The idea is to understand your ideal client in detail through deep engagement. What's the context driving their need for guidance? What's really at stake for them in making the right decisions?
The gap between willingness and price
Here's the tricky part: just because a client is willing to pay a certain amount doesn't mean they'll actually pay that full amount.
The reason lies in value capture – Hannibal's real strategy.
Most businesses leave money on the table because they price using logic (cost plus margin) instead of pricing for emotion, based on the true value the client places on the outcome.
Who captures the value you create?
Think about your practice as a value-sharing ecosystem:
● Suppliers (software, equipment, service providers) capture value through their charges, which you pass on to clients
● Staff create client value and capture it through salaries you pay, which you pass on to clients
● Your practice captures value through profit – but only if priced and positioned well
● Clients capture emotional and functional outcomes – peace of mind, clarity, tax savings – less what they pay you
The question is: how do you capture more of the value you create?
Hannibal's 2-pronged approach
Just like Hannibal, there are two ways to capture more value:
1. Structure (efficiency)
● Reduce the cost of creating value:
● Automate or streamline delivery
● Eliminate low-margin services
● Focus on efficiency without sacrificing perceived value
2. Create theatre (emotional context)
Add emotional impact to what you do:
● Frame services around high-value emotional outcomes
● Bundle services around results clients desperately want
● Communicate outcomes, not features
Do both, and you achieve the holy grail: high perceived value, low delivery cost, and strong client willingness to pay.
The practical application
If you want to capture more value from advisory services, don't start with better proposals. Start with better discovery.
Before you mention strategic planning or cash flow management, you need to understand the client's context. What's driving their request? What's really at stake for them? What would success look like?
This means asking questions like:
● What keeps you awake at night about your business?
● What decisions are you avoiding because you're not sure of the right answer?
● What would change in your life if you had complete confidence about your business direction?
● What's the cost of getting this wrong?
Only after you understand their emotional context can you craft a proposal that speaks to their willingness to pay.
Instead of sending a generic "strategic planning package" proposal, you can now position it as the solution to their specific concerns:
"Based on our conversation, we don’t want you losing sleep over whether to expand into that new location. Our strategic planning process will give you the clarity and confidence to make that decision with complete peace of mind..."
The discovery call is where you uncover their willingness to pay. The tailored proposal is where you capture it.
The challenge
Look at your current client base. How many are paying you premium fees for advisory services versus basic compliance rates?
If the majority are in the compliance category, you're not capturing the value you could be creating. You're leaving potentially $10,000 to $50,000 per client annually on the table.
The businesses I've liquidated often had accountants who could have saved them with proper strategic advice. But those accountants were too busy serving everyone who walked through the door instead of focusing on clients who valued strategic guidance.
Don't let that happen to your practice.
Stop trying to create more value for clients who don't value it. Start capturing the value you already create by being selective about who you serve and strategic about how you position your expertise.
Because like Hannibal discovered, it's not about having the biggest army – it's about positioning and strategy to win with what you've got.
Beyond your practice
This same approach applies to your clients' businesses, too. When they're struggling to charge premium prices for their services, they're likely making the same mistakes – competing on features instead of understanding their customers' willingness to pay.
Share this framework with them. Help them understand that their pricing problems aren't about creating more value, but about capturing the value they already create through better client selection and positioning.
When you become the “trusted adviser” who doesn't just handle their compliance but helps them grow their profits, you truly become indispensable.
Eddie Senatore is a Fellow of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand with over 30 years of experience in business recovery and insolvency. His research on proactive financial advisory approaches can be found in his recent whitepaper on preventing financial distress through strategic early intervention.
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