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Despite a hesitation for outsourcing services and sharing client data, one independent consultant has encouraged accountants to embrace the efficiency options on offer, particularly with administration services.
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Don’t fear ‘magic stuff,’ consultant says
24 July 2017
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9 minute read
Speaking to Accountants Daily, Mayflower Consulting director Sarah Penn said that the use of accounting software gives accounting firms three choices of what to do with their improved productivity.
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“As a business owner you're in a position of deciding whether or not you do the same provision with less staff, whether you provide additional services to the clients you've got using the staff you've got, or whether you go and find new clients and take on more clients with the same number of staff,” she said.
The first option is relatively self explanatory according to Ms Penn.
“In the past that meant you needed lots of staff to be able to do it, but now you can do most of that digitally and you don't need as many staff,” she said.
The second option of offering additional services to existing clients can manifest in many different ways.
“They could look at offering advice which is something that clients want. There's lots of research that shows that clients want and will pay for financial advice so they can provide expanded services on that front,” she said.
“Or you might see the clients more frequently, so instead of seeing them annually for an annual review you might move to half yearly or quarterly, depending on what you want to offer and what your clients want.”
The third option is to increase your client base by using the data you have on your existing clients to target more ideal clients.
“Data is magic stuff and you can look at what are the clients you've got and which are the ones that you are doing the best job for and the particular characteristics of those clients and you can then go and look for other clients that look like them or ask for referrals from those particular clients,” she said.
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