What are Advisory Services: Accounting Advisory & Your Practice

26 Feb What are Advisory Services: Accounting Advisory & Your Practice

Among small, medium and large accounting firms, a growing percentage of practitioners are beginning to consider ways to value and price their accounting advisory services as a billable product. Many, however, still find themselves stuck in advisory accounting a pattern of giving away their expertise for free. And not only is accounting advisory work more profitable, but it also enables more meaningful relationships with clients and a deeper sense of purpose in the services your firm provides.

But what does accounting advisory mean and how can your firm take advantage of this unique opportunity to showcase your knowledge and build deeper relationships with your clients? Compliance services are required, and there is very little differentiation in the deliverable between practitioners. The fact that most firms include the exact same compliance description on client invoices reinforces that there is nothing special about the compliance report. Financial advisors may be consultants, CFPs or investment managers, among other distinctions. Depending on their expertise, they can help with a wide range of financial decisions, including retirement planning and budgeting, coaching and sometimes tax planning related to specific investments.

Tailored accounting and reporting advisory services that go beyond the expected

Advisory services make sense for accounting firms who already have the trust of their clients and are looking to provide a more robust and holistic set of services, while also growing their business. Compliance and advisory services are interdependent — advisory services requiring a foundation of current, accurate books to provide actionable insights. While the suite of compliance services is constant across firms, the offering of advisory services tends to be personalized for each firm. Without a clear line of demarcation between services, some firms deliver advisory services while getting paid for compliance work.

If you’re ready to start your advisory journey, Practice Forward provides a true roadmap for shifting your business model to support advisory centered client relationships. Traditionally, the revenue model for accounting firms has been a function of tax compliance transactions completed. However, this way of thinking can stifle your relationships with clients and result in missed revenue opportunities. We know this intuitively, but many firms do a poor job of separating advisory from compliance, and communicating their advisory expertise to clients. Advisory supports specialization, which leads to higher-value services and separation from the sea of generalists. However, if we can’t articulate our advisory expertise, it’s a certainty that clients won’t be able to untangle our compliance services from higher-value advisory services.

Accounting advisory: What you need to know

Unlike financial advisors, whose duty of care varies based on their licenses, CPAs are all generally considered to have a fiduciary duty to their clients. Besides having different certification qualifications, there are different standards to which accountants and financial advisors are held. For example, licensed broker-dealers are typically held to a suitability standard, meaning they are required to show that the investments they sell are suitable for the investors they sell them to. Although there are exceptions to the rule, generally speaking, if you need help with financial planning and investments, it’s best to work with a certified financial advisor. If you’re looking for help preparing a tax return or understanding the tax implications of a particular financial decision, an accountant or CPA is usually a better choice. This changing skill set allows firms to go beyond traditional compliance roles and become trusted advisors for clients — resulting in stronger client relationships and more fulfilling work.

• Services also include adjacent complex accounting services such as IFRS/ US GAAP/ Local GAAP conversions and financial statement development/restatement support.
• Our services are designed to help clients implement an integrated ESG approach, strategy, and reporting framework to comply with the evolving reporting requirements and meet the needs of key stakeholder groups.
• Before you pick a financial professional to work with, it’s important to know their respective specialties so you can determine which would be better for your particular circumstances.
• Advisory Roundtables are virtual peer-to-peer events to connect and share with peers about best practices, challenges, and hot topics.
• Unlike financial advisors, whose duty of care varies based on their licenses, CPAs are all generally considered to have a fiduciary duty to their clients.
• They are known as the “Big Four” as they are the four largest global accounting networks as measured by revenue.

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Explore other services tailored to your business​

Successful management and resolution of these matters is essential to keep moving toward your business objectives. Regulatory, technical, and business complexities are driving finance and accounting teams to re-evaluate their policies, processes, controls, and systems. We can help your organization stay at the forefront of new financial reporting requirements. It’s also important to note that not all accountants are certified public accounts (CPAs), which is a designation given to individuals who go through additional education, experience and testing requirements to earn that title. In addition to your tax and accounting credentials, accounting advisory requires a special set of soft skills and experience. For many firms, recent years have made it clear that serving clients is not all about tax compliance.

From certified financial planners (CFPs) and accountants, to wealth managers and financial consultants—there are plenty of different professionals out there who want to help you manage your money. Shifting to advisory is also a good choice for accountants thinking of leaving the profession. Strategizing with clients on a regular basis can bring the spark back to burned-out accountants. With a scope agreement in place, your firm can kick off an advisory engagement with the right expectations in place and ensure they are understood from the beginning.