He Says Your Accounting Firm Sucks
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- čas přidán 2. 07. 2022
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Your accountant talk to your CFO to get YOUR information to prepare you tax return? Your accountant reach out to you in order to provide YOU service?
At which point do you take responsibility for the services that YOU need? Tsk tsk. This is why you are likely not have a long term accountant. You are what we call PITA client. You’ll get charged more than the average client, and eventually get invited to find another firm because no one wants to deal with you.
Wow. I’ve seen a few crazy clients but this is one client I would not want. I wish you could actually interview his past accountants and see what they have to say. I’m sure that would be an interesting interview.
This guy sounds like a nightmare client. He should have a cpa on a monthly retainer with the level of proactiveness he wants, but i highly doubt he would want to pay for that.
As an admin, some clients do not wish to speak to me, ever. Even if they need our fax number (which is listed on our telephone systems, email signatures and website), they do not want to speak to me. I think accounting firms can only be as great as the clients. Clients are not educated on tax, so it’s a battle.
This guy’s accounting firm would have to charge 10k per return to break even
This happens in all professions, not just accounting. I think it’s very important to listen to clients needs and help them achieve what they want. Some other people below have said needy clients want bonus service but don’t want to pay and that’s fair too. The thing is, we don’t really work for the client, we work for the government/professional body. We can’t do anything illegal or unethical. At the end of the day even if your service was impeccable, clients will be upset because of outcomes arising from business facts that have nothing to do with the accountant. There’s no magic solution. Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk.
One question I would have loved to hear is “how much was your compliance bill last year”. I’ve got a feeling, based on Mike’s experiences, that he’s been with firms on the smaller end and paying minimal fees. Just like everything else in life, you get what you pay for.
I’d also love a follow up if this guy ever started a firm, which he won’t. He’d be closing the doors in a few seasons if he’s hiring minimal talent to do the actual work, and a crew of “customer service” folks.
All in all, giant headache client who doesn’t pay enough for what he wants, and thinks the service you provide him can always be done for cheaper.
A lot of good points. Being proactive is important, but one thing I've noticed after 10 years is you tend to spend more time on the clients that pay the most. Please don't take this as an insult, but my first thought was that Mike strikes me as someone with high expectations but probably fights the bill. I could be wrong.... Also, I think he's feeling the effects of the great resignation. It's hard to provide that level of service when people are leaving the profession at higher rates than ever. Everyone else that stayed is just trying to keep their heads above water which results in keeping clients just happy enough, but some will inevitably leave anyway. Last, he has a point that some firms just have a hard time with providing service. Knowing tax law and providing tax services are two skill sets and sometimes they excel at one and not the other, or maybe neither. Good video! Agree with a lot of his points.
Love this. Such a good video and very cool of Mike for jumping on the call.
If only there was a platform that could do typed information and files in one go, with the ability to prefill last year's info 🤔
Soraban.
We started to reject clients who would not be able to comply with our technology driven business plan. Unfortunately, business clients come in a broad spectrum of needs. Deciding to let go, or not accept older traditional accounting clients allowed us to better serve those who want accountants that are more actively engaging. And can provide a faster turnaround time with their financial documents. Tough choice but it has relieving pressure on the entire staff.
Yeah better to be awesome for a small number of folks than okay for lots
Would not take this guy on as a client at all.
Our front desk admin was a retail store manager. She is fabulous!
I love this, but it seems like a fantasy. We are so overwhelmed with three CPA’s and an admin. He was right about being proactive, I know clients would appreciate it.
We use Adobe to sign documents. We add signatures that way for ourselves and send it to the client for e-signatures for when they need to sign something for us. I haven't ever had an issue with getting documents signed so I'm a bit confused as to how this is still an issue for some people.
We're rare, but we're out there! We are already a technology-forward firm of the future. Yes, we "live" in our portal, which is also our client management software, our secure document storage and file transfer, project management, e-signatures on agreements and e-file authorizations (where IRS allows--they still require some forms to have hand-signatures), invoicing and payments, secure messaging, password vault, etc. We work with our clients' bookkeepers, legal and financial advisors, and CFO's all the time in support of our clients. Sounds like Mike hired an old-school, reactive, compliance-oriented firm instead of a proactive tax planning firm. Those are very different firms with very different fee structures. Also, it was an interesting choice to go to a financial advisor for tax planning advice. Additionally, Dropbox is not FINRA-compliant, and I'm sure not an acceptable file sharing method with his financial advisor.
I work at a top 10 firm and the points mentioned in this video are points that we emphasize with our staff and in-charges constantly - it is embedded in our firm culture to provide unmatched client experience. And the feedback we receive from our clients and our NPS benchmarking reflect our success in this area. Our people are the face of the firm and we spend a lot of time training on professionalism and effective communication - being an accountant is not an excuse for poor communication / professionalism. I think that investing in people is the better solution rather than thinking that non-accountant customer support staff will solve client communication issues.
Also, our clients are paying for and expecting our level of service. And in my experience, if you are choosing the cheapest option, you are probably not getting white glove service.
When he talks about communication, I think what he's really wanting is someone to read his mind for him. He wants communication but then makes comments like "why do I have to talk to you about that?"
Regarding dealines, as soon as I can work on something it's started. For example, there's no reason why I can't start working on the sales tax filing on the 1st of the month, right after that bank account is reconciled. Even though it's not due till the 20th, there's no reason to wait if I can start on it on the 1st. It's usually filed around the 5th.
I think every firm leadership should watch this as a centering exercise.
Great content Jason! Keep it up - love it! 😊 from 🇨🇦
🙏
I make quarterly payments, but I’m shocked your telling me I have a quarterly payment coming up. Bonkers
Lol
Outstanding content!! Just subscribed.
How does your firm reconcile using clients' e-delivery systems, and other third-party e-delivery, with the phishing and other scams targeting accounting firms? I've seen firms only allow for delivery through their client portal system as a result. They refuse to accept links from third-parties (broker composite 1099s being a big one) for security purposes.
This is inconvenient for the client and/or leaves the accountant working off of something like a junky fax from the broker. So how do you balance needing to be careful and secure with your network while interfacing with any given third-party e-delivery?
Invite the third-party into your portal
@@brianclare1518 We've done that option a few times for people who provide service to a large number of clients (like bookkeepers). The headache is our current software environment (TR products) you can't have a client portal without having them setup as a dedicated contact on a client, or client themselves in the PM database. We don't really want to jump through all those hoops if it's a rando FA sending us a one-off 1099.
This guy sounds like the kind of clients who doesn't want to take the time to answer questions or provide source docs, he just wants his return done, as if tax returns are just something that get pulled out of a CPA's inventory and handed over 😆 It's worth noting though, that some clients just don't understand what we need from them or what their responsibilities are, which is where client education becomes important.
Tell Mike that my firm does all of this and our average hourly rate is $210. Let me know if he needs anything. I don't negotiate my rate.
he's the kind a dude I don't want as a client...good luck buddy as more people keep leaving accounting...it's not we have to impress you...but you have to impress us buddy!
I wonder if this client is the type that wants to be taken care at every turn but doesn’t like to pay the cost of this attention. I know that clients are full of feedback about how much more time should be spend on what’s annoying them in the moment, then they get the invoice and shift to complaining about how much the service costs. However, I acknowledge that improvements can/should be made on the part of accounting firms.
Initially AI thought this was a low grade client but constructive feedback is valuable. It appears that his previous service providers didn’t listen to his needs.
This is really how I'm trying to build my firm.
I have a sneaking suspicion Mike has turned down firms because the charge too much. And then argues every bill too 😂
Does make me wonder his market? Small market with an aging CPA population not looking to embrace change?
Actually in a pretty big market!
That was a fantastic interview. You have a guy telling you what makes your accounting firm super attractive. He has listed his significant pain points, and explains how to solve them. Upgrade your technology for e-signatures. If you are cheap, Pandadoc has a free-tier that works with multiple users for free. Engagement letters should be reviewed and sent out every year. Why would you keep prices and services the same? A business is growing, and you want more money, if nothing more than keep up with inflation. Get away from your email-attachments, and properly set up a portal or dropbox. You know what information you need each year, customise the experience. Separate accountants from non-accounting work, including things like front-facing customer service or billing. Don't leave things to the last minute and ask for information or payment with only 1-2 days to the due date. Mike mike mike mike mike. Thanks Mike.
mike mike mike mike mike 🐫
This guy sounds like a giant pain and I am with a firm that has e signatures and client service liaisons and all that other stuff... Sounds like one of those clients that doesn't pay attention to what their accountant told them and gets ticked about it.
He needs to work with a firm with more resources, which probably means pay a lot more money.
After watching this I feel good about my choices in how I operate. After reading the comments I felt even better.
Our clients deserve better and it’s clear the industry as a whole isn’t willing to provide that.
Love how he says he can be a better cpa firm owner than cpas, except that would mean he'd have to do the work to be a cpa in order to have a cpa firm hahahahaha
yeah dude is a jerk and no self respecting accountant should take that dude on as client... I mean unless you want to overperform for a dude who wants to under pay.....