New Year Special: How Accountants Are Gearing up for a Spike in Demand for Advisory Services in 2024

Imagine your regular high-school drama student, jumping out from backstage support and landing straight into the spotlight – that’s what accountants went through since the onset of the pandemic. From anonymously processing payslips to advising on changing government schemes, accountants have been the right hand of their clients as they were thrown into this complicated mix of the pandemic, CJRS*, and Brexit-related changes.

Today, accountants are being considered more dependable than ever. The pandemic has brought their advisory and crisis management skills to light which has strengthened their role as trusted advisors. Earlier considered as mere number crunchers, accountants now have morphed into a one-stop solution for business and accounting problems.

So, keeping in mind the changes in the accounting industry and the new evolved role of accountants – here’s an article talking about the huge spike in the demand for advisory service and how accountants can make the most of this opportunity.

What Led to the Sudden Spike in Advisory Services? 

The onset of the pandemic pushed the entire profession to move to the cloud. Even though the use of technology and software like Sage, IRIS, Xero, BrightPay, etc. made processes efficient, it was still a steep learning curve for clients. At that moment, clients desperately looked for new kinds of advice which led to a sudden spike in the demand for advisory services.  

Do Clients Really Need Advice? 

Yes! Clients do need advice, but the concern here is – Do they need it from their accountants?

According to a study by PracticeWeb, almost 61% of clients refer to their accountant as their main source of business advice and this leaves nearly 40% who get their piece of financial advice from somewhere else. Clearly, a problem that needs a fix. Here are a couple of problems that we could identify as a cause of the 40% gap.

 

Main sources of business advice for clients

Value for Money 

Offering advisory services as a billable product has been difficult for accountants because giving away free advice has always been a part of the job for a long time.

There may be reluctance from clients who now have to pay for something they believe they used to get for free. Now, the tricky part for accountants is to position themselves as an advisor who’s worth the monthly bill themselves.

The problem is a stumbling block for both parties. Since for many practices, it often gets challenging to sell advisory services because many accountants find it difficult to suddenly start charging for advice that they have been used to giving out casually over meetings and phone calls. This also adds to the risk of losing that client.

And that’s why market positioning becomes of utmost importance here.

Lack of Understanding 

The pandemic and the recent recession propelled more and more clients to move towards advisory services. Clients look forward to their accountants playing a key role in their decision-making as long as they feel they are getting good value, but that brings into question – how do you define the value?

It’s how you see it. Business owners see things from their business perspective, but accountants may sometimes overlook the client’s perspective and assume that they may already have an understanding of technical topics like cashflow statements, financial reporting, etc. This results in both of them missing out on the opportunity to receive good advice and latter to step up as an advisor.

To bridge this gap, the accountant needs to make the first move. Numbers are your strength but as advisors, it’s your job to draw a comprehensive analysis from those numbers, keeping in mind the multitude of factors affecting them.

A good start would be to start speaking the language of your clients and produce business health check reports with your insights and analysis.

Don’t have time for advisory? It’s time to outsource!

24 hours. One accountant. And a shedload of tasks falling off the plate.

The act of balance really gets critical when accountants have to take care of both – accounting and advisory services.

Advisory, being a new service, is more time-consuming as it involves frequent meetings with the clients. In such a scenario, the ideal thing to do is to hire outsourced accounting services providers and share your workload of low-margin compliance functions.

Not only you get your job done, but you also achieve cost-effectiveness and better efficiency. The outsourcing partner becomes your extended team taking care of the non-core, compliance tasks, while you focus on offering those ‘value-added services’. And that’s how the benefits of accounting outsourcing help to restore the balance.

It’s the Smart Ones Who Survive

It’s time to evolve into a new breed of smart accountants.

Unlike the traditional accountant, it’s time to work smarter and show the value of your work. Free up your time so that you can focus on providing insights your clients really value. They know what you do, but what they need to know is – How proficient you are at your job? What is the quality of your service? And if you can help them achieve their goals? And all of this happens when you communicate. So, don’t hesitate to share your expert knowledge because that’s what helps you and your clients win in the long run.

How Can QXAS Help?

QXAS, a market leader in outsourcing, provides tailored accountancy outsourcing services to 500+ leading accounting practices in the UK. We have over 20+ years of experience in the industry, helping firms scale and create the capacity for higher-value services such as advisory.

Curious to know how our services can benefit your firm? Reach out to our experts on the contact details below.

Call: +44 208-146-0808 or Email: [email protected] 

We would be happy to help!