Small and midsized practices anticipate modest growth in 2017: What can you do to attract more clients?

According to Statista.com, the revenue of the accounting, tax preparation and payroll services industry in the United States is forecasted to generate around $160 billion by 2018. The number of accountants/auditors and their administrative staff is forecasted to rise to 3.44 million in 2022. Looking at these numbers, it is safe to conclude that the accounting profession looks bright indeed!

It is vital for accounting businesses to think of smart ways to grow their practice. And the key factor that can make this happen is “attracting more clients”. Here are 5 handy tips to revolutionize your accounting practice:

1. Recognize your ideal clientIn every practice, there are clients not only get good business but also are easy to work with, and there are clients which are hard to deal with. Make a list of the issues for which your clients have previously given you trouble. Think of all the ‘tricky’ situations and how you or your staff dealt with it. This will help you in figuring out the kind of people or businesses you want to associate your practice with.
2. Touch base with your existing clientsGet in touch with them to persuade them to add more services to your scope of work. Yes, in the language of sales, this is called “upselling” and it helps boost the revenue. Your accounting firm can grow its business by taking on more work from the clients but charging them an amount that doesn’t exactly burn a hole in their pocket. This will offer you the financial flexibility you need to grow.
3. Remember to network‘Coz it matters! A study by 2016 BKR Americas Member Firm Survey revealed that 12.2% of new business came from collaterals of non CPA professionals. So networking with professionals functioning outside your industry is a good idea! Not only this, it is equally vital to attend accounting events and conferences to connect with industry-people.
4. OutsourceWe know this term is often met by animosity or ignorance as most people don’t understand how it actually works. Questions are raised on “security” and “reliability” of outsourcing services. It’s natural but with companies such as QXAS Inc, you can be assured of reliable professional accounting services.For instance, bookkeeping – an extremely tedious accounting task – can be outsourced. Even though it a more time intensive activity than payroll, hiring personnel just for this can burn a hole in the pocket. This is where outsourcing comes into the picture. It will not only take care of such mundane functions but also allow your staff and the practice as a whole to innovate, research and grow!
5. Tweak your hiring modelHire millennials – because they are the future! Create a work-life balance. Embrace technology. Keep clear lines of communication if you want to attract them. From recruiting and on-boarding fresh talent to retaining them with the use of real-time communication is crucial to a business’ stability. Moreover, this is not just for bringing millennials onboard but also attracting other fresh talent that sometimes gets pushed away or ignored.
6. Join the social media bandwagonCPAs and accounting firms are aggressively marketing their services. In an age of tough competition, reaching out to prospects via the digital medium is an interesting move indeed! Whether it is building a strong social media profile or focusing on SEO to get the website rankings up high, CPAs and businesses are not leaving any stone unturned to boost their online brand visibility.How many of these tips do you plan to follow this year?