Goodbye 2021, Hello 2022 – How CPAs and CPA Firms Can Grow their Business in the New Year?

It is the time for New Year resolutions. Stuff like ‘I want to quit smoking, ‘I want to lose weight, ‘and I want to learn a new language’ and so on are the kind of resolutions that go around social networks come every New Year. You can predict these resolutions now because they are done to death.

But, why not resolve to do something different in 2022. From a business point of view, why not make this year the year of growth. This should be the year when your small firm transitions to being a mid-sized firm; or you double your team strength, or you resolve to move from being a vanilla accounting and tax firm to a business advisor to clients; or, you just want to do better in the tax season than 2021.

Growth can be fueled through many different ways; the end objective is to want your CPA firm to do well, generate more revenue, and boost profitability.

So, before we end 2021, let us take a quick look at how you can prep your firm for high growth in 2022:

Leverage Accounting Outsourcing as a Strategic Initiative

The above image is from a Thomson Reuters survey that underlines the priorities of tax professionals. Looking at the picture, you will find ‘efficiency’ and ‘talent’ top the list. Both are complex priorities to manage but have a simple enough solution. You can work with accounting outsourcing companies to help manage your commoditized services or compliance work. Use outsourcing strategically rather than as a cost-savings mechanism.

Both talent and efficiency relate to one another. If you can build capacity with the right talent, your firm automatically becomes more efficient. This happens because you can free up time, focus on process optimization, and maintain stricter quality standards.

Focus on Firm Promotion

Several CPAs do not focus on the marketing side of things. The problem here is that other firms might be spending quite a bit of time promoting their firm and making their services visible in front of their target audience. If your firm remains behind, forget about New Business Development. You will be hard-pressed to add new clients.

Why is this important?

Even in the best of times, your firm might struggle to boost revenue, but we are now living in difficult times, with the pandemic showing no signs of going away anytime soon. In addition, firms are facing a downward price pressure, wherein clients (who have also suffered in the pandemic) want firms to deliver more value for the same price or bring down the pricing of their services. In such cases, economies of scale can be put to good use, meaning the more the number of clients; the better it is for your firm when addressing the price pressure. This can only happen if you make a concerted effort to market your firm and add new clients to the fold.

Client Engagement is an Imperative

Typically, there are three types of clients:

• Prospective Clients
• Current Clients
• Former Clients

Have a client engagement strategy for each one of them. Here is an example:

A prospective client has asked you about your services, but this communication has not proceeded further. A good idea will be to pick up the phone, talk to this client, and follow up on the conversation. Do not allow the communication process to stagnate. Periodic follow-ups by email or phone are always a good idea.

However, if the potential client says they are not interested, the communication can end, or you can always keep the lines open. Say you are attending a conference or a popular event in the accounting industry. Send a mail or LinkedIn message that says you are attending this event and whether you and the prospect can catch up at this event.

Engaging with existing clients is also of paramount importance. You must manage client expectations even when you are extremely busy. Explore new avenues to work together and keep building new synergies. Make sure you stay on top of their requirements and are on hand to solve their queries. Try to know more about their business and invite them to webinars/events.

Your clients need to feel you know what they want. This helps client retention.

However, with all the work you have piling up (and work does pile up), how do you engage with your clients? It would help if you had time, and time is not something that is easily available.

But it is. Yes, outsourced accounting firms have more time on their hands. This is because their hands are not packed with accounting or bookkeeping tasks as they outsource them. They extend their in-house teams with outsourced bookkeepers or accountants, freeing up time and using it for ensuring client satisfaction.

Conclusion

Think of these as strategies as resolutions you want to implement in 2022. A growth-focused approach will ensure your firm is continuously on an upwards trajectory and does not fail to become even more profitable and competitive.