There are times in business when we feel stuck or feel that we can enhance the quality of financial services. We think that there is much more to accounting or economic well-being than what your internal team provides. In such cases, you can always approach a finance expert and avail any accounting advisory service that you require.
You must recognize your issue and look for a suitable accounting advisory service. Even if you are unaware of the various kinds of accounting advisory services available, you can reach out to a finance expert, and he can guide you there. Although being a business owner, you must be aware of the basics of accounting advisory services. In order to give you a helping hand, we have prepared a detailed guide on accounting advisory services. So, stop by and read below to enhance your knowledge.
- What are Accounting Advisory Services?
- Why Should You Offer Accounting Advisory Services?
- The Top Advisory Accounting Services in 2022
- Summing Up
What are Accounting Advisory Services?
The term “advisory services” is defined in many different ways by different accountants. To simplify the term. we can define it as any service that gives a piece of advice to your client comes under “advisory services”.
In the day-to-day scenario when your accountant provides bookkeeping services, prepare financial statements, deals with accounting for financial reporting issues, they are rendering the eliminatory accounting services. But when the accounting service provider handles complex accounting and analyses the numbers, and discusses them with you, this come under the perimeter of advisory services.
The Accounting Advisory Services may consist of concise discussions with the clients or all the way to detailed-oriented financial reporting and modelling (and ofcourse anything that comes between).
Why Should You Offer Accounting Advisory Services?
The prime reason to offer accounting advisory services is that there is a huge need of it in the country. If there is a need, it is definitely going to Trigger a demand. Demand would potentially lead to a stronger relationship with the client and higher revenues for the firm.
There is definitely a need and this can be confirmed by:
First of all, the personal views of of an online accounting form owner indicates that around 90% of small business owners are quite clueless with their own financial data and are not capable of of driving any decisions based on them. It is very clear when you observe their approach towards protecting their assets, minimising the business risk or using the data for business growth.
Secondally, the data is supported by a survey. The Xero conducted an independent study of 800 small business owners in Canada and observe that a wide chain of business owners, including Millennials and Gen Z received poor grades on basic questions ask to test their financial literacy.
In short, why your firm should offer accounting advisory services:
- Clients need advice for various kinds of work that require the technicalities of accounting, since they are not well- familiarised with accounting terms
- The top goals in 2022, for most businesses require financial insight and financial be well being of the firm
- Your firm may add a valuable amount of money to your top line
The Top Advisory Accounting Services in 2022
You can a few advisory-oriented services mentioned below that are quite in context with the current economic scenario prevailing in the country which also back up the facts mentioned in Xero’s report on financial literacy.
1. Have a regular check-up call with every client
There are some shocking cases in which the clients hear from their accountants only once a year, after the year end. Today’s generation of entrepreneurs need constant communication and feedback. They are very social and wish to stay connected very deeply. For them, catching up with the accountant once a year for getting information, tips and advice is not sufficient.
A simple yet feasible solution to this problem is to have semi-annual, quarterly, monthly, bi-weekly or weekly check-up calls with the client. You may even schedule check-up calls with your clients and include in each of your plans for reviewing financial reporting and technical accounting.
2. Turn your cash flow forecasting and budgeting redundant
Most accounting firms have a myth that the advisory services are not scalable. But that’s not true. If you provide the most relevant and crisp advice to the clients, you can gain clients exponentially and scale your advisory unit at a very high pace. The most beneficial service for a client is cash flow forecasting and budgeting services, and it would be cheery on the cake if you can make them repeatable.
Initially, you may offer a one-time payment plan for providing forecasting and budgeting services for around a year. There would be some work to get what kinds of plans are preferred by the clients.
3. Educate your clients with the fundamentals of accounting
One of the most social responsibilities of a good financial advisor is to bridge the gap between the accounting team and the client. Like every other subject account also has its own language and vocabulary. Most business owners are aware of the basic accounting terms, but there are some business owners that don’t even understand the fundamentals of accounting.
First of all, you need to analyse where your client stands so that you can help him out accordingly. This would definitely bridge the gap between the accounting team and the client. You can motivate the client to keep on track and challenge them to bring the best out of them.
4. Create and provide online courses
A lot of accounting firms offer online courses and training programmes for the clients so that they learn about financial management. Information is passed on to the client considering that he or she is absolutely new to the filed of accounting and has zero knowledge about the terms of accounting.
You can offer a basic course that is very short and concise, as most of the entrepreneurs are caught up with management and operations. They do not have much time to spare towards these trainings. A short course that has no strict deadlines and is somewhat amusing would be helpful for the entrprenuers.
Summing Up
I hope we have enlightened you with the various accounting advisory services you will need in 2022. There is a wide range of financial accounting services, and you are free to pick up the most suitable ones for you and your requirements. There might be of you lesser-known accounting advisory services.
You can always approach your accounting professional with your problem, and he will always be there to help you out with the most feasible and less time-consuming advice. Till then, stay updated and keep on reading more and more.
