Coping With Struggling Clients

Source: New Jersey CPA

Following are excerpts from an article by Joseph A. Tarasco, reprinted with permission.

Very few companies have avoided the downturn, and that weakness is flowing through to accounting firms. CPA firms are coping with these difficult times and the impact on client relations by:

• Staying in touch. Tracey B. Early, CPA and managing partner at Untracht Early LLC in Florham Park, New Jersey, believes it's critical to avoid taking clients' business for granted. "Clients today are looking for attention, especially if they're having problems. You need to return phone calls immediately and pay attention to their needs."
• Adding value. Brian Flynn, CPA and partner at O'Connor, Davies, Munns & Dobbins LLP in Paramus, New Jersey, says many clients are interested in cost-control services. "We're allocating more of our special service resources to forensic specialists, employee benefit specialists and so forth. This would be the case, for example, in a situation where the client is seeking a more cost-effective benefit plan." The challenge to offering additional services during a recession is that clients don't want fee increases.
• Staying on track. The recession has slowed the fee collection cycle, and that's leading to changes in billing practices. At Early's firm, more frequent billing generates smaller bills that clients find more manageable. Flynn says that his firm is spending more time tracking and analyzing receivables and is striving to keep its work-in-process under control.
• Looking ahead. What should CPA firms expect from clients when the economy recovers? Early anticipates better informed clients who will expect more from their CPAs. Instead of just requesting a service, she says, clients will want ongoing advice. Flynn believes that clients will be much more cautious about committing their resources and will continue to monitor expenses closely.

For the complete article, click here.

From New Jersey CPA, January-February 2010, "The Recession and Its Impact on Clients."

Joseph A. Tarasco, CPA, is president of Accountants Advisory Group, which offers practice management, marketing and human capital consulting services to accounting firms. He can be reached at [email protected].