september2021 - 23

BRIDGING THE GAP
JIM BOOMER, CPA.CITP
CEO, Boomer Consulting, Inc.
Director, Boomer Technology Circle™
jim.boomer@cpapracticeadvisor.com
Compliance or
Advisory?
You Can
Do Both
Another article about moving from compliance to
advisory? It's no wonder accountants are unnerved by
much of the talk around advisory services. For many,
advisory services aren't something they studied in college
or have experience with doing in their firms. So is it any
wonder many have learned to tune it out? Today, I want
to share a different message: don't think of it in terms of
compliance versus advisory. You can (and should) do both.
YOUR CLIENTS STILL
NEED COMPLIANCE
SERVICES
Unless something drastic changes
in tax law or financial regulations,
your clients will continue to need
tax returns and financial statements.
These continue to be profitable
areas in an accounting firm,
even as advisory services take up a
growing piece of the revenue puzzle.
In fact, successfully providing
advisory services is dependent
on compliance work. To advise
and guide your clients, you need
a foundation of current, accurate
financial data. Firms can outsource
and automate many tasks related
to these services, but the need is
still there. As long as those services
exist, your firm will need people to
do and manage that work.
YOU MAY ALREADY BE
PROVIDING ADVISORY
SERVICES
Chances are, your firm is already
providing advisory services. The
question is, are you being compensated
appropriately for those
services? Without a clear line
between advisory and compliance,
some firms deliver high-value advisory
services while getting paid for
compliance work.
Many firms helped their clients
survive and thrive during the pandemic,
not with tax preparation or
audits, but by helping them secure
capital and providing general business
advice. However, if you charged
by the hour for these services or
lumped them into the cost of your
compliance services, you missed a
big opportunity.
Now is the time to identify the
advisory services you've provided to
clients over the past 18 months and
expand them into properly packaged
and priced advisory service
offerings.
MAKE TIME FOR
ADVISORY
One common argument firm leaders
give for not expanding their
advisory practice is, " We don't have
time. " It's true that you don't have
time to grow advisory services in
addition to managing your firm's
people, processes and technology
and providing compliance services
for your clients. After all, there are
only so many hours in a day. Instead
of thinking about " how " you'll be
able to deliver advisory services,
start thinking about " who. "
Successfully growing an
advisory practice requires a team
dedicated to the task - this can't be
a side-project for your tax, audit or
client accounting services department.
Put someone in charge of
building out your advisory service
line and make it their full-time job,
and you'll see much faster (and
more profitable) results.
Every professional in your firm
today won't want to or be equipped
to provide advisory services, and
that is okay. The firm of the future
will include both compliance and
advisory. The key is to recognize
that advisory is a team sport. Get
people comfortable with collaborating
to help the firm's clients rather
than " their clients. "
If you want to see growth in
your firm, don't fall back into " I'm
too busy. " You don't have to give up
providing the services your clients
need, but you do need to start providing
services they want and value.
Compliance and advisory together
will set your firm and your clients
up for success. ■
SEPTEMBER 2021 ■ www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
23
http://www.CPAPracticeAdvisor.com
september2021

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