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Did you know that 82% of SMEs agree that their accountant is their trusted advisor, not only for financial accounts but also for advice on continued success and growth of their business?1 As an accountant you are best placed in your clients’ minds to give them financial advice.
Your clients’ needs are increasing, with 20% looking for advice on retirement and 28% on pension and estate planning. Being in a position to offer these higher value added services will ensure that you become a vital part of your clients’ advisory team.2 And when you consider that 48% of SMSF clients would use their accountant for investment advice, why wouldn’t you want to expand your business?
The automation of the accounting industry through software and ‘CFO in a box’ solutions allows you to focus your attention on different components of you clients’ finances. With 54% of people willing to pay for advice and 57% of SMSFs having advice gaps, it makes sense to add financial advice to your service offering.
Your clients are the backbone of your business. When you see that 26% of clients who changed accountants in the last year did so to go to another adviser with a boarder range of services,2 you need to look at your business and ask yourself – will you make the change to grow your business or risk losing a quarter of your clients?
At the end of the day, your clients want advice from you. What is the value of trust if you don’t leverage it?
1 CCH SME survey, 2013.
2 SMSF Accountant Presentation, Investment trends, April 2014.