Moving from Technician to Advisor

Sponsored by:

Taking Your Practice to the Next Level

Speaker Bio – Jason Deshayes

• Vice President – Butler and Company

CPAs, PC

• Serving clients since 2003, providing

advice to individuals and closely-held

businesses, with a focus on

professional services, medical and

veterinary practices, individual taxation

and business start-ups.

• Honored in 2011 as one of New

Mexico’s

“40 Under Forty” by NM Business

Weekly

• PCPS Executive Committee – 2012 –

present

• 2010 AICPA Leadership Academy

Graduate

• Was a Seattle Seahawks fan WAY

before they won the Super Bowl

@taxguyjase

So you want to be an advisor?

Self Assessment

• Need to take a look at a few things:– Yourself

– Your firm

– Your clients

• Before you go making a major change in your way of practicing, you need to fully understand where you are presently at

• If you have partners, then you need to do this exercise with them

• You may be surprised that some answers are drastically different

Personal Self Assessment

• What are your personal strengths?

• Where is your time best spent?

• When are you at your best?

• Who do you like to work with?

• Why are you in this business?

Steps to take with Yourself

• Do a SWOT analysis on yourself

• Have those closest to you give you an

assessment

• Write down the top 5 things you love

doing and top 5 things you can’t stand to

do

Firm Assessment

• What is the firm’s capacity?

• Where are there places for improvement?

• When do people talk about how amazing

your firm is?

• Who is your team?

• Why are you different than your

competitors?

Steps to take with the Firm

• Interview your staff (or if you are solo,

have someone interview you!) about what

duties they have and what skills they may

have you aren’t using

• Find a CPA you can confide in to keep

you accountable

• Create your Unique Value Proposition

Client Assessment

• What is the make up of your client base?

• Where are your clients coming from?

• When do people talk about how amazing

your firm is?

• Who are your A/B/C/D clients?

• Why do your clients work with you?

Client Assessment

• “A” Clients – Take to lunch

• “B” Clients – Give them a call

• “C” Clients – Write them a letter

• “D” Clients – Take them to breakfast

• “F” Clients – Friends and Family – good

luck!

Steps to take with Clients

• Let a bad client go – not in your or their

best interest to keep working together!

• Develop a project for an underserved

client

• Implement a client survey to find out more

about why they work with you (and things

you can change)

• Create a tracking log of referral sources

Challenges

• Changing our mindset to evolve with our

clients

• Shifting our clients’ perception of CPAs

and their value

• Being able to say no to a prospective

client

• Finding the time to make the transition

• Fear of change

Finding the Right Course

What an advisor is…

• One of the first people your clients go to when they have issues – whether they are accounting/tax related or not

• Collaborative with other advisors – i.e. attorneys, investment advisors, consultants

• The “hub” for your client– When they have a need, they go to you for a

solution…whether or not you are the one ultimately providing the solution

• Your best interest is the client’s best interest

• You want more than just making sure the tax return or financial statement is “right”

Who do you want to be?

How do you become an

advisor?

• Think differently about how you approach client service– Move beyond the billable hour

– Go outside your normal service “comfort zone”

• Ask more questions – you’ll get way more answers– No one will come to you for other advice if you only ask

them about their taxes

• Build broader client relationships– Get to know families, future plans, life circumstances,

historical background, etc…

– Remember it! If you can’t do it off the top of your head, consider a CRM to document this type of information

How do you become an

advisor?

• Become a resource for other advisors

– Offer to help referral sources and other advisors when they need it

– They will send business your way knowing you are the type of advisor that intentionally helps others

• Look beyond your current service offerings

– Explore new software vendors

– Talk to other CPAs and understand their practices• Firm Networking Groups

– See what is going on in your market (and what ISN’T going on)

Questions Questions Questions

• This is the part where you ask a question and learn to keep your mouth shut and listen– Clients want to know you care about more than just

their taxes or financial statements

• What types of questions can you ask?– What are your long term goals in life?

– Have you thought about your own estate plan?

– What would be a positive outcome with us working together?

– Do you have other advisors you work with?

– Is there anything I can do to help make our working relationship better?

Questions Questions Questions

• What types of questions can you ask?– What are your long term goals in life?

– What is your estate/succession plan in case something unfortunate happens?

– What would be a positive outcome with us working together?

– Who are the other advisors you work with?

– What can I do to help make our working relationship better?

– What is important to you in your life?

– What are you passionate about?

– What keeps you up at night?

Leveraging Technology

Create a Process

• When you have a process, clients are likely to see you as more than just a “tax guy” or “accountant”

• This process is how you work, how you serve clients and how you are different than other CPAs

• Have a take-away for clients

• First meetings – informational gathering

• Have reasons to see clients more than once a year

Resources

• Trusted Business Advisor– Available through your state society

– Starting in 2014, we’ll be offering TBA within firms

• AICPA PCPS– Tons of toolkits and templates

– Firm Networking Groups

• CPAacademy– Tons of offerings

– Lots of CPAs to include in your network

Rewards

• Improved client relationships

• Client and other advisors referrals

• Improved brand awareness

• Strong professional network

• Personal satisfaction

Action Plan

• Do your self assessment

• Build a list of your new client questions

• Find a CPA “confidant” to hold you

accountable

• Find three new resources to add to your

network

Thanks!

Contact me if you have any questions!

Jason Deshayes, CPA, CGMA

Jason@butlercpa.com

505-821-0893

@taxguyjase

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