Blog – Full Posts

The Blueprint for Turning Your Accounting Practice into a Private Equity Magnet

Earmark Team · November 20, 2024 ·

Private equity investment is changing the accounting industry in a big way. In the past three years, five of the top 26 accounting firms in the U.S. have received financial support from private equity firms. This marks a notable change in how these businesses operate. As more money comes into the industry, smaller to mid-sized accounting firms are feeling the pressure to either grow larger or focus on specific areas of expertise to stay competitive.

How can we ensure our practices thrive in the face of ongoing challenges? Dave Bunce, Director of Partnerships at interVal, has extensive experience in accounting and mergers and suggests that companies willing to change and adapt their operations can achieve remarkable growth and value. This applies whether they are looking for investment from private equity firms or choosing to operate independently.

On a recent webinar, Dave shared three critical transformations that can help position your firm for success:

1. Moving beyond compliance work
2. Building sustainable recurring revenue
3. Creating scalable operations

Beyond Compliance: Redefining Value

When looking to buy a business, buyers pay close attention to two main things: the people you serve (your clients) and the skills of your staff (your talent). It’s important to remember that it’s not just about how many clients or employees you have; what really matters is the quality of your relationships, and the unique value you bring that goes beyond just meeting basic requirements.

“What they’re going to assess on that client list is how long they’ve been with you, how well you’ve grown or retained them, how well you’ve sold your other services to them, and how you’ve moved beyond the commodity of compliance,” Dave explains.

Offering high-profit advisory services can significantly increase the overall value of a firm. While accounting firms usually sell for a price that is about half to two times their revenue, where you fall on that scale largely depends on how well you provide valuable additional services. Top firms often group their clients into three categories—A, B, and C—based on how much growth potential they have and how open they are to receiving advisory services. This approach allows these firms to concentrate their efforts on the clients who are most likely to benefit from these expanded services.

Great opportunities for offering advice can often be found in the information we have about our current clients. For instance, analyzing $15 billion worth of client businesses, Dave’s team discovered that there was $4 billion sitting in working capital that businesses weren’t using efficiently. This finding opened up immediate chances to have important discussions with clients about smart ways to handle their money, plan for the future of their business, and improve how they manage their financial resources.

Finding new opportunities is only the beginning. Companies need clear methods to effectively offer these services on a larger scale and truly make the most of them. This is why creating strong Client Advisory Services (CAS) is so important.

Building Recurring Revenue with Strategic CAS Development

Many firms looking to increase their recurring revenue often begin by considering CAS. However, they must make an important choice: What kind of CAS do they want to provide?

“Are you looking at being a fractional CFO and bookkeeper? Or are you aiming for a high-margin, value-add CAS practice where you guide business owners through strategic planning exercises?” Dave asks. These are completely different ways of running a business, and each one needs unique strategies for hiring people, using technology, and providing services.

To build a successful CAS practice, Dave recommends a four-step approach:

Define Your Scope: Determine whether you’re pursuing a high-volume bookkeeping model (starting around $500 monthly per client) or a high-margin advisory practice focused on strategic guidance.
Validate the Market: Test your proposed offering with existing clients, understand what competitors charge, and ensure your pricing aligns with market expectations and cost structure.
Build the Processes: Develop standardized workflows and procedures to ensure consistent delivery and scalability.
Assemble the Team: Hire and train professionals suited to your chosen model—process-driven staff for bookkeeping or experienced advisors for strategic guidance.

Creating Scalable Operations

The foundation of a valuable, scalable firm lies in well-documented processes. Yet many firms make the costly mistake of implementing technology solutions before mapping out their core business processes.

“Map those things out—current state. Identify the gaps. Build the process the way you want it. Then identify where technology can fit,” Dave advises.

Start by documenting your key business cycles:

New Business to Cash Collection: From acquiring a client to receiving payment.
Resource Allocation and Delivery: Managing how work is assigned and completed.
Talent Lifecycle Management: Recruiting, training, and retaining staff.

This documentation is important for several reasons: it helps maintain stability when employees leave, ensures that services are provided in a consistent way, and shows potential buyers that the company operates at a high level of professionalism and readiness.

Think about the issue of employee turnover. Firms often invest a lot of time helping new employees learn their roles without having clear instructions or guidelines to follow. By creating standardized processes and having everything documented, the onboarding experience for new team members becomes smoother and quicker. This not only helps maintain a high level of service but also boosts the firm’s overall efficiency and profitability. Additionally, a well-organized business is more appealing to potential buyers.

Only after mapping these processes should you evaluate technology solutions. By mapping out how things work and noticing where there are gaps or inefficiencies, you can make better choices about which digital tools and automation will truly help your business succeed.

Positioning Your Firm for Success

Changing a traditional compliance-focused accounting practice into a more scalable business takes careful planning and a step-by-step approach. By moving beyond compliance tasks, firms can develop regular income sources and create clear, documented processes, which can lead to both immediate profits and lasting success.

Whether you choose to seek investment from private equity firms or decide to stay independent, making these changes can help your firm thrive in a competitive marketplace. Successful firms will focus on building efficient operations and offering valuable services.

Anyone looking to build an accounting firm that’s ready for the future should consider watching the full webinar recording. You’ll get practical strategies, pricing ideas, and tips based on Dave Bunce’s wide-ranging experience in both public accounting and private equity.

Why This Modern Firm Still Tracks Time—and How It’s Boosting Their Success

Earmark Team · November 20, 2024 ·

What if the secret to modern accounting success isn’t abandoning time tracking but reimagining it? Dillon Business Advisors (DBA) discovered that time tracking—separated from billing—is a powerful strategic tool for managing their subscription-based practice.

In a recent episode of the “Who’s Really the BOSS?” podcast, firm leaders Marcus and Rachel Dillon discussed how this traditional practice transformed their modern firm. While many industry thought leaders suggest firms discard time tracking and hourly billing, DBA found that maintaining it—with a crucial twist—provided valuable insights into team management and business growth.

Time Tracking as a Strategic Tool in a Virtual Firm

Traditional firms primarily use time tracking for billing. However, in DBA’s virtual environment, it’s a crucial window into team performance and client profitability.

Marcus explains, “In a virtual environment, it’s hard to wrap my mind around what’s going on. Not that I care how much time is being spent, but it weaves into our project management. It highlights an abnormal month, and then we can discuss what happened.”

Rather than using time data for invoicing, DBA leverages it to gain operational insights—which are especially vital when managing a remote team across multiple client engagements.

When team members feel stressed about particular clients or workloads, time data provides objective evidence to evaluate the situation. Rachel notes, “Often, when there are outside stressors and client requests pulling on you, you may perceive one as your biggest problem over the other, without data to support that.”

Tracking time is also valuable for managing their subscription-based services. The firm regularly compares historical time data against current trends. For instance, “If two months ago it took our team eight hours to complete the engaged work, and now it’s taking 14 hours, is it still the same work, or are there out-of-scope tasks? Has the business increased in volume or complexity?” Data from time logs allows DBA to proactively address scope creep, adjust pricing when necessary, and ensure their team isn’t overwhelmed by expanding client demands.

Combining Manual Oversight with Data Analysis

While many firms aim to fully automate their time data oversight, DBA prefers a manual approach, especially in a virtual environment.

Their monthly review process, which takes Marcus and Rachel around three to four hours, combines tools like Excel pivot tables with human analysis. DBA finds that manual review provides strategic insights that automation might miss.

Rachel explains, “I see it not as invoicing but as clearing out time for write-ups and write-downs. It gives us extra accountability to address issues sooner rather than later. If you’re busy, you might not address out-of-scope issues or potential team burnout as promptly.”

Marcus agrees, “I need to be looking at this data monthly.”

This intentional review helps the firm quickly identify patterns, recognize potential team burnout, and spot clients needing pricing adjustments—crucial insights they might miss with a fully automated process.

Leveraging Time Data for Strategic Decisions

Time tracking’s strategic value extends beyond daily operations, influencing growth, staffing, and firm valuation decisions.

DBA finds that understanding team capacity through time data helps them manage part-time staff and plan for growth.

For part-time remote team members, time tracking ensures workload balance without compromising quality. Marcus explains, “If a part-time person doesn’t have billable work, they’ll log off, and it’s hard to know—are you willing to give DBA more time, or were you really done?” This led to committing to consistent hours for part-time staff while optimizing their workload using time data.

Time data is also valuable for firm valuation and succession planning. Marcus notes, “Allan Koltin says the most valuable firm is the one with team members and no clients.” He describes a recent M&A event in which “because they had excess capacity, they were more valuable to the buyer—nobody wants to buy overworked and burned-out employees.”

This shifts excess capacity from a cost to a valuable asset, enabling strategic marketing, growth, and succession planning decisions. Whether determining when to “turn on a little bit more marketing” or evaluating pricing for new engagements, time data provides insights for informed decisions on firm growth and future value.

Transforming Traditional Metrics into Strategic Assets

As firms evolve toward value-based pricing, DBA’s experience shows firms can reimagine traditional tools like time tracking for modern practice management.

Viewing time data as a strategic tool rather than a billing metric allows firms to gain essential insights and maintain oversight of team members in a virtual or hybrid environment.

To learn more about transforming traditional metrics into strategic assets, listen to the full episode of the “Who’s Really the BOSS?” podcast. Marcus and Rachel share additional insights about managing virtual teams, optimizing processes, and building a modern accounting practice that thrives beyond the billable hour.

Rachel and Marcus Dillon, CPA, own a Texas-based, remote client accounting and advisory services firm, Dillon Business Advisors, with a team of 15 professionals. Their latest organization, Collective by DBA, supports and guides accounting firm owners and leaders with firm resources, education, and operational strategy through community, groups, and one-on-one advisory.

Boost Efficiency in Accounting with AI—No Coding Required

Earmark Team · November 15, 2024 ·

In today’s rapidly evolving accounting landscape, artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming an indispensable tool. Yet, many professionals hesitate to embrace it, believing that coding expertise is required. AI expert and accounting professor Dr. Mfon Akpan dispels this myth, emphasizing that strategic thinking—not technical skills—is the key to unlocking AI’s potential in accounting.

In a recent Earmark webinar, Dr. Akpan addressed common misconceptions about using AI in accounting. “Success in AI doesn’t require coding skills,” he asserts. “In fact, I’m good at prompting but terrible at writing prompts.”

In other words, mastering AI is less about technical expertise and more about leveraging practical problem-solving skills that accountants already possess.

Measuring AI Success Through Efficiency

When discussing AI, many in the accounting field focus on its flaws—like making mistakes or producing imperfect outputs. Dr. Akpan encourages a shift in perspective. Instead of fixating on technical shortcomings, he suggests focusing on the efficiency and ease that AI brings to tasks.

An efficiency-first approach emphasizes finding ways to do less while saving time. “If you have 20 tasks to do in a workday and can eliminate five of them, that’s a win,” explains Dr. Akpan. “Or if something that used to take you 40 minutes now takes 20 minutes.” By simplifying tasks, accountants can become more productive and competitive.

He uses a compelling analogy: “It’s like having a Formula One race car but driving it at 15 miles per hour.” Many professionals are not utilizing AI to its full potential, often using it in basic ways rather than harnessing advanced methods that significantly enhance efficiency.

The Art of Effective Prompting

To illustrate how to unlock AI’s full potential, Dr. Akpan compares two approaches to the same task. A simple prompt like “Generate a monthly financial report comparing this month’s performance with the previous year” is straightforward but limited. The real power comes from sophisticated prompting methods like Chain-of-Thought and Tree-of-Thought prompting.

“I’m good at prompting but terrible at writing prompts,” Dr. Akpan admits. His secret? He asks the AI to write the complex prompts for him. By choosing the right prompting method and letting the AI handle the details, he achieves more comprehensive and accurate results.

Chain-of-Thought Prompting

Chain-of-Thought prompting guides the AI through a logical sequence of steps to solve a problem. This method involves breaking down a complex task into sequential steps, mirroring how accountants methodically approach financial analyses.

During the webinar, Dr. Akpan demonstrates transforming a simple prompt into a chain-of-thought prompt by asking the AI to write it:

Simple Prompt:

Generate a monthly financial report comparing this month’s performance with the previous year.

Chain-of-Thought Prompt:

1. Define key financial metrics to compare (e.g., revenue, expenses, net income).
2. Gather this month’s financial data for each metric.
3. Retrieve the same metrics from the previous year’s corresponding month.
4. Calculate the differences and percentage changes.
5. Analyze the reasons behind significant changes.
6. Visualize the data using appropriate charts and graphs.
7. Provide insights and actionable recommendations based on the analysis.

By guiding the AI through these steps, Dr. Akpan ensures a more comprehensive and accurate report. He emphasizes, “I could not sit and write all of this, but you can ask the language model to do it for you, and it’ll do it for you within seconds.”

Tree-of-Thought Prompting

Tree-of-Thought prompting aids in problem-solving by breaking down complex decisions into branches. This allows the AI to explore different options and choose the best one, much like how accountants consider various scenarios when making financial decisions.

Dr. Akpan provides an example:

Tree-of-Thought Prompt:

Root Thought: Generate a monthly financial report comparing this month’s performance with the previous year.

Branch 1: Define key metrics.
– What financial metrics should we focus on? (e.g., gross margin, net income, revenue, expenses)
– How do these impact the overall financial health of the company?

Branch 2: Gather data.
  – Obtain this month’s financial data points.
  – Retrieve the same data points from the same month in the previous year.
  – Check for any missing data or adjustments needed.

Branch 3: Calculate and compare.
– Should we focus on absolute values or relative percentage changes?
– How do both perspectives provide insights?

Branch 4: Analyze positive and negative trends.
– Are there positive changes? Negative changes?
– What factors are impacting these changes? (e.g., internal operational changes, market fluctuations)

Branch 5: Visualize and report.
– What graphs or charts would make the comparisons clear and easy to understand?
– Should the report include line graphs, bar charts, etc.?

Branch 6: Provide insights and recommendations.
– Offer specific recommendations for operational improvements or strategic decisions.

By considering different branches and evaluating the best approaches, the AI produces a more detailed and insightful report. “With Tree-of-Thought prompting, you’re asking the AI to look at different options and approaches to the particular task, and then it will choose the best one,” Dr. Akpan notes.

Practical Application in Accounting Workflows

Dr. Akpan demonstrates how these prompting techniques can be applied in real-world accounting tasks.

Creating Presentations

He explains how he used AI to create a PowerPoint presentation for the webinar:

He provided the webinar description and learning objectives to ChatGPT.
Asked ChatGPT to create an outline and generate PowerPoint slides with questions.
ChatGPT produced draft slides, including a title slide and content slides with key questions.

“I didn’t have to open PowerPoint or start making the slides from scratch,” Dr. Akpan explains. “Something that might have taken me 40–50 minutes took me about 15 minutes.”

Generating QR Codes

He also demonstrated using ChatGPT to create QR codes for his LinkedIn profile and his book:

Provided his LinkedIn profile URL to ChatGPT.
Asked it to generate a QR code linking to his profile.
Within seconds, ChatGPT produced the QR code, which he added to his presentation.

Simplifying Client Communication

Dr. Akpan shares a story about a former student who uses AI to simplify complex accounting jargon for clients:

“One of my former students who recently graduated… she said, ‘Yes, we use ChatGPT to help with client meetings.’ She uses AI to explain potentially complex accounting jargon to clients, finding better ways to express or explain concepts to someone who may not be well-versed in financial information.”

These practical applications showcase how AI can save time, improve output quality, and enhance client communication without requiring coding skills.

Embracing AI Without Coding

The same methodical approach that makes great accountants can make effective AI users. By focusing on efficiency, learning how to ask the right questions, and applying systematic review processes, accountants can turn AI into a powerful tool.

Dr. Akpan emphasizes the importance of using AI to discover its capabilities: “The more you use it, the more you can see how far you can push it and what it can do. If you’re not using it, you don’t know what it can do.”

He encourages accountants to shift their perspective on AI, viewing it as a means to reduce tasks and save time rather than expecting perfection.

Key Takeaways

Efficiency is Key: Use AI to reduce tasks and save time, increasing productivity.
Master Prompting Techniques: Utilize methods like Chain-of-Thought and Tree-of-Thought prompting to enhance AI outputs.
Leverage AI in Workflows: Incorporate AI into daily tasks to automate routine work and focus on higher-level analysis.
Continuous Learning: Regular use of AI tools leads to greater understanding and more effective application.

Embracing AI doesn’t require coding but a shift in mindset. By adopting strategic prompting techniques, accountants can unlock new levels of efficiency and effectiveness in their practice. As Dr. Akpan advises, start using AI tools to explore their capabilities and find out how they can transform your workflows.

Ready to transform your accounting practice with AI? Watch the full Earmark webinar to learn more practical implementation strategies and real-world examples of AI excellence in accounting.

Beyond EOS: A Better Path Forward for Accounting Firm Growth

Earmark Team · November 15, 2024 ·

What if the very business system you’ve implemented to streamline operations is stifling your firm’s growth? While popular frameworks like EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System) promise efficiency and scalability, many accounting firm owners discover that these generic solutions fail to address their unique challenges—from managing seasonal workflows to optimizing tax preparation processes.

In a recent episode of the “Who’s Really the BOSS?” podcast, hosts Rachel and Marcus Dillon sat down with industry consultant Christine Nietzke to dig into operating systems for accounting firms. Drawing from decades of experience working with accounting firms, Christine shared why traditional business systems often constrain rather than enhance firm performance, especially when implementing specialized workflows and managing industry-specific demands.

The Promise and Limitations of Generic Business Systems

The appeal of systems like EOS is clear: they provide a structured approach to running your business through quarterly meetings, defined priorities (called “rocks”), and regular check-ins to maintain momentum. As Christine explains, “It’s a great process. It helps business owners keep at the forefront the things they’re trying to achieve.” There’s even science behind the system’s 90-day check-ins, aligning with natural human motivation cycles.

However, implementing EOS comes with significant commitments and crucial limitations many firm owners don’t initially recognize. EOS requires a “purity” commitment from its implementers that prevents them from providing industry-specific guidance or operational advice outside the system’s framework.

Christine discovered this limitation while exploring becoming an EOS implementer herself. “I would have been prohibited from helping an accounting firm specifically with an operational issue or workflow,” she explains. “That was the deciding factor for me—a deal breaker.” This restriction reveals a fundamental challenge with generic business systems: they prioritize standardization over specialization, potentially leaving accounting firms without the specific guidance they need to address their unique operational challenges.

For accounting firm owners, this means choosing between maintaining system purity and accessing the specialized expertise needed to optimize their practice. Christine shared an example of how this choice can significantly impact firm efficiency and growth.

When Generic Systems Meet Real-world Challenges

Christine worked with a firm owner who inherited his practice from his father—a common scenario in the accounting industry. Along with client relationships came embedded inefficiencies in workflows and processes holding the firm back. Notably, every tax preparer handled each return from start to finish, creating unnecessary complexity and reducing productivity—a challenge that generic business systems can’t address.

“Working with him, I helped reimagine what his tax process looks like in his firm,” Christine explains. By understanding the nuances of tax preparation workflows, she implemented a tax administrative professional role to handle front-end and back-end processes—a change that would have been impossible under the constraints of a generic system focused solely on high-level business practices.

The results were immediate and measurable: fewer tax extensions, improved efficiency, and better workflow management. They didn’t achieve this transformation through general business principles or quarterly goal-setting but by applying specialized industry knowledge of the challenges and proven solutions specific to accounting firms.

As the profession continues to evolve and new challenges arise, firms will continue to need specialized solutions. Forward-thinking firms are discovering that the path to sustainable growth is approaches explicitly tailored to their unique needs.

The Power of Industry-Specific Solutions: GRIP in Action

Enter GRIP (Goal Ready Implementation Plan), a solution that exemplifies the move toward industry-specific approaches. Unlike generic systems that apply the same framework to every business, GRIP was designed specifically for accounting firms, with a built-in understanding of tax seasons, industry workflows, and practice management challenges.

“While EOS is a process and a system, GRIP is actually a blueprint,” Christine explains. “It’s going to get you exactly where you want to be. And you have consultants and advisors ready to help you when things aren’t progressing the way you wanted.” This distinction is crucial: rather than just providing a framework, GRIP offers a concrete roadmap tailored to accounting firm success.

The program’s effectiveness comes from its deep integration of industry knowledge. Implementation timelines account for tax seasons, preventing the chaos that can result from instituting significant changes during peak periods. Documentation and delegation strategies are designed specifically for accounting firm dynamics, and ongoing advisory support comes from professionals with direct industry experience.

Firms implementing GRIP bring their blueprint to every leadership team meeting, using it to guide decision-making and track progress. This practical application demonstrates how industry-specific solutions transform high-level goals into actionable improvements—proving that specialized knowledge matters when it comes to accounting firm success.

Embracing Tailored Solutions for Firm Growth

Accounting firms face unique challenges that generic business systems often fail to address. By adopting industry-specific solutions like GRIP, firms can implement strategies that account for the nuances of their operations, leading to sustainable growth and operational excellence.

Ready to transform your firm’s operations with specialized approaches? Listen to the discussion on the “Who’s Really the BOSS?” podcast, where Christine shares additional insights and real-world examples of accounting firms achieving breakthrough results.

Transforming Tax Advisory with AI: Bridging the Gap Between CPAs and Clients

Earmark Team · November 15, 2024 ·

What if you could transform complex tax strategies into clear value that clients appreciate?

As a tax professional, you’ve probably spent countless hours developing strategic tax-saving initiatives, only to find that your clients don’t fully grasp the value of your work. They see only the final numbers on their tax returns, unaware of your intricate strategies to save them money.

This disconnect can impact your firm’s profitability and hinder the growth of valuable advisory relationships. That’s why effectively communicating the value of your advisory work is more important than ever.

Transforming Invisible Tax Work into Tangible Client Value

Traditional tax practices face a big challenge: your most valuable work often remains invisible to clients. It’s buried in work papers and lost among tax compliance details. In a recent Earmark Expo, FortunAI founder Bilal Mehanna showed how AI-powered tax advisory tools make this value visible and understandable.

“We’re shifting the mindset from an expense perspective to an investment perspective,” Bilal explains. With an easy-to-use dashboard, clients can see projected income, tax due, and implemented strategies in real-time. For example, a client who invested $22,000 in advisory services saw a return of $247,000 in tax savings—a 1,000% ROI.

The system provides detailed “receipts” of value, tracking every strategy implemented and the corresponding tax savings. Quarterly reports include visual aids like 10-year projection graphs, making long-term value easy to grasp. These reports break down tax projections by quarter, show year-over-year revenue changes, and display marginal and effective tax rates—helping clients understand the immediate and long-term effects.

“Most of the time, the strategies you implement for the client are put in an Excel sheet and then forgotten after a year,” says Bilal. “Now you have a system that keeps all the records.”

AI as Your New Partner in Tax Advisory

While documenting strategies is essential, integrating AI takes your tax advisory services to the next level. As an intelligent assistant, AI learns from client preferences and history to suggest relevant tax strategies. It maintains professional standards by sourcing information from verified authorities like IRS websites and professional tax publications.

“Think about having another assistant, another tax professional helping you, guiding you into strategies, reminding you of certain things,” says Bilal. The system uses a feedback loop that learns what each client prefers. If a client is interested in oil and gas investments, the AI suggests related incentives and strategies.

This AI assistance does more than make suggestions. It helps you quickly research and understand complex strategies, offering summaries and detailed analyses—all within the platform. When you find a potential strategy, you can read a concise description or dive deeper into comprehensive research, streamlining your workflow and saving time.

“One of the biggest pain points with professionals is that the client forgot about my strategies last year, or the year before,” Bilal points out. “This is just a consistent reminder: I saved you this much money in taxes this year and last year and the year before.”

Practical Steps to Leverage AI in Your Practice

Enhancing client relationships with AI doesn’t have to be difficult. Here are the steps you can take:

Implement AI-Powered Tools: Use platforms like FortunAI to automate strategy documentation and show real-time value to clients. This can make your advisory services more efficient and impactful.

Regularly Communicate Value: Provide quarterly reports to keep clients engaged and informed about their tax planning progress. This creates ongoing conversations instead of once-a-year meetings, strengthening trust and satisfaction.

Leverage AI for Strategic Insights: Let AI help you identify and suggest new planning opportunities that match client preferences. This proactive approach can set your firm apart.

Educate Your Team: Use the platform as a training tool to share knowledge across your firm. This ensures consistent service delivery and value communication, even as your team grows or changes.

Evolving Service Delivery and Pricing Models with AI

When you demonstrate value, it changes how you structure and price your services. “People want to pay for the planning… and don’t want to pay for the compliance,” notes Bilal, highlighting the shift in how clients perceive value. By consistently showing the ROI of your advisory work, you can confidently move away from pricing based solely on compliance tasks.

FortunAI’s per-client pricing model supports this value-based approach. “If the system saves just one hour of professional time per client, it pays for itself,” Bilal explains. This affordable pricing lets firms enhance client relationships by consistently demonstrating value.

“We’re not just going to disappear on you for the whole year and tell you to pay a tax bill,” says Bilal. “We’ll send you updated reports. Those things matter to the client, and there are no surprises.”

Your Next Step: Implementing AI to Bridge the Communication Gap

The communication gap has long prevented tax practices from capturing the full value of their advisory services. AI-powered tools are now bridging this gap, allowing you to document, demonstrate, and deliver value throughout the year. By automating strategy documentation, enhancing planning with AI, and regularly communicating value, you can transform client relationships, justify higher pricing, and build stronger client loyalty.

Ready to transform how your firm communicates value to clients? Watch the on-demand Earmark Expo session to see these tools in action. You’ll earn CPE credit while learning practical strategies for implementing AI-powered advisory tools in your practice.