YOU NEED A LEADER
Who is the person that will lead
the charge and deliver the service?
Firms who launch PFP without a
clear leader for that division frequently fail or deliver low value to
firm stakeholders. Another common
problem is when a firm appoints a
busy partner as the leader and same
person who will deliver the services.
This is often problematic because
frequently the leader chosen is also
expected to bill 2,000 plus hours per
year from traditional CPA work. You
can’t get to a successful PFP practice
with a leader who is too busy and
unable to devote near full time to
the endeavor.
The chosen leader should be
held accountable for designing the
business plan, implementing the
tactics needed to reach the firm’s
objectives and deliver a service that
clients will rave about. If your leader accepts these responsibilities
and has the flexibility to devote the
needed time, this partner is highly
likely to deliver meaningful profits
to the firm.
If you are a sole practitioner, the
process of leading this division for
your firm may be more challenging
due to inherent time constraints.
The best practices that I’ve seen
for solos include:
▶ Hiring staff and delegating
some traditional accounting work.
▶ Selling, firing or devising service plans for smaller clients that
demand less of your time.
▶ Working with a PFP partner/
associate.
▶ Engaging a coach for your firm
to help get out of the starting gates
and achieving your objectives.
For larger firms, the core issue
is the same. The leader needs the
time to lead and must shed some
of their former responsibilities. If
your firm is big enough, you may
even hire a talented leader right out
of the gate or acquire a PFP practice with a successful business and
a good staff.
When I have polled firms over
the years, overwhelmingly the biggest challenge that many perceive is
their lack of experience and specific
PFP Practice
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product or planning knowledge.
This is a classic CPA response. After
all, we were trained to know code
sections by chapter, paragraph and
verse. In the world of financial planning, that’s impossible. I’ve been a
CPA/ PFP practitioner for nearly
30 years, and learn something new
with every day that I work with clients and advisors. Most CPAs are
smart and resourceful. When confronted with an unfamiliar issue
for the first time, the typical CPA is
not likely to wing it, but more likely
to devote the extra time needed to
get an answer that is in the best interests of their client. The reality is
that the biggest challenge for a CPA
PFP practice trying to go to the next
level is their lack of a marketing and
communication plan.
COMMUNICATION IS KEY
CPAs will openly admit that they
did not decide to offer PFP services so that they could become a
sales person. CPAs want to be the
trusted advisor who has respect
and admiration from their clients.
But the problem in many firms is
that their PFP division are the best-kept secrets in town! Clients often
do not know that you can do this
for them. Just think back to last tax
season and recall how many clients
you noticed had changed advisors
or brokers during the year. Many of
these will frequently tell you when
finally solicited that they were simply not aware of your PFP offering,
even though you may have told
them once or twice. Perhaps even
more damaging is the firm whose
staff is in the dark about the PFP
side and cannot communicate the
value of these services to the firm’s
ideal planning prospects.
What is needed is a plan that
allows for regular and continu-
ous communication with your cli-
ents about PFP matters. Even the
AICPA/PFP handbook from two
decades ago stated that CPA/PFP
practitioners need to be good com-
municators and persuasive enough
to get clients to do things that they
may not other wise do without your
guidance and wisdom. A sample of
some of the regular and continu-
ous marketing and communication
plans that work include:
▶ Regular newsletters about PFP
matters.
CONCLUDING
The last part of the PFP business
plan is probably the most important. The last part is implementation and accountability. Having a
good business plan that never gets
implemented or adapted to your
experiences with clients would be
the same as delivering a plan for
a client who decides not to follow
your advice. A big waste of time for
everyone!
A PFP practice is never too good
to move to the next level nor is it
ever too late to make this division
shine.
Back in the 1980s, my CPA firm
grew extremely fast because of its
well-executed PFP business plan.
We started by growing billings for
PFP and then began to attract new
clients for traditional accounting
work and PFP because of our firm’s
reputation as “not your typical CPA
firm”, and as a firm that is most interested in helping to improve a client’s financial future in addition to
dutifully accounting for last year’s
results. AT
