đŸ’„Showdown: Fractional vs Productized CFO

PLUS: Firm management best practics and how to level up your Excel game.

Hey there 👋 

In today's email, here’s some tips to help you escape the accountant’s trap.

đŸ’„The 8 growth areas in accounting
đŸ’„Showdown between a Fractional CFO and a Productized CFO
đŸ’„11 best practices for firm management
đŸ’„ How to level up your Excel game
đŸ’„A FP&A book review

What’s the accountant’s trap you ask? You're in the trap if the only way to get paid more is to work more hours or take on more low-value and high-demanding clients. At the same time, you can't raise your fees because there's always a competitor willing to do the same work for less.

8 GROWTH AREAS IN ACCOUNTING

Accounting Today recently posted the top growth areas in accounting. Here they are:

  1. Client Accounting Services (CAS) and Fractional CFO Services

  2. Niche development and expansion services

  3. Financial statement audits (for eventual sale of the business)

  4. Asset and wealth management

  5. Advisory services

  6. Back-office services

  7. Client system controls review

  8. Exit and estate planning

If you want to check out what the author has to say about each one, click here to read the entire article.

👉The Bottom Line

Notice that every single one of these growth areas are helping the client have a better future. Not simply be a ‘recorder of the past’. So, if you want to get more clients and retain clients, you’ve got to be someone that can help the client get what they want.

As Zig Ziglar says: “You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help enough other people get what they want.”

SHOWDOWN:
FRACTIONAL vs PRODUCTIZED CFO

Fractional CFO Services have been around a while. Productized CFO Services, well, not so much.

However, if you’re even remotely thinking about offering CFO or advisory services we strongly suggest you take a look at offering Productized CFO Services over Fractional CFO Services. Here’s why


What is a Fractional CFO?
Someone who offers a fully customized engagement for each client they work with. This allows the client to get the benefits of an executive without having to pay for one.

What is a Productized CFO?
Someone who offers the same deliverables to each client they work with. This allows the client to get the benefits of an executive without having to pay for one.

What’s the Difference?
The outcome for the client is the same: they get the benefits of an executive without having to pay for one.

However, the way you perform the service is totally different. A Fractional CFO service is not scalable, whereas a Productized CFO services is scalable.

With a Fractional CFO Service:

  • Each client will feel like a part-time job. Thus, you’re limited to the number of clients you can take on.

  • It’s much harder to delegate aspects of the engagement to your team because you’re performing, essentially, a job - not a systematized process.

  • If any one client leaves, it could be major hit to your revenue.

With a Productized CFO Service:

  • You’re performing the same set of deliverables for each client which means you can earn more without having to work more.

  • You can delegate aspects of the engagement to your team (or the entire engagement!) since the processes are all documented.

  • You can take on more clients without incurring substantially more costs (which is the definition of scalable).

👉The Bottom Line

The winner in this showdown is Productized CFO Services. You’ll be able to take on more clients (thus earn more) without a substantial increase in costs (your time + your employee’s time).

The CFO Project has a free training on how to scale your practice through Productized CFO and Advisory Services next Tuesday. Click the button below to learn more and to RSVP.

11 BEST PRACTICES FOR FIRM MANAGEMENT

CPA Charge has published a free eBook on 11 best practices for firm management. Whether you own an accounting, tax or bookkeeping firm, checkout their free eBook.

This eBook contains 7 best practices for billing and payments and 4 best practices for security and compliance. You’ll learn how to:

  • Increase receivables by updating your approach to billing, payments, and client management

  • Evaluate the needs of prospective clients in relation to your resources

  • Keep your practice safe and in compliance by adopting the right policies and technology

YOUR VOTE

Which of the following do you value the most in your practice?

Click on your choice to register your vote!

Login or Subscribe to participate in polls.

LEVEL UP YOUR EXCEL GAME

Our friends at Excel University are offering a great offer for our subscribers. They have a ‘Buy One, Get One Free’ for their Masters 1 and Masters 2 courses.

You buy the Masters 1 course, and get the Masters 2 course for free.

Here’s what you’ll learn:

In Masters 1, you’ll learn:

  • Power Query

  • Power Pivot

  • Power BI

  • Table and Graph Design Practices

In Masters 2, you’ll learn:

  • How to build macros with VBA (Visual Basic for Applications) so you can automate repetitive, routine tasks.

Not only will you learn Power Query, Power Pivot, and VBA, but completion of both courses will also earn students the Excel University Masters Certification and 46 CPE.

THE BOOK REVIEW

Adam Lean here. As one of the writers of Escaping the Accountant’s Trap (and being the Co-Founder of The CFO Project), I love reading and recommending books that I like.

I recently read a book called Financial Planning & Analysis and Performance Management.

Here’s my take on it and whether or not I think you should read it.

⏱ The 10-Second Summary
It’s a book that explains how a FP&A department is supposed to function and how it’s supposed to provide value to the business.

👍What I Liked

  • It’s divided into clear sections so that you can sort of pick & choose which topics you want to learn about (although, I read it from front to back cover).

  • The author breaks down concepts in a way that most people can understand.

  • It comes with downloadable spreadsheets.

👎What I Didn’t Like

  • As an entrepreneur and advisor to small businesses, most of the FP&A functions simply weren’t that relevant or applicable to me.

  • The author tends to present a topic from either a 50,000 foot view or a 1 foot view (where you get lost in the weeds). There’s not a lot of in-between.

  • Major lack of “how to” implement each of the concepts. The author presents the ideas and but doesn’t really explain how to use it in the real world.

Click here to check it out on Amazon (no, we don’t earn affiliate commissions):

👉The Bottom Line

You should read this book if:
(a) you work for (or advise) a larger organization.
(b) you want a good overview of FP&A skills.
(c) you’re a nerd like me who loves reading business & financial concepts.

JUST FOR FUN

We all feel this one đŸ€­

We ❀ Accountants.
We ❀ Bookkeepers.

Escaping the Accountant’s Trap newsletter is created with love by a team of accountants, marketers and business experts.

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