Improving accountancy services...

[Ultraviolet]

I'm exploring the idea of adding a business intelligence offering alongside existing, more traditional accountancy services.

This would give the client companies the tools and technologies to better understand their businesses. Typically these types of projects are expensive and remain the preserve of blue-chip companies with large budgets. This is my background.

However, I believe that a template solution could be provided at a nominal monthly rate; there's lots of open source software out there that can do the job; Microsoft ship some tools as standard with their products, but small business are rarely aware of them, or how they can be used. Providing shared infrastructure would be another way to keep overheads to a minimum.

So with the right service, potentially delivered alongside existing accountancy relationships, real benefit can be delivered in smaller enterprises.

Any thoughts on this? Are there any accountants out there that might be able to provide some feedback on this suggestion?

Regards,

Neil

[Eric Mc]

It's all very good - in theory.

However, you will be amazed how many small/medium sized businesses are resitant to such services - especially if they have to pay extra for them. There is a danger for your own business as well. If you find a handfull of your clients are keen to make use of such a service and are willing to pay for it, you will find that more and more of your time is devoted to dealing with these clients. The other clients (who will probably remain the majority) will begin to feel neglected and may start looking elsewhere for their accounting and tax services.
This may not be an issue for you - you may want to concentrate on those clients you enjoy working with and those who are willing to pay for the extra bells and whistles your practice may offer. However, you could find other clients drifting off and you could find that some of the core activities that accountancy firms are expected to provide begin to suffer - further upsetting your clients.

I know this becasue I saw it happening in two firms I worked for. One firm made it work very well, the other went bust (after I had already left, of course ).

[Super Bad]

Afternoon Eric, are you taking onboard any new clients at the moment?

Edited by Super Bad on Tuesday 13th January 23:18

[Eric Mc]

Super Bad said:

Afternoon Eric, are taking onboard any new clients at the moment?

Edited by Super Bad on Tuesday 13th January 14:01

Not for a fortnight at least

[Ultraviolet]

Eric Mc said:

It's all very good - in theory.

However, you will be amazed how many small/medium sized businesses are resitant to such services - especially if they have to pay extra for them. There is a danger for your own business as well. If you find a handfull of your clients are keen to make use of such a service and are willing to pay for it, you will find that more and more of your time is devoted to dealing with these clients. The other clients (who will probably remain the majority) will begin to feel neglected and may start looking elsewhere for their accounting and tax services.
This may not be an issue for you - you may want to concentrate on those clients you enjoy working with and those who are willing to pay for the extra bells and whistles your practice may offer. However, you could find other clients drifting off and you could find that some of the core activities that accountancy firms are expected to provide begin to suffer - further upsetting your clients.

I know this becasue I saw it happening in two firms I worked for. One firm made it work very well, the other went bust (after I had already left, of course ).

Thanks Eric

I would be looking to partner with accountancy firms. They would continue to deliver the core accountancy / tax / bookkeeping etc. I would offer this (new) service alongside via my own company, so there shouldn't be any negative impact.

Obviously there would need to be some revenue sharing to incentive the accountancy practices to sell-in (or introduce) my service to their clients.

I'm thinking of a high volume / low cost service model, starting from £199 or so per month for a dedicated information environment, loaded with the clients data and 5 or so key business reports, refreshed on a regular basis.

What do you think?

Neil

[Eric Mc]

I can tell you straight off that if you started talking in "buzz word" type jargon you would instantly alienate about 90% of my clients.

I'm not being a smart-alec but you really do need to talk in the language understood by the clients you are dealing with. Most aren't particularly impressed with "techno-babble" or "management speak".

For them, the proof of the value of the service you could offer would be in testimonies from businesses that have already benefitted from your advice.

Having said that, I think that many mid sized small businesses could always do with some management type assistance over and above the basic services offered by traditional accountnats like me. It's just that many small businesses

a) don't realise it and

b) aren't willing to pay for it even if they do

[bigandclever]

Is there any particular reason for aligning a (presumably packaged) BI solution specifically with the accountant side of things?

I happen to agree that BI for SME's is a potentially massive and relatively untapped market but there's a lot of resistance out there

Don't know if you've read this 'Great Debate', the motion of which is "This house believes that business intelligence technology is inappropriate for most UK small businesses"...

http://www.accountingweb.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id...

Don't forget to click on the Seconding speeches bit.