I’ve done strategic planning for organizations of all kinds: public, private, growing corporations seeking IPO, and nonprofits. At the core of this work is financial modeling and forecasting. It doesn’t so much matter the type of business—the work is essentially the same:

We’ve had a great year teaming up with Mark Wickersham to help more accountants adopt value-based pricing for advisory services in their firms. In the past few years, these two concepts have grown from buzzwords to important strategies for accountants, helping them get paid fairly for their services in a changing industry.

LivePlan’s mission is to help people succeed in business, both accountants and their small business clients, which makes QuickBooks Connect the ideal conference for us.

Small businesses want help from accountants on strategic planning and financial forecasting. This word cloud represents a summary of popular responses from small businesses when we asked them this question:

“If you could get help in one area of your business right now, what would it be?”

Summer break is ending, and I can feel it.

With three weeks remaining before the beginning of a new school year, there is a need to get it all in! There were big expectations for our summer plan: night time bike rides and star gazing, s’mores, family reading, and pool time. Maybe a trip to the mountains, and if we are applying stretch goals, the ocean too!

Scaling New Heights 2018 was a great experience! It’s always a true pleasure talking with customers face to face and reconnecting with industry peers. It’s also fascinating to see how the industry is growing and shifting year over year. This year there were a few big takeaways for me.

When I decided it would be good to align LivePlan’s method for advisory services with a workflow toolset, I wasn’t sure where I would begin. Then I met Ian Vacin, VP of partnerships and education at Karbon (and known accounting industry thought leader).

It’s the question I get asked the most by accountants who are thinking about branching into Strategic Advising services: “I do budgeting already. What’s the difference between a budget and a financial forecast?"

The answer is both simple and complex, and has a lot to do with the real value of advisory services, which is aiding small business growth.

Client advisory services, like any other offering in an accounting practice, must be profitable to be worthwhile for your business. At the same time, Strategic Advising, or client advisory services, have the distinction of being the most open-ended type of work you can do in the spectrum of public accounting.

This might seem like a really great opportunity, but it can also be your biggest potential risk if you don’t plan for the work correctly.

The best way to grow and scale an accounting firm—and this is true of any type of service firm—is to implement standardized and structured business processes for all work. Categorize the work by service type and implement a manageable process—one that will ensure solid client deliverables, and also profitability for your firm.

The accounting industry is changing rapidly, and your clients are turning to you for advice on their business growth challenges and opportunities.

Your firm needs to be able to offer Strategic Advising services confidently and profitably.

Palo Alto Software does more than build LivePlan, the world's best business planning software. We also run Bplans, a website dedicated to original and curated business planning and business management content.