Accountants advised to approach pricing transition cautiously

New Wave Business Solutions managing partner Reuben Bergola said there are significant benefits for transiting to a value-based pricing model for an accounting firm in terms of profit and efficiency.

Mr Bergola said there are a lot of efficiencies flowing out of accounting software and moving to a value-based model enables accountants to offer the value –added services clients are looking for.

The transition to a new pricing model he said should be a slow one, however, and firms may want to use a hybrid pricing model for a while.

“Some clients aren’t going to take it on as well as the younger generation. There will be some resistance, so before jumping into it accountants should learn what it’s all about first,” said Mr Bergola.

Within the public accountant tax space it can be particularly difficult for the owners of the firm to transition the business to value added services, he said, because all their life they’ve been teaching their employees tax and compliance.

“To transition to this now I think is very difficult, so there needs to be that stage of learning and then slowly implementing that value-added methodology,” he said.