Fixed fee pricing a 'win-win', says software exec

Practice Ignition head of accounting and strategic partnerships Trent McLaren believes firms will benefit from embracing the ‘best practice’ of fixed fee pricing as it shifts the focus to outcomes, appealing to current and potential clients.

“While it may only represent 30 per cent to 40 per cent in some cases, firms are now, after years of reading and hearing about it, implementing these best practices into their business,” said Mr McLaren.

“This becomes opportunity for the firm in two ways: one, it encourages the firm to optimise and automate their clients without risk of losing revenue, this frees up admin time and has the ability to create better quality data reporting, which leads to better decision making both for the firm and the client.

“And two, clients have no more unexpected bills, they know exactly what their payment at stake is and they can plan and budget for it accordingly.

“When advisers shift away from hourly billing, they’re telling their clients to stop measuring them on their time and start measuring them on their results. Let’s talk about outcomes, not how long it took to achieve the outcome because at the end of the day, your client is paying you for results not for your time.”

Further, Mr McLaren believes accountants who have a firm grasp of the digital space will be best placed to succeed in 2018 and will likely be head-hunted by other firms.

“As accountants have started to understand the value cloud APIs can deliver, their creative juices will start to flow as they start their journey towards becoming the ‘digital mechanic’,” said Mr McLaren.

“Any IT savvy accountants are best placed to succeed in 2018. If you don’t have anyone on your team that fits the bill, start there.”