View Padgett President Roger Harris' congressional testimony on the impact of the Corporate Transparency Act and the BOI reporting requirements here.
Whether you focus on tax preparation, accounting or business advisory services, this is possible. It doesn’t take more hours in the day, a big team or a glossy marketing brochure. It starts with you and the strategies you implement. Padgett has spent the last 50 years developing and perfecting these recommendations across our network of 300 North American tax and accounting firms. Now, we’re proud to share them with you.
You’re working more than ever, leaving no time for your family.
You’re preparing client financial statements and tax returns alongside your team.
Your revenue is growing but you can’t seem to achieve profitability.
Your staff keeps leaving or needs to be fired.
Become the CEO
Pricing
Organizational Structure
Hiring
Marketing and Sales
Tax Preparation
Monthly Accounting
Client Onboarding
Client Engagement
Roles and responsibilities for firm and client
Set the rules that must not be broken
WORK LIFE BALANCE
I set my working hours and stick to them.
I prioritize making time for things that matter to me.
Commitments that are important to me take precedence over work.
RUN THE BUSINESS
All client-facing work is completed by my team.
My employees must adhere to the systems or work elsewhere.
CLIENT ENGAGEMENTS
I only accept clients who are willing and able to pay our standard fees.
Clients who are not profitable are repriced or let go.
Clients who break our rules, or are unethical are warned or let go.
Systemize your pricing
Consider:
What’s the complexity of the engagement?
How should your expertise be compensated?
What would the salary equivalent be for an employee providing those services in-house?
Prune your client list
Aren’t paying market rate
Monetize. Identify a referral partner and agree on your referral fee. Notify clients of your current rates and reference the referral partner if they decide to leave.
Don’t follow your rules
Document your rules and expectations for clients. Communicate your rules to the client. Revisit in a few weeks. Is the client following the rules?If not, disengage the client.
Take up too much time
Investigate why. Mispriced? Missed expectations? Your work quality? Correct the underlying issue if possible. Evaluate whether this is due to: ineffective internal processes, mispriced client engagement, scope creep or new, unforeseen developments in client’s life and/or business.
”If you’re not too expensive for some clients, you’re too cheap for all of them.” — Roger Harris, Padgett President
Automate tasks and eliminate data entry
The Client Lifecycle
NEW LEAD
Modern website and Google listing optimized for discovery in search results (SEO)
Leverage Google to generate new business for your firm
BECOMES A CLIENT
Online services proposal and engagement letter generator | Secure client portal
Digital proposals that can be signed online in minutes | Enable remote collaboration with clients (no pick up and delivery)
MAKES PAYROLL FOR EMPLOYEES
Automate client payroll and withholdings
Stay compliant, avoid errors and save hours with payroll automation
RECEIVES MONTHLY FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
Collaborative practice management platform
Manage workflow, communicate with teams, deliver exceptional client work
FILES TAX RETURN
Tax return preparation and filing software
Manage workflow, communicate with teams, deliver exceptional client
What templates need to be pre built in the technology platform?
What connections / integrations must each technology have?
Who has access to and uses the technology?
How are they using the technology?
Optimize your team
Systems
Creating the system and making sure it runs
Unique problem work
Bringing together knowledge and experience to solve novel problems beyond procedure
Pace & quality
Routine and predictable administrative tasks
Concerned about retention? Survey your staff frequently. Don’t wait until the exit interview to address their concerns.
Find the right partner
Freedom to work when and where you choose, whether you want to work remotely or in person. Start a low-cost home office or office-based firm.
Business support. Regular guidance, centralized support and recruitment services allow you to focus on running your firm and supporting your clients.
Tested and proven tech stack. Get powerful tools for optimizing your firm and providing excellent customer support through software that has passed our thorough technology vetting process.
Major savings. With some of the most competitive royalties in the industry, plus royalty rebate rewards, you can cover expenses and save thousands on software.
Proven systems. We’ve spent years developing a modern firm playbook and will provide the training you need to build a successful practice the Padgett way.
Marketing and branding. Receive a robust package that includes advertising, social media management, branded collateral to order and website and SEO services via our partnership with CPA Site Solutions.
Padgett franchisees grew by an average of 15% last year, and the top 50 franchisees saw growth of 18.5%* — almost double the national average1 in 2021.
Padgett firms aren’t just successful during tax season. Approximately 40% of Padgett firms’ revenue comes from financial reporting services throughout the year*, significantly higher than the 12% of revenue non-Padgett firms made on client accounting and advisory services2 in 2021.
Padgett firms maintain an average profit margin of approximately 40% after royalties*. That’s higher than the typical 26% net margin of non-Padgett financial services firms3.
*See Item 19 of Padgett’s Franchise Disclosure Document
12021 annual revenue growth nationally was 9.5%, up from 5.7% the previous year. (CPA Journal)
2FDD, Journal of Accountancy
3FDD, Stern University
