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The pandemic has seen accountants asked to do work for less — or even nothing — amid surging pandemic-induced demand. Now they should consider firing them, two industry veterans say.
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‘You’ve got to put the foot down’: Accountants urged to leave demanding clients
11 August 2021
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A webinar hosted by David Boyar and Tim Munro at ChangeGPS on Monday sought to counsel accountants struggling to have “tough” conversations with their clients in the face of overwhelming demands and unreasonable expectations.
They offered advice on everything, from how to deliver bad news to how to ask for a fee rise and even how to fire a client — which they suggest doesn’t happen enough.
“Some clients are worth firing,” Mr Munro, founder at ChangeGPS, said on Monday. “So if you’ve had a tricky conversation, and if they’re not respectful back to you, even if it’s a tough call, get rid of them.
“You’ve got to put the foot down.
“Every time you fire a client that is negative, or wants you to do something questionable, you create a vacuum that will suck into your business — you will pick up another client that’s better; that’s more in line with what you’re doing.”
The advice follows a gruelling 18 months which has seen swathes of practitioners across the nation pressed, securing access to support measures like JobKeeper and the cash flow boost, sometimes out of hours, often under- or unpaid.
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The pressure isn’t expected to ease either, as sustained lockdown periods continue to cripple New South Wales and Victoria, and each is faced with myriad business support measures, offered through ever-changing government guidelines.
Mr Boyar, chief executive at ChangeGPS, believes that firing a client often sees accountants end up with better clients. “Like this law of mechanics,” he said.
The duo suggested that it doesn’t have to be as aggressive as it sounds. They said firing a client is almost always the best way to respond to those who push back on fee hikes, and suggested doing so via a letter centred around adding value.
Mr Boyar said letters centred around justifying fee hikes by offering a more acute, value-added service to a smaller pool of clients have seen success with a range of higher-profile clients in recent years and can be used in a variety of settings.
“I’ve watched Tim do this to high-profile clients — clients with really high-dollar values, high enough to make a difference between hiring a senior [staffer] or not,” Mr Boyar said. “And the reasons that it’s done [are] usually because the client is flatly disrespectful — every conversation ends up with an argument about fees [or] the advice is always questioned.
“And they’re never happy with the outcome Tim’s delivered for them — they’re four really common things I’ve seen you do it for. And every time you do it, I think: ‘Ballsy.’ It’s just ballsy.”
While they urged accountants to stand their ground amid surging client demands and expectations of free or discounted work off the back of a demanding 18 months, they urged their viewers to embrace humility when they’re wrong.
“A lot of humility [is] needed to admit that you’re wrong,” Mr Boyar said. “I know plenty of accountants who argue a point that they’ve committed to mentally, and cannot see outside of it, even though they may be in the wrong.
“I think that’s why we started today with so clearly saying, ‘Hey, it happens. It’s okay.’ Just because you’re a knowledge worker doesn’t mean you’re always right.”
Mr Munro said it’s important that when things “slip through the cracks”, they’re rectified early on so as not to exacerbate tensions.
“Because the longer you let things go, the more you worry about,” Mr Munro said.
He suggested, as a case study, that offering up a clear, humble email to the client outlining any errors or shortfalls, followed by an explanatory phone call 15 minutes later to talk it through with them, is one such way to dissipate tension or conflict early.
“Look, I just sent you an email, did you get it? I’m really sorry, we made a mistake, can I explain what happened?” he suggested. “Don’t defend yourself, don’t blame anyone else — just take responsibility.”
He told accountants who encounter similar situations that it’s paramount they outline steps forward.
“Present a solution,” he said. “Always outline next steps to move forward. That’s a keyword: outline the next steps to move forward because you want to, you need the light in the tunnel.”
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