What your clients want to tell you.

Michelle Golden, in her blog Golden Practices relays some great advice for CPA’s from a panel of “A-List” accounting firm clients.  The entire post is required reading because there is some really great stuff on it.  Here are just a few favorites:

• Be there when we need you. A great example is when my accountant was on vacation but was able to be reached and even came in, off the beach in his shorts, to the attorney's office to help us finalize a critical deal.
• I feel like my firm sees me as a "nobody." I just can't get good service. My firm checks in with my CFO who thinks things are fine but I'm going to fire my firm in the next few weeks because they aren't meeting MY needs. I may go back to a sole practitioner.
• I don't appreciate when a firm acts like they can be all things to all people.
• Collaborate WITH us. Talk to us and tell us what you're doing. Our accountant recodes/reclassifies things, redoes budgets, etc, and it seems duplicative. They should be teaching us how to do it better so they don't have to re-do it.
• Don't nickel and dime us with a bill for $100 or so.
• Even though I know I'm being charged $100-200 for a single phone call, I don't really want to see it broken out on the bill!
• I’d rather have a “package” price then one based on hours.
• I love to have an idea, say within 10% or so, of what my monthly bills will be.
• The firm has never yet put me in front of another client with whom my business has something in common. I cannot figure out why...
• Offer to be on my board--don't charge for the time...it's an opportunity for you!
• It flabbergasts me that no one has called to offer me another service -- even as my business is changing/growing so rapidly.
• I had no idea of the other services our CPA firm offers. I had to ask my CFO who used to work for the firm so that I could answer questions today about other services I might be interested in. I thought it was neat that they offer to help interview and screen financial people I would hire.
• It's best when you talk to me in person. Maybe a yearly meeting where we talk about what's going on for the next year, touch base, share updates and tell me about additional services.

Lawyers, are you listening?