Delivering not offering!

The NAB Professional Services Report, ‘The People Profession: New Opportunities for Growth’, has made some interesting observations on the state of the Australian Accounting Industry.

Whilst it is pleasing to see that accountants are ‘offering’ a range of Business Advisory Services, the real question is: What is the ‘Percentage of the Firm’s Revenue’ that is being generated by the ‘Delivery of Advisory Services’?

The report indicates that, “in 2018, 77% of the respondents were ‘offering business strategy’; today, it’s 85%.”

Unfortunately, the report does not indicate what percentage of the surveyed firms’ revenue was generated by the ‘Actual Delivery of Advisory Services’.

As the market changes, and it is pleasing to see that the firms that NAB surveyed are responding to the changing market conditions, it is the ‘delivery of advisory services’ that is the key differentiation of an accountants services.

It is ‘advisory services’ that the SME market desperately need ‘delivery of’, especially as we approach the start of 2024, which is going to be another difficult year with high interest rates, high inflation and considerable worldwide uncertainty on many issues that that are reflected in costs of operation and supply chain difficulties.

The services that the accounting firms included in the NAB survey are ‘offering’ include some of the key services required by the SME market:

• Business planning
• Business strategy
• Company secretarial services
• Budgeting/forecasting
• Business analytics
• Advice on financial future and growth opportunities

But unfortunately, does not mention some of the other key Advisory Services including:

• Research and Development System Advice
• Capital Raising
• The ‘52 Week of the Year Business System’
• Board of Advice
• Strategic Reviews

If you require product packages to help with the ‘Delivery of Advisory Services’ to your clients, ESS BIZTOOLS can help and we can discuss your system requirements with you. Contact us today on 1800 232 088 or email .