Advisory Services Are Sold - Not Bought

For decades, accounting firms didn’t need to sell.

Clients came for tax returns because they had to. Compliance work generated recurring revenue. Referrals flowed quietly. Marketing was optional.

But advisory?

Advisory is different.

Advisory services are not bought – they are sold.

And the firms that understand this will dominate the next decade of accounting.

Every Business Has Two Components

Every business – including your firm – has:

✅ The technical component (doing the work)
✅ The revenue component (selling the work)

Most accountants have mastered the first.
Far fewer have mastered the second.

Yet the ability to ethically and professionally sell is not manipulation. It is leadership. It is guidance. It is helping a client make a decision that improves their future.

The Market Has Changed

There are approximately 2 million SMEs in Australia.

Most are under-advised.
Many are underperforming.
Some are failing – not because they lack effort – but because they lack structured financial guidance.

At the same time:

❗️ Technology has reduced compliance margins

❗️ The ATO has automated processes

❗️ Younger accountants are disengaged from purely historical work

❗️ Clients expect forward-looking advice

According to the Intuit QuickBooks SMB Navigator Report 2025, only 15% of small business owners see their accountant as a Key Strategic Partner.

That should concern – and motivate – every firm.

What Do SMEs Actually Ask?

When I served as CFO of a listed public company, I was asked daily questions such as:

❓ “What if we enter a new overseas market?”

❓“Where is our cash going if we are profitable?”

❓ “How do we compare to similar businesses?”

❓ “How can we raise capital to expand?”

❓ “Why am I working 70 hours a week but not making money?”

Not one of those questions was about tax returns.

They were about:

✅ Cash flow

✅ Benchmarking

✅ Pricing

✅ Capital raising

✅ Profit targets

✅ Strategy

These are advisory conversations.

And no SME walks into your office asking,

“Could you please sell me a structured advisory framework?”

They don’t know it exists.

Which brings us back to the truth:

ADVISORY SERVICES ARE SOLD – NOT BOUGHT.

The Opportunity in Front of You

The advisory revenue available to accounting firms today is substantial – but it requires:

✅ A consistent pipeline

✅ A professional sales process

✅ Clear communication of value

✅ Confidence in advisory conversations

✅ Practical tools to deliver outcomes

Without selling skills, advisory remains an idea.

With selling skills, advisory becomes a revenue engine.

Everybody in Your Firm is a Salesperson

If your firm is to become a true Key Strategic Partner:

✅ Partners must sell

✅ Managers must sell

✅ Graduates must sell

✅ Your systems must sell

Selling simply means helping a client say “yes” to something that benefits them.

The Solution: Structured Advisory + Structured Selling

That is why ESS BIZTOOLS has partnered with The Boss Factor Library.

Because advisory capability without sales capability leaves money on the table.

And sales capability without structured advisory tools creates risk.

Together, they create transformation.

The Boss Factor Library Gives You the Selling Framework

Developed by Master Sales Trainer Trevor Marchant and Eve Dallas, the program includes:

The Sales Factor Course
✅ 12 structured modules (completed fortnightly or at your pace)
✅ Live coaching access every fortnight
✅ Individual or team participation

The Referral Code™: A referral-by-invitation method developed specifically for accounting firms.

Lead Generation System: A system that doubles as a client retention strategy.

The Loyalty Factor: Behaviours that increase client advocacy and word-of-mouth marketing.

Sales Management: How to open the door to the multi-million-dollar advisory opportunity.

ESS BIZTOOLS Starter Package Equips You to Deliver

Once you sell advisory – you must deliver value.

The ESS BIZTOOLS Starter Package includes practical systems for:

Starting or Buying a Business
✅ Due diligence processes
✅ Supplier cash flow considerations
✅ Pre-resignation advisory conversations

Research & Development Guidance
✅ Step-by-step R&D process documentation
✅ Forms, flowcharts and templates
✅ Innovation advisory positioning

Debtors Management
✅ Credit control implementation
✅ Reducing debtor days before crisis hits

Trades Charge-Out Rate Calculator
✅ The most popular tool in our 40+ product suite.
✅ Helps tradies understand true pricing, overhead recovery, and profit targeting.

Monthly Business Plus Newsletter
✅ Positions your firm as more than a tax preparer.
✅ These are real conversations that build real authority.

The Strategic Vision

We believe SMEs should operate like scaled-down versions of larger companies – including access to a virtual financial department.

With technology, you can provide:

✅ Virtual CFO services

✅ Benchmarking analysis (via TaxFitness – Top 20% comparisons across 400 industries)

✅ Capital raising guidance

✅ Predictive accounting

✅ Pricing advisory

✅ Performance management

This is how firms become indispensable.

The Commercial Details

EXPLORE THE BOSS FACTOR LIBRARY AND SUBSCRIBE HERE

The Bottom Line

Accounting firms that continue to rely on 90% compliance revenue will feel the margin pressure.

Firms that embrace advisory – and learn to sell it professionally – will:

✅ Attract better clients

✅ Retain ambitious team members

✅ Increase average revenue per client

✅ Achieve Key Strategic Partner recognition

SMEs cannot rely on government assistance to survive.

But they can rely on you.

If you are prepared to:

✅ Accept that selling is service
✅ Accept that advisory is sold
✅ Equip your team with professional sales skills
✅ Implement structured advisory tools

Then this program is designed for you.

Visit our website – www.essbiztools.com.au – to discover the detailed overview of the services provided by ESS BIZTOOLS. You are also welcome to contact us on 0418 190 181 or email .

ESS BIZTOOLS Podcast

Only 15% of Aussie SMEs see their accountant as a Key Strategic Partner — the go-to advisor driving growth and success.

In this episode of Accountants Minute Podcast, Peter Towers, Managing Director of ESS BIZTOOLS, is joined by Darren Gleeson (Founder, TaxFitness) to show how top 20% benchmarking turns “advisory” into a repeatable system – fast, evidence-based, and built for quarterly client conversations that improve profit and performance.

CLICK HERE TO LISTEN TO OUR PODCAST

Listen to more Accountants Minute Podcast episodes here

Want to know more?

Visit www.essbiztools.com.au.

If you would like to have a discussion about how this concept of virtual CFO services can be supplied by Australian accounting firms please ring our Managing Director, Peter Towers, on 0418 190 181 and we will arrange a complimentary 45-minute Zoom meeting to discuss your firm’s position and to give you our advice.

We believe that this is the blueprint for the delivery of an enhanced range of services by Australian Accounting and Bookkeeping firms to assist SME businesses to add value to their businesses and to assist accountants and bookkeepers not only to attract but to retain outstanding talent who want to be involved in the delivery of “real accounting services”.

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