Benefits of Fixed Fees According to Accountants in Miami

Making the transition is better for Accountants in Miami and client

As a Accountants in Miami, billing on a fixed fee basis is the best thing you can do is have options prepared ahead of time, rather than “just come out and bill it hourly.”

For nearly 30 years I chased this type of work (hourly engagements) and can say that 100 percent of it was non-recurring and mostly non-pleasurable. What works wonders for me as a Accountants in Miami — not because it brings in all sorts of business (it does not), but because it keeps me from falling into the hourly rates business — is the concept of a fixed fee.

For example, I just had a potential QuickBooks client call with a technical inquiry and the company this person works at had been asking for quotes for support and the like over the past two years, but never purchased a thing. These are the type of people who love to call and ask about costs.

My most recent call was from a new Director of Finance who somehow was not able to get QuickBooks to close the month. His first question was if we could come out and fix the problem for them…like right now.

As a Accountants in Miami it’s important to have a response prepared to these types of inquiries before you get the call. If you don’t have a response you almost always wind up fixing problems hourly – at way less than what you should be paid (assuming you even collect from the people which in most cases is not assured).

Here are two approaches Accountants in Miami use:

Sell solutions, not hours. It’s important not to sell the solution to the problem, although nothing says you cannot fix the problem while you are diagnosing. Why only diagnose? There are many companies who have hidden issues (data damage, etc.) that they’d love for you to fix for a nice, low fixed fee, but don’t fall for it. Terming the work as a solution then allows you to propose additional work once you’ve done some analyzing of their situation.

Make the fee be different depending upon how quickly they want to hire you as a Accountants in Miami and fix their problem. For a response with in a day or two the fee might be $200. For a response within the hour it might be $1,000. Remember that in most cases the client asking you for help had options and in fact could have joined your support plan, but declined and wanted to pay as they go.

The bottom line here is don’t let a standby flyer suddenly become first class without also getting first class pricing. It’s all an option, they can catch a later flight for less money if they want but it’s their choice.