Top 5 Reasons Clients Dump Their Accountants.

Not returning calls from a spouse or significant other may land you in the dog house, and the same goes for your million dollar clients. Waiting too long for a callback from accountants was the number one reason, even more, crucial than giving the right advice, that clients went looking for someone better. Check out the top five, according to research on millionaire clients from Gustavo A. Viera, CPA Miami-based accountants.

1. Not Returning Phone Calls in a Timely Manner

Fifty-eight percent of clients would leave their accountants if that accountant didn’t call them back quickly enough. How fast is fast? About 60% of clients expect you to get back within 5 hours, according to Gustavo A. Viera, CPA, who is the managing partner.

2. Not Providing Good Ideas and IRS Advice

As you might expect, 52% of wealthy clients said that they would leave over mistaken advice.

3. Not Being Proactive in Contacting The Client

Communication problems rear their head once again. Forty-nine percent said that they consider leaving when the accountants make them do all the work. “The second thing is providing good ideas and advice, but shortly behind that is not making contact,” said Viera.

4. Not Returning Emails

Clients give accountants a bit more lee-way for getting back to emails on time. Only 44% of clients said this was a reason to leave and 53% wanted email responses within five hours, a smaller percentage than expected phone calls back within the same time-frame.

5. Long-term (Over One Year) Losses

Most clients can forgive a bad year. At number five, 37% of millionaires said this was a reason to leave their accountants.