P R O F E S S I O N A L . . . C O N T R O L L E R S
What Do We Cost? (Advice to Colleagues)
Billing rates are never an easy subject to discuss! However ...
We all want to be paid more. The client always wants to pay less. Seller attempts to persuade buyer that what he is selling is
unique. Buyer attempts to establish
criteria which several sellers can meet (or exceed). If seller is successful, he can get a high price (but it must
still be within buyer's ability to pay).
If buyer is successful, he defines a commodity easily differentiated by
availability and price. The lowest cost
producers of commodities are the most likely of them to prosper.
COMPLUS billing rates, as published in the addendum to the
client contract, have been established to produce a comfortable wage for
workers, an attractive share for marketing activities, a perception of value
for clients, and a challenge for competitors.
There is very little room in our rates for us to pay for unproductive
overhead (on purpose). We intend charge
higher hourly rates (as we should) than bookkeeping services. We provide the inspiration to make the
perspiration worth while. We charge
lower hourly rates than "name" accounting and consulting firms. We have less overhead to cover, and we don't
(yet) have equivalent name recognition value.
There are services offered by other firms which may be
perceived by others as similar (but they are not). Some charge substantially higher hourly rates than we do. That's OK if they're worth it. By the way, it's the total cost, not the
hourly rate, that matters. Consultants
usually charge for giving advice; we charge for taking action. Temporary help companies try to provide very
economical alternatives for completing short-term projects and filling interim
vacancies. We seek long-term
(part-time) relationships. CPA firms in
their usual role must be "independent;" we are allies (part of the
management team).
Occasionally we will encounter a prospect/client who may
ask you to "cut out the middleman."
That is an absolutely unethical request. Be very careful in dealing with such a person. I appreciate very much that we respect our
working agreement. There are plenty of
ethical business owners for whom we can work.
We should be part of their competitive advantage.
There are appropriate times to discard the rate schedule
and to do "value billing" (up or down). We are all seasoned professionals. I will respect your actions as you indicate that you respect mine
by joining our group. After all, the
person who "works" the client has the most to lose by making a bad
billing choice.
send e-mail to: complusgrp@aol.com