Pricing Is Your Business Model
The accounting profession has spent years treating pricing as an afterthought. It’s tacked on after the work is done, or worse, calculated based on how many hours someone spent at their desk. But that mindset no longer works. In fact, it’s holding firms back.
Pricing isn’t just about what you charge. It’s your business model. It affects every process in your firm — from client onboarding to how your team works, to your ability to scale, automate and deliver meaningful client experiences. That’s why pricing, when done right, is actually the core innovation most firms are missing. Here’s a summary of a pricing webinar I did for my friends at ADP that looks at why pricing is your biggest opportunity to transform your firm.
Why Pricing Is the Missing Link in Client Experience
Accountants love their clients. Ask any CPA why they started their firm and the answer is usually the same: “I wanted to help people.” But the traditional business model where you bill by the hour, track time and measure realization often creates a disconnect between intention and execution.
To be truly client-centric, firms must align their pricing with the value clients perceive. That means setting prices before the work begins, not after. It also means streamlining internal operations so the entire delivery process supports the pricing model. When you get this right, clients are happier, your team is more empowered and your margins improve.
Automation Killed the Billable Hour
The billable hour made sense in an analog world. But in the age of cloud computing, automation, and now AI, it’s obsolete. If a bot completes a task in 0.5 seconds, how do you bill for that? You don’t. And you shouldn’t try.
Automation is eliminating routine work, and that’s a good thing. It opens the door for accountants to focus on what really matters including human insight, strategic advice and deeper client relationships. But to take advantage of that opportunity, firms must abandon time-based billing in favor of value-based pricing.
Productization is the Key to Scalability
The fastest-growing, most profitable firms aren’t selling time — they’re selling outcomes. And they’re doing it through productized service offerings.
Think of it like baking a cake: 85% of what you do is the same for every client. That’s things like bookkeeping, payroll, reporting, etc. The remaining 15% is customized. It’s the frosting, the sprinkles, the advisory services. When you standardize the base and offer optional enhancements, you create a repeatable, scalable model that’s easier to price and deliver.
Standardization Before Automation
Technology is not a silver bullet. Applying automation to a disorganized, inconsistent workflow just makes the chaos move faster.
Before layering in tech, firms must standardize:
The type of clients they serve
The format and timing of the data they receive
Internal workflows and deliverables
Only then can automation be applied effectively. This "clean first, automate second" mindset is essential to building a future-ready firm.
Onboarding Is a Pricing Strategy
The onboarding process is the foundation for client experience and profitability. When firms set expectations early, standardize data inputs and assign a dedicated onboarding or customer success role, they:
Improve turnaround time
Reduce scope creep
Increase client satisfaction
Protect margins
Clients who know what to expect, and what’s expected of them, are easier to serve and more likely to stick around.
Price the Whole Process, Not Just the Output
To be profitable in a post-hourly world, firms must consider the full cost of service delivery. Not just labor, but tech, automation, onboarding, support and management.
Automation tools should be viewed as a labor replacement and built into your pricing model accordingly. Bots are cheaper than people, but they still have costs: training, oversight, iteration. The ROI comes when those tools free up humans to deliver more value…and charge accordingly.
Moving Now Is Non-Negotiable
The accounting landscape is changing fast. Private equity, tech disruptors and AI-powered platforms are already reshaping the market. Firms that stick to legacy models will struggle to keep up.
Those who embrace pricing innovation along with automation and standardization will unlock new levels of profitability, scalability and client satisfaction.
The choice is clear. Don’t cling to the past. Build the kind of firm that’s ready for what’s next.