233 Time's Up! with Ron Baker: Subscription Business Model for CPA Firms, Part 1

Business Strategy for CPA's

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How can CPAs grow their accounting practice when they’re over capacity, underutilizing their talents and not providing optimal client support?

Many CPA firms still rely on the hourly billing business model, where the firm has to log more work hours providing services to increase revenue. It focuses on hours and deliverables, not on results and value.

A compelling alternative is the subscription business model, where the provider enables serial transformations to the buyer, and continually adds value to the experience. The subscription model creates an opening for predictable, recurring, higher margin revenue.

In this week’s episode, I talk about the subscription model with my guest, Ron Baker.

Ron is the founder of VeraSage Institute—the leading think tank dedicated to educating professionals internationally, and is a radio talk-show host on the www.VoiceAmerica.com

show: The Soul of Enterprise: Business in the Knowledge Economy.

Ron has authored seven best-selling books, including: The Firm of the Future; Pricing on Purpose; Measure What Matters to Customers; and Implementing Value Pricing. His latest book, co-authored with Paul Dunn, Time’s Up!: The Subscription Business Model for Professional Firms, was published in November 2022.

In this two-part conversation (episodes 233 and 234), we talk about:

• Why Ron wrote his latest book, Time’s Up
• Pricing strategy and positioning
• Subscription model and DPC (direct primary care) doctors
• How the subscription business model can help CPAs transform their clients’ life

Highlights:

— “If you go to the market with a common offering, you're going to command a common price.”

— “The true value of accountants lie in guiding transformations. They have the power to advance their customers.”

— “To differentiate, CPAs should be able to guide the customer to the desired future state.”