CREATING A
PROFITABLE FIRM
“In only two years, we had doubled the value of our business."
Seb Vecchio, recently retired
Overcoming Challenges:
And Building an Efficient Business
In 1990, Seb Vecchio graduated from university and began working in an Accounting practice. Soon after, he jumped at the opportunity to buy the business and has been running it and other Firms since then.
After years of building Firms from their garage and merging paper-based Firms into a new tech-based Firm, all while balancing family life and serving his clients, they knew that something was off with their current Firm.
“We weren't making the money we thought we should be making, and a lot of things were slipping through the cracks, jobs weren't getting done properly,” explains Seb.
“That would have continued, I think, without the instructions or the motivational talk Tim and Dave would do on their web events.”
The webinars gave Seb and Tracy the confidence to charge what they are worth and provided the processes and procedures on helping themselves and their clients - and getting paid for it.
Being grateful for the help and feeling the need to repay that, they signed up for ChangeGPS but didn’t feel like they had the time to implement anything. Unsurprisingly, they didn’t see any results and let it lapse.
“It only took one month to realise we had made a mistake,” according to Seb. So, they resubscribed, this time committing to implement as many offerings as possible, getting the team involved and taking some ownership.
Soon, they had an efficient business, finally making money and offering services that clients were happy to pay for.
“In only two years, we had doubled the value of our business, and when we decided to sell it, we had a contract signed within three weeks because it was an efficient business making money that didn’t just rely on just one person.”
Better Communications
More Profitable Business
Better Spread of WIP
“ChangeGPS is full of tools that you can use with your current clients to make money and look after your clients.”
Standardised Workpapers
Seb, Tracy, and the team used Core by ChangeGPS to standardise their workpapers. They went from using eight different styles of workpapers to one workpaper for the Bookkeepers and one for the Accountants. “It saved us so much time because anyone can pick up a job and run with it.”
Charged for TaxPlan
Using TaxPlan by ChangeGPS, they introduced Tax Planning into their offerings and started charging for it. “In ChangeGPS there are so many strategies you can choose, and you compare the effect with a number of scenarios.”
Charged for FBT & TD
They began charging for FBT and Trust Distribution work, using the tools in Core Pro by ChangeGPS. “The tasks were so quick with the tools – the Bookkeepers had already done most of the work for FBT and Trust Distribution took, on average, 15 minutes per client.”
Professional Structure Reports
Structure reports were something else they began charging for. “In the past, we gave this away to a client wanting to buy or start a business,” said Seb. “Using Core Pro by ChangeGPS, you go through a series of questions, and it spits out the report with diagrams – at least 80% of the work is done for you, and clients are happy to pay for this.”
Better Client Conversations
They also boosted their client communications, using Engage by ChangeGPS and the VPP (Value, Plan, Price methodology). “There are VPP emails for just about every service offering you can think of. We used them to successfully explain to clients why their fees were going up more than normal inflation.”
Seb’s parting thought:
“You have the skills, and ChangeGPS tools will help. There are so many tools to help run an effective accounting business, including workflow management and a performance appraisal system for employees.”
Seb Vecchio
Recently Retired FCPA Accountant
