Everyone talks about it, but no one knows how: providing advisory services is the future of accountancy, yet the path to get there remains uncharted for many. Those who want to do it right quickly run into stress, loose ends, and a revenue model that works against them. So, how should it be done? In this article, we discuss market trends, the bottlenecks, and why everything starts with your revenue model.
Advisory services prove challenging in practice
Many accounting firms have the ambition to do more with advisory services, but it often remains just a good intention. In practice, clients come in with ad hoc questions. Questions you don't actually have time for. So those questions have to be squeezed in 'quickly' between all the VAT returns, financial statements, and audits. Not ideal.
Because the operations of many firms are still geared primarily towards production, advisory work remains something that has to be done 'on the side'. But this makes advisory work an afterthought. Or worse: a frustration. Because while you try to offer value, you haven't booked any hours and therefore haven't sent any invoices. Meanwhile, the next task is already waiting at the door.
The bottleneck: revenue model AND organization
Many firms now work with service packages instead of hourly billing. But those packages often don't leave room for advice. This means that within the organization, as well as in capacity planning, there is no room to truly free up time for advisory services.
The result? Advice continues to feel like a free extra. Clients expect you to respond quickly but don't want to pay extra for it. Naturally, you want to deliver the highest quality, but the space and time to dive deep are missing.
Thijs Olthof, owner of Liquid, describes that for clients, this sometimes feels like sitting in a taxi and constantly having to watch the meter. “No one knows exactly what it will cost in the end, and that makes advisory work uncomfortable for everyone.”
And it's not just the client who suffers. Your team bears the brunt too, especially in times of staff shortages, high workload, and complex legislation. Moreover, much entry-level work is disappearing due to automation. This affects junior employees too. After all, how will they become mid-level or senior professionals later if they can no longer learn the trade in practice?
Recent figures also emphasize this development: AI and automation are taking over more and more tasks, particularly in administrative functions within accountancy. AccountancyVanmorgen recently wrote about this. The way accountants currently earn money is therefore not future-proof.
Start with your revenue model
Automation is advancing steadily. Think of automatic invoice processing with the arrival of PEPPOL and the step-by-step introduction of AI in other administrative work. That is good news, but it also means that the old revenue model – billing hours for repetitive work – is becoming less and less sustainable. Added value is shifting towards advising and guiding. That is precisely where the future lies.
Anyone who wants to get serious about advisory services doesn't start with processes or tools. You start with choices: what do you offer, for whom, and at what price? Only when you know *how* advice fits within your business model can you build the rest of your organization.
Want to make better use of advisory opportunities too?
Liquid is the software platform that helps accountants make advisory services truly workable. No separate reports, but a digital discussion tool that you can get to work with immediately alongside your client. Curious about what Liquid can do for accounting firms? Take a look here.
