Practice Management 2022: Four Key Growth Strategies for Your Accounting Firm

Mid-year is the perfect time to start thinking about the goals you have for your accounting firm in the next six months and into 2022. Growth is generally one of the primary objectives that many firms wish to accelerate, yet they often don’t have a clear plan for making it happen in the short- or long term. These four key strategies for accounting firm growth can change this!

4 accounting firm growth strategies

Consider each of them, then take action to implement the ones that align the most closely with your overall vision for your accounting practice.

1. Market Penetration: Expand your existing niches and client relationships.

Growing your firm with deeper market penetration requires you to increase market share by acquiring more clients in a specific market vertical or by selling more of your products and services to specific segments of your existing client base.

Some key tactics to support this strategy include: 

• Creating targeted service packages that address specific needs in your chosen market.
• Cross-marketing complementary services to your existing clients who aren’t yet using them.
• Asking for referrals from your current clients and niche partners such as professional associations.

2. Product and service innovation: Create new offerings to align with client needs.

Success here starts with your firm doing some strategic planning around the product and service offering you currently provide and looking for new opportunities to augment it. This may mean streamlining the number of services your firm has now and adding more profitable ones or increasing the price of existing products.

Some key tactics to support this strategy include:

• Conducting a profitability analysis on your existing client base to understand which services deliver maximum profit margin.
• Communicating new service offerings to potential clients and existing clients for whom they are a strategic fit.

Download our free whitepaper Adopting a Transformative Practice Management Mindset for details on 5 more strategic areas you can leverage to grow your firm.

3. New market entry: Research and develop new verticals in which to offer your services.

The key to this strategy is investing the time to identify and learn about the industry verticals which could create growth opportunities for your firm. In addition to the typical new markets for accounting firms such as dental practices or construction companies, think about whether geography or the potential client’s business structure (i.e. small e-commerce  LLCs or casual fast restaurants) could be new markets to enter.

Some key tactics to support this strategy include:

• Specialization of your expertise within a certain vertical ensures that you have credibility and a deep understanding of the type of client you are going to serve.
• Development of partnerships in your desired new markets for referrals and to position your firm as a leader within the vertical.
• Creation of market-specific business units and teams within your firm to onboard and serve new clients.

4. Develop a more diversified revenue model: Create a completely new revenue stream for your firm.

This growth strategy requires your firm to implement a new product line or to break into a new market. It can be risky but rewarding, which also means that you need to do your due diligence in order to avoid wasting your resources.

Some key tactics to support this strategy include:

• Market research to identify areas where you may be able to add passive income such as partner or affiliate programs with technology vendors.
• Adding third-party service providers who have expertise to complement your firm’s offerings, such as lawyers, fraud examiners, and other business consultants.
• Develop (or use another resource to develop or obtain) resources, courses or other value-added products to sell to your clients. This could include forms, tax guides, business start-up training, software training, or other items of value.

Your accounting firm’s growth plan must include methods for measuring your success

Establishing and monitoring specific key performance indicators based on the overall health of your firm will make sure that you have an objective view of what is working and what is not. Lastly, but just as important as having a growth plan in place is to communicate your strategies and vision to your team.

This will help you track your success and ensure that the strategies you select are actively increasing profitability and the value of your firm for both you and your clients. After all, they are going to be instrumental in the successful implementation and achievement of all that you want for your firm’s future.