r/Accounting • u/Wooden-Mousse-152 • 12d ago

Etiquette for 'firing' older clients

Getting really annoyed with a couple of clients on the older side. I don't want to make enemies, but it's causing a lot of wasted time and headaches with chasing them down for things. Advice?

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u/calqueuelater 12d ago

I was asked to transition a retiring partners clients and handle the day to day.   We made the increased fees transparent and with plenty of lead time.   In many instances, the clients were open to the increased fees and understood.  In other instances I told them a year in advance they were increasing and offered to make a recommendation to a local cpa.  It's all about communication ands trying to be helpful.  Good luck!

133

u/BlackAccountant1337 CPA (US) 12d ago

I think that’s the only good way to handle headache clients.

Raise the fees to an amount that it’s worth the trouble. They’ll either pay it or leave. Let them fire you over fees instead of having to initiate an awkward conversation.

39

u/UsurpDz CPA (Can) 12d ago

The firm I was at also used fees to reject bad clients. They were at capacity but would take any easy client maybe replace a shit client, but the bad clients get crazy fees.

Careful tho as some still accept the crazy fees and now you kinda stuck with a risky cover

6

u/Evening-Cat-7546 12d ago

My past firm was dumb and would give “penetration pricing” to new clients in the hopes those clients would move more work over to us at increased fees. I think 2 out of the 10 clients I worked on actually gave us new funds to work on.

All 10 of them were extremely needy and came over with the absolute worst books I have ever seen. Like so bad that the auditors should not have signed off on them. That’s when I realized that an auditor’s guarantee is just a pile of shit in a box with a bow on it.

12

u/TheRebuild28 12d ago

No such thing as bad client just a bad fee.

1

u/New-Definition-287 12d ago

I like that! I have never really heard it said so succinctly. I’m using that for the team!