CHARTERED ACCOUNTANTS AND ACCOUNTING FIRMS
How a CA Firm Can Price Retainers and Manage Deadline Weeks
The last week of the month arrives, every client sends documents at once, articles are working late, and a partner is still answering calls instead of reviewing. At month end a client questions the fee and you cannot show what it covered.
We advise firm partners on the running of the practice: fee setting by scope, staffing against due dates, billing and collection, review layers and delegation. We do not give accounting, audit, tax or professional-conduct advice. The rules of the Institute and the law govern what you may do, and your own professional judgment decides.
Discuss your priorities ↗COMMON CHALLENGES
The pressures
we often see.
- 01Retainers were set years ago at a flat monthly fee, and clients have since added invoices, branches and queries without the fee being revisited.
- 02Clients deliver documents on the last day, so staff work overtime near filing dates and the partners review rushed work late at night.
- 03Billing waits until the work is done, so invoices go out weeks after the deadline and clients treat them as an afterthought.
- 04Every question lands with the partner, because articles and seniors are not sure how far they can go in answering the client.
- 05Staff turnover is high, and each departure takes client knowledge with it because procedures live in people instead of notes.
OUR FOCUS AREAS
Where the work
usually starts.
- 01A client-wise sheet of monthly fee, nature of work, document volume and hours spent by the team
- 02A document-receipt calendar with a date by which each client must send papers
- 03Staff allocation against deadline weeks for returns, audits and closing periods
- 04Billing dates tied to the work cycle and the outstanding list by age
- 05A review ladder: who checks what before it reaches the partner
- 06Standard working papers and checklists for recurring client work
- 07Query log showing what clients ask, how long answers take and who responds
- 08Scope letter terms for new engagements and a rule on re-pricing existing ones
START THIS WEEK
Things you can do
before you call anyone.
- Choose five clients and ask your team to estimate monthly hours for each. Compare against the fee and mark the ones that look underpriced.
- Send a note to your slowest document providers with a fixed date by which papers must arrive for the next cycle.
- Hypothetical example: a client pays ₹8,000 a month and needs 25 staff hours. At a cost of ₹400 an hour, the work costs ₹10,000 and loses ₹2,000 every month.
- List the questions that reach you most often and write a short answer sheet that a senior can use to respond without waiting for you.
A PRACTICAL ENGAGEMENT
Start with the priorities
that matter most.
We begin by understanding how your business runs today, find the gaps, and agree the scope in writing. Recommendations are shaped around your team, your resources and your goals.
- A client profitability sheet comparing fees with logged hours and flagging the clients to re-price
- A deadline-week roster that spreads work across articles, seniors and partners
- A client onboarding checklist with documents needed, dates and fee terms
- A weekly partners meeting format covering billing, overdue fees, staff load and escalations
Not the right fit when: If a notice, penalty or professional-conduct matter is open, that needs the right professional and the Institute rules, not us. We deal with how the firm is run, not with the work product.
Explore a business audit ↗LET’S MOVE YOUR BUSINESS FORWARD
