Building a loyal client base that sticks with you for the long term can be challenging if your accounting firm cannot keep pace with your business clients’ evolving needs. Those needs sometimes transcend what a firm’s traditional services can satisfy, so it’s important to take stock of what offerings can bring additional value to clients and keep them satisfied. While compliance-related tasks might not seem a relevant fit for an accounting practice, the reality is entity formation (such as incorporation and LLC registrations) and compliance filing services (like annual reports and articles of amendment) can augment the ways accountants serve their business clientele, making it easier for them to retain high-value clients.
Why You Should Help Your Clients with Compliance Filings
Contrary to what many people believe about formation and compliance filings, preparing and submitting forms and applications does not need to be done by an attorney. Clients may handle their filings on their own, but they often struggle for a variety of reasons.
- Requirements vary by jurisdiction
- Deadlines differ across jurisdictions
- The regulatory landscape is constantly changing
- They find it challenging to carve out time to track and manage their compliance obligations
- State government forms are often unclear or confusing
Failure to fulfill compliance requirements can have costly consequences for businesses, including fines, penalties, loss of liability protection, and even suspension or involuntary dissolution of the business entity. Having a trusted advisor who can assist with critical filings helps business owners avoid those risks without spending hours of their own time figuring out what forms they need and how to complete them accurately.
Why Compliance Services Are a Natural Fit for Accountants
Clients already rely on their accountants for guidance and direction when making business decisions. Accounting professionals use their tax-related expertise to help guide business owners in deciding which entity types to form and tax treatment to select, so assisting in preparing formation and compliance filings is a natural extension of their existing offerings. This creates opportunities for coordinating compliance tasks with tax preparation, planning, bookkeeping, and payroll services and provides clients with convenience— and it opens a new year-round revenue stream for an accounting firm.
Benefits to Clients:
- Peace of mind that forms are completed correctly and submitted on time – Forms’ formats, requested information, and filing deadlines vary from state to state and across local jurisdictions. Clients can feel confident that all t’s are crossed and i’s dotted when a trusted resource will handle their filings anywhere in the United States.
- Risk mitigation (avoidance of penalties) – Failing to submit required filings or submitting them late, incomplete, or incorrectly can cause significant hardship to a business financially and legally. An entity could face fines, lawsuits, and even suspension or involuntary dissolution. With a full-service accounting firm handling formation and compliance filings, clients can avoid those potentially disastrous consequences.
- Maintaining good standing status in whatever states and jurisdictions an entity conducts business – “Good standing,” i.e., a status of compliance with all of a state’s rules and regulations for legally operating a business, is paramount and requires ongoing attention. Business entities, whether they operate in one or multiple states, can benefit from having a knowledgeable resource to track requirements and ensure compliance filings are completed according to their specified due dates.
- Professional oversight of complex requirements – Business owners have a multitude of responsibilities and limited time. With an accounting firm they can rely on for tracking, preparing, and submitting critical formation and compliance requirements, entrepreneurs have more time to focus on core business activities necessary for growth.
Benefits to Accounting Practices:
- Increases clients’ reliance on the firm and lowers churn – By providing comprehensive client advisory services that cover businesses’ varied needs, an accounting firm becomes more indispensable to its clients. The more they rely on the firm, the less chance they will consider switching to another firm. As retaining clients is more cost-effective and less time-consuming than continually prospecting for new ones, accountants can better manage their workload and maintain a healthier bottom line.
- Strengthens accountant-client relationships – A firm that provides compliance filing services will have more interaction with business clients on an ongoing basis, leading to more consultative conversations and the discovery of upsell opportunities. The value-added services an accounting practice provides builds client confidence and loyalty.
- Builds a steadier, more consistent cash flow all year long – Formation and compliance tasks can occur at any time of the year…unlike some other needs that fall around fiscal year deadlines. By providing business entity filing services, an accounting firm can create a steadier cash flow and more stable profitability year-round as they increase revenues in months beyond the high-volume tax season.
- Leads to more referrals and helps attract high-value clients – Offering business filing services expands an accounting firm’s target market. That can open the door to more referrals from existing clients who know other business owners in need of more than just a tax-time transactional relationship. As word of mouth gets out about a firm’s ability to serve a broader range of needs, the practice can more easily attract new clients who require assistance regularly throughout the year.
Types of Formation and Compliance Filing Services
Some of the federal, state, and local jurisdictional formation and ongoing compliance filings accountants may prepare and process for their clients include:
- Incorporation and LLC Filings
- 501c3 Filings
- Doing Business As (DBAs)
- Sales Tax Registrations (Reseller Permits)
- Payroll Tax Registrations (SITW/SUI)
- Payroll Tax Account Closures
- Business License Research and Filings
- Foreign Qualification Filings
- Initial and Annual Reports
- Amendments and Name Changes
- Business Name Searches
- Business Name Reservations
- Certificates of Good Standing
- Dissolutions
- Withdrawals
- Entity Conversions
- Reinstatements
- EIN Applications (Tax ID Form SS-4)
- S Corporation Tax Elections (Form 2553)
- C Corporation Tax Elections (Form 8832)
- Registered Agent Services
- Business Address Services
- Corporate Kits and Supplies
- Bylaws, Meeting Minutes, and Resolutions
- IRS Notifications and Change Letters
Getting Started with Formation and Compliance Services
States’ and local government’s requirements, rules, and forms vary for the different entity types in their jurisdictions, so it can be complex—and may seem overwhelming—to get a handle on what your clients’ filing needs and set up a system for gathering information and placing orders. However, an accounting firm with the right formation and compliance filing resource in their corner can simplify the process and avoid adding an unmanageable amount of extra work to their plate and overhead costs to their bottom line. By joining a partner program offered by a reliable and reputable online filings company, accountants can leverage not only that provider’s specialized expertise but also their ordering and compliance tracking infrastructure, turn-key marketing assets, service and support team, and other established workflows.
FAQs
What are client advisory services?
Client advisory services (CAS) are value-added services that enable an accounting firm to serve their clients multi-faceted needs. Examples include:
- Budgeting
- Tax planning
- Cash flow forecasting
- Key performance indicator (KPI) reporting
- Business valuations
- Wealth management
- Financial software training
- Business formation and compliance services
Offering these types of services helps accountants stand out from their competitors and generate more revenue for their firm.
Isn’t only a lawyer required to file formation and compliance documents?
No. While it’s wise to consult a lawyer for legal guidance when starting or making changes to a business entity, business owners may prepare and file formation and compliance documents on their own. Alternatively, they may authorize a third-party (e.g., their accounting firm) to complete those tasks for them.
It seems like it would entail a lot of time to set up e-filing accounts with all the different states to be able to handle formation and compliance filings for clients. How can an accounting firm streamline and simplify that process?
By partnering with an online business filings company, an accounting firm does not have to set up individual accounts with every state or local government authority. For example, CorpNet has the ordering infrastructure in place for all 50 states and the jurisdictions within them, so accountants in our Reseller partner program can let us handle the orders as their silent fulfillment resource and our Referral partners may send clients to us directly for service. Either way, you need not go through the painstaking process of setting up a multitude of government portal accounts for registering business entities and filing compliance documents.
What’s the difference between a reseller and referral partner program?
A reseller partner program is one that allows your firm to brand the formation and compliance services as your own. You receive the services at discounted rates from an online business filings company (who serves as your silent fulfillment partner) and then charge your customers whatever prices you want. A referral partner program means you refer your clients to an online business filings company that pays you a commission when a referral results in a completed order for formation or compliance services.
What degree of support can an accounting firm expect to receive from a partner program? What are some characteristics I should look for?
Pay attention because not all partner programs are created equal. Some online filings companies, like CorpNet, offer more support and resources than others. At a minimum, look for these characteristics:
- A choice of referral and reseller options, and the ability to do both – In some instances, it might make sense to simply refer the client directly to the formation and compliance services provider. But in others, like when working with a long-time client for whom you provide strategic consulting in addition to tax preparation, you may want to strengthen your position as their single point of contact for their diverse needs.
- A full suite of services – Seek a partner program that enables your firm to cover a broad spectrum of business entity filings. From registering a DBA to forming an LLC or incorporating, to applying for an EIN and filing for the S Corporation tax election, to researching business license and permit requirements, and registering for state payroll taxes…it’s important to have a complete selection for your clients so they can rely on you for virtually all of their entity’s filing needs.
- Ease of administration – The last thing your busy firm needs is to add a lot of extra work on your team. Look for a partner program that’s set up to nearly seamlessly fit into your operations. Features like a user-friendly online portal and dedicated support can make all the difference.
- No membership fee or minimum sales requirements to join – A partner program should set you up for success. Participation should be free and not put you on the hook to meet a quota monthly, quarterly, or annually.
- Marketing resources to help you raise awareness and attract clients – Ideally, a partner program will provide free professionally designed marketing templates (that can be custom-branded for reseller partners). Turn-key brochures, email copy, website content, client questionnaires, digital display banners, and other assets save time and money.
- A dedicated account management – Does the online filings company offer the support you need when handling your clients’ formation and compliance needs? Ask if you’ll get a dedicated account manager who will be your central point of contact for all questions and issues.
What kind of training does an accounting firm’s team need to begin offering formation and compliance services to their clients?
There are no specific education requirements, testing, or certifications required. And with you and your team’s expertise in finance and tax-related compliance matters, the addition of business formation and compliance filing services on your list of capabilities will further enhance your reputation as a trusted advisor.
Where can I learn more about attracting and retaining clients?
- Unlocking Growth: Adding Compliance Advisory to Your CAS Practice for Recurring Revenue
- Client Advisory Services: What Top Accounting Firms Offer
- Turning Clients’ Compliance Challenges Into Year-Round Revenue Opportunities
Seamlessly Add Compliance Services to Your Offerings
The free CorpNet Partner Program makes it simple to offer formation and compliance preparation and filing services to your accounting clients. With reseller and referral options, you choose the approach that makes the most sense for you and your clientele.
- Generous reseller partner discount pricing and referral partner commissions
- Intuitive portal for placing orders and monitoring your clients’ upcoming compliance needs
- Dedicated support to address questions and issues
- Guides and informational resources for your team
- Turnkey marketing materials to help you raise awareness of your new offerings
