For solo CPAs and small accounting firms, diversifying your service offerings is more than a strategy—it’s a necessity for long-term success. From quarterly estimated tax planning to equity compensation and crypto tax planning, diversifying your service offerings can not only set you apart from the competition, it can also help you significantly grow your revenue and retain clients.

In this comprehensive guide from Harness, we explore actionable strategies to help solo CPAs, former Big 4 accountants, breakaways from large tax firms, and growing accounting firms diversify their service offerings, build better client relationships, and run a modern, scalable tax practice.

Table of Contents

  1. The Importance of Diversification in Accounting
  2. Identifying the Right Time to Diversify
  3. Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
  4. Potential New Services to Offer
  5. Launching Your New Services Successfully
  6. Harness Tax: Your Partner in Growth

The Importance of Diversification in Accounting

Gone are the days of clients needing nothing more than one-off annual tax filings. Clients are now expecting more of their accountants, and for CPAs to stay relevant, it’s more important than ever to diversify the service offerings of your accounting firm. According to CPA.com, 54% of accounting clients “reported that they now purchased accounting services in bundles or packages”. This shift toward bundled services and expanded service offerings beyond just one core area is something that we are continuing to see in the rapidly evolving tax industry.

“I really enjoy helping my clients with their equity questions and creating a personalized tax plan. It’s important to ensure they’re equipped with all the information they need to make choices that support their future goals.”

– Kelley Maddox, CPA

Identifying the Right Time to Diversify

Timing is everything, especially when it comes to expanding the service offerings of your accounting firm. You can start by looking for financial indicators, such as a lack of consistent revenue, or you can look at anecdotal signs, such as clients simply asking about different services in your interactions with them.

Here are a few other signs that you might want to consider before introducing new services:

Common Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

With any major change to a business, it’s important to be considerate of how expanding your service offerings could potentially impact your day-to-day operations. Expand too fast, and you might find yourself overwhelmed and unable to adequately handle your work. Expand too slowly, and you might feel that effort has been wasted. To mitigate these risks, consider a phased approach to rolling out new service, and closely monitor client feedback and operational metrics along the way.

Potential New Services to Offer

The services you choose to add to your accounting firm should feel like natural fits based on your background and skillset, as well as based on your ideal client. While there is no one-size-fits-all list of options to consider, here are a few to explore:

Launching Your New Services Successfully

Implementing new services in your accounting firm is no small feat–it’s a multi-faceted process that requires careful planning and execution. Once you’ve decided to roll out a new service offering, take a few steps back to carefully consider the changes you’ll need to make within your firm.

By following these above steps and taking a calculated approach to your service expansion, you’ll be better positioned to launch your new services successfully and be fully prepared to take on new clients without any steps unaccounted for.

Harness: Your Partner in Tax Practice Growth

Growing your accounting practice is a lot more cumbersome than it may seem, and that’s where Harness Tax comes in.

Harness Tax is a holistic solution designed to help solo CPAs, small accounting firms, former Big 4, and other breakaway accountants run a modern practice, and it can be a powerful tool for those looking to scale their accounting practices. Through our marketplace and lead generation offerings, as well as our in-house operational and administrative support staff, Harness Tax can help you grow your accounting firm and introduce new service offerings.

Here’s more of what Harness Tax offers:

If you’re a solo CPA or small accounting firm owner looking to diversify your service offerings and scale your business, consider joining Harness Tax. Schedule a call with our team today to find out how we can help you grow your accounting firm.