Many accountants find advisory pricing uncomfortable because there is no familiar compliance benchmark. A set of accounts or tax return has an established scope, whereas an advisory assignment can feel less predictable.
That is precisely why the scope defined in your proposal matters.
Instead of trying to price “business advice”, price a defined piece of work with a recognisable outcome.
Suppose a client is concerned about cash flow. The first assignment might involve reviewing the next six months’ expected cash movements, identifying pressure points and holding a meeting to agree three actions.
That is something you can price.
Start by estimating the work required, including preparation, analysis, the client meeting and follow-up. This gives you an internal cost benchmark, but it does not necessarily determine the selling price.
Next consider the value to the client.
If your work helps a client identify a £30,000 funding requirement three months before the money is needed, its value may be considerably greater than the number of hours spent preparing a forecast.
This does not mean inventing an inflated “value price”. It means recognising that advisory work should not automatically be sold as another block of chargeable hours.
For a first assignment, simplicity helps.
Agree a fixed fee for a clearly defined piece of work, explain what is included and identify anything that would require additional work. The client knows the commitment before saying yes and the accountant avoids an awkward discussion about hours afterwards.
Then review the result.
How long did the assignment actually take? Did the client see sufficient value? Did the work uncover another issue that needs attention? Could the process be standardised and used with other clients?
Those questions gradually turn isolated advisory jobs into a repeatable service.
The objective is not to achieve the perfect pricing model at the first attempt. It is to create a proposition that is clear enough for the client to buy and profitable enough for the practice to deliver.
The next step is therefore very practical: choose one advisory assignment, define its outcome, estimate the delivery cost and put a fixed price against it.
Once you can do that consistently, advisory stops being an interesting conversation and starts becoming a service.
