When Forbes reports something, it’s usually a good idea to listen. Extensive research and experience goes into each article or study published through Forbes magazine, and it’s the place to go for up-to-date business information. If you’ve been thinking about branching out on your own as an accountant, or you are hoping to change careers to a more stable and lucrative field – Forbes has shared three reasons that accounting firms are the most profitable, no matter the economic conditions.

3 Reasons YOU Should Start an Accounting Firm

1. High Demand: Everyone needs one. It’s pretty self-explanatory. Every single business, large or small, need to account for all of their incoming profits and external costs. Every single business wants to maximize revenue while decreasing costs. Everyone needs to file taxes each and every year, which means they need help from a skilled and trustworthy accountant. The very best thing about accounting, though, is that it is largely unaffected by economic swings. Whether the economy is in recession or thriving – everyone needs accounting.
2. Low Cost: Did you know you can start your own accounting firm for just $100? This is probably the most motivating reason for people to choose accounting when making a career change or striking out to own their own business. You don’t need to rent office space, buy supplies, invest heavily in other employees, software, or other overhead items. You can hit the ground running with your accounting firm in an afternoon. If you do want more training or assistance to maximize profitability, Universal Accounting can strengthen your business with at home classes and training.
3. Marketing Scale: Once you focus your marketing on ideal customers, your focus can turn to retention. Retaining your customers with prime performance and skill will keep your revenue up month after month. You’ll gather new clientele while continuing to gain profits from your existing clients. As an individual business owner you will connect with other business owners and find clients for whom the match is mutually beneficial, and profits will be consistent. Marketing strategy is usually only an initial effort that will bring in more clients than you need for a small amount of preparatory work.

So what are you waiting for? If you find yourself in a dead-end job, or bored with your corporate accounting gig, you could be starting your own accounting firm by the weekend. Work for yourself, retain all the profits, help others, and take control of your future. Universal Accounting is ready to show you how.

Accounting is an excellent profession for consistent and reliable work. You can expect solid work and good paychecks, for a very light workload of meaningful tasks.

Accounting is a popular profession for those with mathematics and detail-oriented skills, and many find themselves in an accounting firm or working for a company as primary accounting.

However savvy you may be with accounting, it takes a little more business flair to take an accounting firm from breaking even to high profitability.

If you are in leadership at an accounting firm, or you’re looking to strike out on your own as an independent accountant, you will need to follow these tested steps to achieve profitability.

1. Minimize Costs. Eliminate as much overhead as you possibly can while remaining comfortable and functional. This may mean restructuring responsibilities, or choosing to cut a few things here and there. It may be permanent or temporary, but often the first step is giving yourself a little more margin by minimizing costs.
2. Assess Current Practice. Where is your practice today? How many clients do you have? Are you retaining? How many new clients have you brought in during the last year? Taking a hard look at the current status of your accounting firm can open your eyes to the next steps to be taken.
3. Client Retention. Treating your current customers right is vital to building an accounting firm that is profitable and long lasting. Regularly survey your clients to see what you could be doing better, and make each client a priority.
4. What services do you offer? Could you learn a new skill or offer a new service that could change the game? Universal Accounting offers courses in tax preparation and other skills that could diversify your services for better retention and new clients.
5. You have to know your ideal customer and find a way to target them. Marketing is the way you generate leads and bring in clientele for growth.
6. Future Planning. Every profitable business needs to have a scaled plan for the future. It’s critical that you know what your business should look like in 6, 12, 18, even 72 months down the road. Having a mission statement, roadmap, and concrete goals can make profitability certain.

When you’re ready to maximize your profitability and create sustainable growth, check out Universal Accounting’s seminars, courses, coaching, and certifications. We personally help accounting firms increase their leads, annualized billings, client retention, profits, and more. Come see what we can do for you.