Your value to clients could be in the bank

By Debra M. Handy, CPA
Senior Commercial Relationship Manager at INTRUST Bank

Sponsored by INTRUST Bank

With the industry changing all around us, now is the time to sell your soft skills. You can take some simple, proactive steps to increase your value to your client. As technology expands your available time, place more emphasis on your true value as a CPA. One of the best value-added services you can develop is to enhance your clients’ relationships with their banks.

Improve the client-to-bank process

Help clients deliver financial statements and tax returns to their bank. Both your clients and their bankers value easy, secure transfer of financial information more than you might realize. Bankers see a wide range of willingness among different firms to deliver information, with security and privacy being the foremost concerns.

But don’t overlook the value of staying current and saving clients from costly omissions. Instead of waiting for a notice from the bank, for example, remind them when you’ve prepared their documents to submit them ahead of the due date.

Most banks request a full tax return plus all Schedule K-1s for personal returns, but most clients don’t understand that K-1s are not a schedule in their personal return. Add value by packaging their K-1 schedules together and submitting the file with the personal tax return.

You’ve just saved your clients from having to find and deliver copies of all their K-1s, with industry-standard, secure electronic transfer they can rely on. (It won’t hurt to point out to them that you’ve included this benefit.)

Solve client problems before they happen

Let your clients know you’re available to assist them in the planning stages of a credit agreement.

Help clients work through pro forma scenarios of a term sheet or loan agreement so they understand the impact of loan covenants on their financial statements. Study their covenants, and touch base as transactions occur that might affect them.

A few years ago, a large company made a very significant, very complex equity transaction involving several banks. Unfortunately, it wasn’t reported until the extended tax return was filed, and it ran afoul of the loan covenant. Undoing this was, to put it mildly, disruptive to business and client relationships.

If the client had simply had their CPA examine the loan document on the front end, they would have avoided any possible breach of covenant before structuring the transaction.

Know everything your client can’t – and bring it

Changing accounting pronouncements will impact some of your clients and their loan agreements. It’s often difficult for a client to stay on top of these.

Savvy CPAs will reach out to clients to offer an assessment of the changes and pro forma financials to help their clients determine any negative impact on their covenants. Be the hero; get your client out ahead of implementation and propose any changes or amendments up front.

How to be the irreplaceable CPA

Above all, look at value-added service as “something extra” that enhances your appeal. Think of it as the essential difference only you can bring to your client.

You’ll be irreplaceable. Form a close relationship with a bank that’s fully up to speed on accountancy and that has the resources you can leverage for your client relationship. This will make all of the value-added services described here much easier to achieve and more secure. And finally, take advantage of technology. You’re going to need it for your growing business.

Debra Handy began her career as a CPA at Ernst & Young, and in the two decades since has worked in the financial services industry. She relies on her extensive experience in both banking and accounting in her role focusing on commercial relationships at INTRUST Bank. This gives Debra a uniquely informed perspective on the CPA’s role from the banker’s viewpoint. Debra holds a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) focused in Accounting from University of Oklahoma.

“Think of value-added service as the essential difference only you can bring to your client.”