As your business starts to outpace most small businesses and you hit a million dollars (or more) in revenue, you might decide to upgrade your accounting solution from just bookkeeping and taxes to monthly accounting.
Many business owners in your position choose a large regional accounting firm since most have been around for a while, have a large client base, and boast a wide range of services. But in this article, I’ll tell you why you might be a better fit for a smaller provider like CSI.
At CSI Accounting & Payroll, we’ve provided monthly accounting services to growing businesses for 60 years. We’ve brought on several clients from large regional firms who are impressed by our:
- Great customer experience, backed by testimonials.
- Focus on services you actually need.
- Transparent investment.
Customer Experience
Regional Firms
With regional firms having such a large client base, you’d expect them to show off a lot of happy clients. The reality is the opposite.
Go to any of the major regional accounting firms’ websites. Do you see a menu tab that says “testimonials”, “case studies”, or “reviews”? No. You need to use the search bar, and then you’ll only find one or two. Then, since most regional firms have many offices, they have many Google My Business listings. We’ve found that most listings don’t have many reviews (if any).
So, if there aren’t many positive reviews, testimonials, or case studies, how can you truly know that you’d be getting good service? You don’t. Many large providers have a reputation for bad customer service due to overworked staff, high turnover, and call centers being used instead of dedicated support.
CSI Accounting & Payroll
Fortunately, it’s different with CSI Accounting & Payroll. The top complaint that we hear from prospective clients is that their former accountant didn’t communicate with them or provide a good customer experience.
We make it our top priority to heal this wound with dedicated support, and we can prove it. Our website boasts a few case studies, and our Minnesota and Maryland Google My Business listings each have tons of five-star reviews from real clients. We’re smaller, but we still provide award-winning services.
Honed Services
Regional Firms
Regional firms, like many firms, offer a very wide range of services. That’s a good thing, right? Sure, if you’re actually looking for a wide range of services! Otherwise, there can be two major downsides.
The first is that since there are so many services offered, the quality is more likely to be reduced, or each staff member is spread too thin to try to cover each one. A company might boast a rare service but only has one staff member who knows how to do it… and they haven’t done it in a year.
Or, let’s say a company wants to avoid the issue above and still provide a robust service offering. They increase their staff and training. Then, to cover those costs, they increase their fees across the board. Be careful that you’re not paying for services that you’re not receiving or don’t need.
CSI Accounting & Payroll
While CSI claims to be the small business’s one-stop shop, our monthly accounting package doesn’t go too far beyond what most small and midsized businesses need.
Regular meetings and unlimited one-off questions are part of our monthly accounting service, but if our clients ever need support beyond that, we write up a separate agreement for a large consulting project.
Why do we do this? To keep our service efficient (which helps with quality), and so we can just charge for what you need.
Transparent Investment
Regional Firms
If you once again look at any of the major regional accounting firms’ websites, you’ll notice that they don’t say anything about the investment.
There are no tabs on the menu that say “pricing”, “investment”, “cost”, or “fees”. Usually, there are no search bar results, either. No clarity on ranges, averages, or why the investment is what it is. You can forget a pricing calculator. You need to call them to get any information.
CSI Accounting & Payroll
As for CSI? We’re not out of touch. We understand that almost every business owner needs to know if they can even afford a service before they reach out.
That’s why our website has a pricing tab on the menu. You can learn about our current pricing, including the typical range, average, and what goes into the investment. Then, if that fits your business, you can use our Pricing Calculator to see what your investment may look like.
Get Quality & Transparency!
Now that we’ve compared regional firms and CSI’s customer experience, services, and investment transparency, are you leaning toward CSI?
If you’re still on the fence, part of scheduling a consultation is helping you further determine whether or not we’re the right fit for you, and if you are the right fit for us. We never force a service agreement and will refer you to our partners if you’re a better fit to work with them. Click the button below for your free call:
Not ready to talk? That’s okay! First, learn more about what it’s like to work with CSI by clicking the image below:
