This document outlines the presentation on accounting firm services. It discusses the unique characteristics of accounting services, current problems faced like employee shortages and long wait times, emerging trends like cloud accounting and offshoring, and the likely future consolidation of the industry and need for firms to differentiate their value-added services. Recommendations include increasing brand awareness, investing in market research, offering customer promotions, providing internships, and improving marketing and sales skills.

1. Ario Ardianto Baroto U3088020
Misa Tran U3024065
Phuong Huang U3032828

2. Today’s presentation outline
 Brief case summary
 Unique characteristics of accounting firms services
 Current service marketing problems faced by accounting firms
 Emerging trends and innovation of accounting firms services
 Likely future of accounting firms services
 Conclusion and recommendation

3. Brief case summary

4. Unique characteristics of accounting firms services
 Highly intangible nature of the service offering
Services are difficult to display and/or explain to customers
The pricing of services is difficult
 Fluctuating demand across the financial year
It is impossible for a service operation to achieve 100 percent perfect
quality on an ongoing basis.

5. Current service marketing
problems faced by accounting
firms

6. “Service customer frequently
view waiting as a waste of
their time” (Hensley, Rhonda
L &Sulek, J 2007).

7. Current service marketing problems
faced by accounting firms
 Lack of employees
 Could not handle customer expectation
 Switch to another accounting services
 Long hours during tax season
 GST period – October, January, April, June
 End of financial year: employees and business annual
tax
 Perceptions of the service quality lower down

8. Current service marketing problems
faced by accounting firms
Changes to taxation legislation
Decrease demand of services to the
accounting firms
Lack of customer communication

9. Emerging trends in accounting firms services
 Evolution in accounting firms services delivery
 Clients come to the accounting firm offices
 Accountants and clients interact with electronic channels
 Accountants visit the clients’ premises

10. Emerging trends in accounting firms services
 Shifting of offerings
 Clients demand services beyond compliance services
Tax planning, audit jobs & book keeping
 Firms are offering consulting/business advisory services
Business coaching, risk management, cash flow management

11. Emerging trends in accounting firms services
 Offshoring compliance services
 Outsource to specialist service providers (i.e Indian accounting
firms)
Offers cost efficiency, solution to expand services and manage
fluctuating demand
Concerns over data security, loss of managerial control,
service quality, can turn into potential competitors

12. Likely future of accounting firms services
 Cloud Accounting
 Accountants can access accounting softwares and databases
over the internet, enabling to work “in the cloud” in real
time.
Increase flexibility, productivity, time and cost efficiency,
with less heavy IT investment
Need adaptation, concerns over data security
stored offsite

13. Likely future of accounting firms services
 Consolidating accounting service industry
 Small firms will merge to offer broader range of services to
fulfil clients’ increasing demands.
 Tougher competition requires aggressive marketing
 Firms must differentiate from others by offering more
value-adding services

14. Conclusion
 Accounting firm services characteristics: highly
intangible in nature & fluctuating demands.
 Problems faced by accounting firms: lack of
employees, long waiting time, changes in
regulation, lack of customer communication.
 Trends of services: evolving service delivery, shifting of
offering, offshoring and cloud accounting.
 Future of services: tougher competition requires firms
to differentiate their offerings.

15. Recommendations
 Increase brand awareness
 Invest in market research
 Customer special offering
 Offer the internship job
 Learn how to market and sell