Advisory trigger

An event in a client's compliance data, turnover crossing a threshold, R&D costs appearing, overseas income, a property purchase, that maps by a written rule to an advisory service the firm sells. Trigger present and service not held in two years is an opportunity, valued at the firm's own median fee, listed per partner in the season it appeared.

DefinitionAn event in a client's compliance data, turnover crossing a threshold, R&D costs appearing, overseas income, a property purchase, that maps by a written rule to an advisory service the firm sells. Trigger present and service not held in two years is an opportunity, valued at the firm's own median fee, listed per partner in the season it appeared.

The data already exists

The compliance team computed the trigger figure for the return. The extraction is the work.

Trigger versus gap

The gap is the norm: what similar clients buy. The trigger is the event: something happened at this client now.

How it is used

Rules run over the accounts and returns the firm already prepares: turnover near a registration or audit threshold, a growing director's loan, a new entity, overseas income, a loss. Each hit is a row with the client, the trigger, the figure and the manager.

Example

A client's turnover rose from $3.1 million to $3.9 million against an audit threshold of $4 million, and a second company was formed in the year. Two triggers, one conversation, before the year end and not after.

Where it goes wrong

The firm files the accounts and moves on. The triggers are seen by the person preparing the return, who has no time and no prompt to raise them.

Articles that use this term

Coverage and territory · Tax and accounting

Advisory triggers in the compliance data: the events in a client's accounts that call for a service

How an accounting firm turns the data it already holds from compliance work into an advisory pipeline: the events in a client's filed accounts and returns, turnover crossing a threshold, a first overseas sale, R&D spend appearing, a director's loan, a property purchase, that map to an advisory service, the clients with a trigger and no service, valued at the firm's own fee for that service, and the partner list that comes out each filing season.

16 Sept 20263 min read Board and management reporting · Law firms

Ten questions a managing partner asks about the firm's clients, and the table that answers each

The ten questions a managing partner of a law or accounting firm puts to the partners about the book, which clients use one practice, whose book depends on one client, which clients drifted in price, which have not started this season, where is the cash locked up, which partners send work across the firm, which proposals cost more than they win, what triggers sit in the compliance data, which matters were staffed above their price, and what changed, each with the table from the practice management system, the identity behind it, and the answer a managing partner should send back.

16 Sept 20262 min read Alternatives and comparisons · Tax and accounting

How to choose analytics software for tax and accounting: questions, data and traps

How accounting firms should choose analytics software: start from the questions, check the data you hold, ask vendors ten questions, avoid the traps.

24 Sept 20264 min read Board and management reporting · Tax and accounting

Practice KPIs for tax and accounting firms: ten measures that matter, each with its formula and the export it comes from

The ten practice KPIs a tax or accounting firm should run on, each with its formula, the export it comes from and what it tells you: service lines per client against the norm, fee per client against the norm for its size, season watch, deadline load per manager, advisory triggers acted on, realisation by client, client retention by fees, lock-up by client, scope creep on fixed fees, and new client onboarding time. Also the three measures most firms miss, the figures to drop, the identities, and who owns what.

17 Sept 20264 min read