ISSUE № 8 · TUESDAY, June 23, 2026
I talked to a firm owner yesterday who said:
“Okay, I like your idea of 2 tiers instead of 3 and now I’m working on my plan of how I will present this to clients. The problems I’m facing are, I’ve either been giving year round support for many of my clients for years without charging them for it, or, a client who will really benefit from Tier 2 (tax planning, talking more than once a year, etc.) won’t choose that tier and then they’ll inevitably be frustrated when they see how much they owe. Also, I want to be able to answer their questions throughout the year without nickeling and diming them like a lawyer, but I know I shouldn’t keep doing it for free.”
As he shared this, I VIVDLY remember feeling this way as a firm owner. We all have fantasies about what our ideal client and pricing would look like if we got to start from scratch and build a new firm today. I, like many others, at least tried to do this every time I brought on a new client.
I would say things like, “When you receive the proposal, you will see that I am not the cheapest out there, and that is intentional. I'm passionate about being by your side all year long and not just having a once-a-year, transactional relationship with my clients. This means that you won't receive surprise bills or feel like I'm going to charge you every time you ask a question, year round support is worked into the tax return price.”
Of course, this model and level of service didn't make sense for every potential new client, but for many, they found this appealing and liked the idea of having a deeper relationship. What they valued was aligned with what I valued. Such a beautiful thing when that happens!
But back to this firm owner… it’s easier to implement a new way with new clients… what do we do with our EXISTING clients?! What should he do when his clients aren't picking the tier that is best for them or don't want to start paying for something that they've received for free all these years?
I asked him to imagine what his firm would look like if his firm only had ONE TIER. The fee for this tier would include the tax return, with a buffer for questions throughout the year, and a tax planning meeting or two, all wrapped into one price. He mentioned that his clients don't understand that the fee they pay for their tax return is just for preparing and filing the tax return, not for the relationship throughout the year, so why not start combining those things on the billing side?
We know why. Because then their fee would have to go up and “everyone would get upset and leave!” Time for the reframe: we need to revisit the importance of working with facts rather than fear. Our fear is that everyone will get upset and leave, and not only will this hurt us financially, but also we care about these clients. The thought of them being upset with us makes us sick to our stomachs.
Everyone wouldn't leave, but with one tier, you would be making the decision to start only working with clients who not only are at a certain complexity level, but also see the value in paying for that deeper relationship with you… and that means that existing clients who don't fit this profile, would indeed leave. My advice would be to use The Client Analyzer and adjust the new price column for all clients to be what it would need to look like to include everything in that single tier. Then I would go down the list and mark the ones who you feel extremely confident wouldn't go for it, or it's really not even appropriate for them. How much revenue is that? How much revenue can you live without for a year while you use your newfound capacity to look for new clients who are aligned with your since tier? Play with the scenarios in the tool and see what could ACTUALLY happen. Maybe it’s not as bad as you think.
This doesn't solve the difficult conversation that you need to have with your clients if you dropped down to one tier... so let's tackle that real quick. Your business is allowed to evolve over the years and you’re allowed to change the services you offer and the types of clients you work with. There are so many other small firm owners out there who are at an earlier phase in their firms and would gladly serve the clients that don’t fit your new criteria!
You could say something like: “Over the years, I've served many different kinds of clients and at this point in my career, I've decided that I'm most interested and passionate about working with clients who are looking for a deeper, more proactive relationship with me. This means that moving forward, I will only be offering one level of service, and this level makes the most sense for clients in “X, Y, Z situations." I wish I could serve everyone, and that makes it hard to narrow my services, but I know this is the right move for me and my business. The good news, is that I have some great referrals to share with you if you don’t feel like this new service level is the right fit for you.”
I know it's scary, but think about it... what if it was okay for you to just do the type of work that you actually want to do for the types of clients who actually want you to do that work?! (Mind blowing to imagine, I know.)
Your firm should run the way you wish it could.
The boundary is the service.
— Rebecca
Got a boundary you wish you could hold?
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More from Rebecca: rdriscollcpa.com · AI Lab for Accountants · The Collaboration Room · Fix Your Firm