Skip to main content

Looking for Valuant? You are in the right place!

Valuant is now Abrigo, giving you a single source to Manage Risk and Drive Growth

Make yourself at home – we hope you enjoy your new web experience.

Looking for DiCOM? You are in the right place!

DiCOM Software is now part of Abrigo, giving you a single source to Manage Risk and Drive Growth. Make yourself at home – we hope you enjoy your new web experience.

An accountant’s checklist for client meetings

Sageworks
January 16, 2014
Read Time: 0 min

Building relationships with your accounting clients requires trust, rapport and an atmosphere for open dialogue. Many accounting firms use a checklist to prepare for client meetings and to facilitate information exchange. Here are some questions that many accountants who are clients of Sageworks have found helpful when interacting with their business clients. 

Knowing the answers to these questions will help an accountant better understand client challenges, highlight opportunities to cross-sell services and generate insight into possible demand for advisory services you don’t yet offer. Even if you don’t have time to immediately address any needs or questions revealed by using this checklist, you can use responses in planning client contact and work for later in the year. Consider making a copy of the checklist so the client can take it with them as a reminder of additional needs they have, too. 

Liquidity

Do you currently have the resources to grow your business without experiencing cash shortages?

Do you annually budget for your expected cash requirements?

Profits & profit margin

Do you know your Gross Margin, and is it comparable to your peers?

Does your compensation system encourage increased productivity, revenue and gross profit?

Sales

Have you established sales goals for this year? Next year?

Can you describe your ideal customer?

Borrowing

In regards to your banking relationship, are there any debt covenants or other issues that you have a hard time fulfilling?

Are you able to obtain reasonable terms from suppliers?

Asset management

Do you currently estimate the return on investment and set targets before purchasing new equipment, hiring new employees, or adding new business lines?

Deepen client relationships, a whitepaper by Sageworks

Employees

Could you increase production without dramatically altering your workforce?

Do you have a profile for an ideal candidate for each job in your company?

Download a copy of the checklist here.

For more help with developing better client relationships, including additional information on how to use this worksheet, read the whitepaper, Deepening Client Relationships.

About the Author

Sageworks

Raleigh, N.C.-based Sageworks, a leading provider of lending, credit risk, and portfolio risk software that enables banks and credit unions to efficiently grow and improve the borrower experience, was founded in 1998. Using its platform, Sageworks analyzed over 11.5 million loans, aggregated the corresponding loan data, and created the largest

Full Bio

About Abrigo

Abrigo enables U.S. financial institutions to support their communities through technology that fights financial crime, grows loans and deposits, and optimizes risk. Abrigo's platform centralizes the institution's data, creates a digital user experience, ensures compliance, and delivers efficiency for scale and profitable growth.

Make Big Things Happen.