How A Fixed Fee Pricing Model Can Help You Scale Your Business

When I made the move to a Fixed Fee Pricing Model, it was a game changer for my business, in more ways than one.

I found it so liberating to ditch the hourly billing mindset and say goodbye to the mental load of being ‘timesheet dependent’. Though I saw a lot of other instant benefits.

BENEFITS OF FIXED FEE PRICING MODELS

  • An increase in revenue, better cash flow, higher profit.
  • No more chasing payments and squabbling over how many hours were spent on a job (and whether the client saw those hours as worthwhile).
  • More relaxed clients, with certainty that their next invoice is going to be the same as the last, and there will be no nasty surprises if a job blows-out. (No Bill Shock!)
  • Client conversations shifting to be focused on the outcome, and how to achieve their objectives (and beyond!), rather than fixating on the minutes and hours.
  • No more discounting or undercharging! I hate to think about how much I used to discount my invoices out of fear that the client would balk at the hours I spent on a particular job! For some reason, I was scared to show them what was truly involved in some of the work I did, and would omit portions of the job or leave off a few hours. I’m now far more comfortable bundling it up in a package that properly accounts for and acknowledges the value I am providing.
  • Improved workflows and operational efficiency for both myself and my clients. So much admin time can be saved by ditching hourly rates! No more chasing payments, explaining hours, adjusting invoices, or auditing timesheets.
  • I found it so much easier to build out my pricing menu and create packages once I had a better understanding of my fee structures.
  • Predictability and visibility of revenue and profits.

WHY I MADE THE MOVE

The real catalyst for me to move to a fixed fee model was the introduction of cloud based technology, and at that stage the focus for me was really on improving efficiency and profitability through automation as I was feeling my business was STUCK.

Up until then, Fixed Fee pricing models were not common in our industry. And whilst it was hard to break 16 years of HOURLY MINDSET habits, these technology-led changes helped me achieve a number of key things:

  • I acquired new specialist skills and introduced new Advisory Services.
  • I introduced higher level fee structures and packages to support these new Services.
  • I conducted scope and fee reviews on all my clients to see where there were opportunities to automate, consolidate and streamline systems, and optimised my fee structures and packages accordingly.
  • I took advantage of the general shift in mindset towards automation, and the fact that people in other service based industries had started to moved towards Fixed Fee.
  • I took advantage of automated cloud based invoicing and payment technology (such as recurring direct debit) to reset client expectations regarding billing, and make the move to Fixed Fee (as well as Direct Debit and Up Front Fees).

These days, there are so many reasons to make the move to a Fixed Fee model. And, in my opinion, there really is no reason why you shouldn’t, or can’t. Though, I do understand it can be tricky to shed that hourly billing mindset. When getting started, I recommend making a note of all the reasons WHY you should make the move, and how you can shift that mindset. 

One of the most significant advantages of shifting away from Hourly Billing is that it allows Bookkeepers to focus on efficiency.

When you are stuck in an hourly billing mindset, you can become adverse to introducing efficiencies or automations, as they ultimately may lead to less time being spent on a task, meaning reduced hours, meaning reduced revenue. (This is why many bookkeepers avoid embracing technology).

When following a Fixed Fee model, you are charging a fixed rate regardless of how long it takes you to complete the task, so the more efficient and productive you become, the more profit you can extract from the job.

In essence, you can increase your profit by actually doing LESS work!

Increased Efficiencies + Fixed Fee Billing = More Profit

The other really exciting thing about moving to a Fixed Fee pricing model is that you are setting yourself up as a scalable business.

A scalable business means you have created a way to take on MORE clients, and generate MORE revenue, without necessarily having to put on MORE staff.

A business that is still billing the by hour will struggle to scale, as your focus will always be about time rather than efficiencies, and, you have essentially capped your revenue as at the end of the day, there are only so many billable hours per week.

If you want to find out HOW to move your advisory business away from hourly billing and over to a fixed fee model (including how to move existing clients), head over to Bookwiz Academy and check out our membership.

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