Your Practice – resourcing challenges
As a growing Professional Practice, satisfying your client’s requirements is key to your reputation, profitability, and growth.
You regularly face the challenge of matching available staff resources with clients' needs, maximising chargeable time and maintaining profitability.
In an accountancy practice, for example, planning staff for routine client requirements such as audit, accounts preparation and tax is relatively straight forward because of the predictability of the regulatory requirements of running a business.
But how do you resource the "one off" challenges which your clients face as their businesses cope with change?
For example, when the Managing Director of your best client calls to ask you to help with due diligence for a proposed acquisition, how do you resource ten days of intensive work? You have several choices:
- 1. Can you do the work yourself, and hope that none of your other clients need you for ten days?
- 2. Can you move one of your senior staff across to the client and hope their other tasks can be covered internally by others?;
- 3. Can you afford to refer your client to one of the larger practices, hoping that your client’s loyalty to you will survive the new relationship? or
- 4. You can contact AshtonPenney and engage one of our interim managers who has proven experience of due diligence. Someone you can trust to help your client and help you to retain your client for the future.
AshtonPenney’s Professional Practices Resource Group
AshtonPenney has been providing experienced interim managers to businesses since 1994. A significant proportion of our network of interim managers are experienced, qualified accountants with a first class background in working in a practice, many up to partner level.
Their experience and proven track record gives you the opportunity to provide their skills to your clients and, if you so wish, benefit commercially from the transaction. There are other benefits for your practice in engaging an experienced AshtonPenney interim manager to work with your client:
- Enhanced reputation – through providing a comprehensive range of client services ;
- Improved retention – your client is less likely to be lured away to a larger practice;
- Provide a broader range of services – why stop at a client’s financial needs? Through AshtonPenney, you can provide for example marketing, human resources management, systems advice etc.
- Increased revenue – and profit. AshtonPenney will provide you with an interim manager at a pre-determined rate and you can include their costs in the bill to your client. The commercial arrangements with your client are confidential.
Quality Control
Any professional practice which introduces a third party to its client needs to be very confident of the quality of the third party and their ability to satisfy their client’s requirements. AshtonPenney has many years’ experience of matching the best people to clients’ requirements, which will give you the confidence that your client is receiving first class advice from someone you can trust.
We require all our interim managers to commit to non-disclosure agreements which govern their relationship with your client. This includes a commitment to respect your relationship with your client at all times.
Our interim managers are also required to provide their services through personal service companies which gives your client protection under current employment law. We also take references from previous assignments to substantiate the experience of our interim managers.
In addition, all our interim managers are required to confirm to AshtonPenney that they have adequate professional indemnity insurance in place.
Engagement procedures
Our fees are included in the day rates quoted for the interim managers which we propose to clients. This means that we do not charge you or your client unless and until they engage one of our interim managers – there is no charge for enquiring who is available at any time to help you and your clients.
If your next client care meeting identifies a need for particular expertise which your practice does not have available, call AshtonPenney. We will be able to advise you very quickly whether we are able to provide your client with an experienced interim manager and when they will be available. In the first instance we can work with only outline project specifications which can be developed at a later stage.
If you or your client need help with defining the brief, many of our interim managers are able to provide a day’s time free of charge to discuss a role in detail. This will allow you and your client to agree objectives and milestones to ensure the success of the project.
We can produce a shortlist for consideration within a few days, and co-ordinate interviews with you and your client. On selection, we will manage the necessary contract documentation which will allow the interim manager to commence the assignment in accordance with your client’s requirements.
Part-time availability
We have made sure that our services are responsive to clients’ requirements and match your business model as far as possible. The Professional Practices Resource Group provides interim managers at fixed hourly or daily rates (dependent upon level of complexity) on a full or part-time basis, which gives you and your client full budget clarity.
PPRG interim managers work on a fixed hourly rate as and when required. This gives you the flexibility to provide your client with more services such as:
- Monthly Management accounts preparation;
- Quarterly VAT returns;
- Cash flow forecasts;
- Preparation of budgets;
- Business planning; and
- Ad hoc projects – systems reviews, acquisitions, credit control etc.