#CallForChange: New industry movement helps accounting and tax professionals reclaim profitability

Austin, Texas, United States, August 28th — Ignition, an all-in-one platform for professional services to get paid faster and run smarter, alongside an industry collective of almost 40 accounting leaders, today, publishes an open letter titled, “Stop Underselling Your Worth.” The industry-wide #CallForChange movement strives to encourage firm owners to reclaim the profitability of the profession by putting an end to late payments, unbilled work and inefficient processes.

“The hard truth is that for years accounting and tax professionals have put up with working for free, not getting paid on time, and avoiding raising prices,” said Guy Pearson, Co-Founder & CEO of Ignition, and former accounting firm owner. “It’s time we remove the old way of doing business, dragging our profession and client relationships  down. By embracing change, we can improve firm profitability and also invest more time in R&D to uplift client service levels.” 

Ignition’s State of Client Engagement report found that US accounting firms:

• Lose over $76,000 in revenue each year on average, due to unrecovered out-of-scope work
• 94% have to chase clients for late payments 
• 43% absorb the time and cost when the scope of client work increases 
• 89% delay or avoid awkward conversations with clients  

Logan Graf, CPA and Chief Tax Officer at The Graf Tax Co has joined the call for change so that the profession finally recognizes its worth. “As accountants, we struggle with valuing ourselves, even though we’re worth it," he said. “We provide value to our clients, and deserve to be paid for that value.”

In an effort to provide firm owners with practical tools and key insights to transform their business, Ignition is hosting an exclusive one-off live webinar event with leading entrepreneur and business leader, Gary Vaynerchuk, plus other accounting industry change-makers including Dawn Brolin, Logan Graf, and Tiffany Davis. Titled Stop Underselling: Learn from "GaryVee" and experts on how to grow your firm with technology, the webinar will take place on Tuesday, September 19 at 12 PM ET / 9 AM PT. Register here. 

Matt Kanas, Managing Director, Americas at Ignition and host of the upcoming live webinar with Gary Vaynerchuk says, “as an industry collective, we see a future where everyone can run a zero accounts receivable firm; one where accounting professionals charge and get paid for all their work, price services to reflect their true value, and leverage technology to boost efficiency and improve client relationships.” 

Dawn Brolin, CPA, CFE, CEO of Powerful Accounting says, “I’ve joined forces with Ignition in the call for change movement because accounting and tax professionals deserve more. We need to stop overpromising our time, and conquer our fear of raising prices. I’m committed to driving our businesses forward, and we need you onboard.”

Tiffany Davis, P.A., MSM, President & CEO of Washington Accounting Services, said the time for change movement is about moving the profession forward. “We need to stop working for free, and start charging for all the work we do to reflect our true value."

With a mission to support accounting and tax professionals, Ignition is embarking on a  journey to help reshape the future of the industry with technology, by advancing how firms get paid and protect their revenue. Ignition recently launched a series of new platform enhancements including, Instant Bill and  Service Edits, to help firms monetize scope creep. 

Throughout the remainder of the year, Ignition will provide additional resources and host educational webinars covering topics such as how to price and sell your services, and maximize firm profitability in 2024 via year-end re-engagement strategies.

For more information on the #CallForChange movement, please visit: ignitionapp.com/call-for-change. 

Open letter signatories: