Tax clients need more than just tax work.

The average tax return client thinks of accountants as being mainly involved in taxes. Also, a CPA firm's largest volume of clients is usually for tax return services. Therefore, a good part of the public image of your firm must come from the tax department.

The tax department must be involved in strengthening the firm's brand, name recognition, getting publicity, and introducing tax return clients to additional services. Unfortunately, many CPA firms provide very little guidance or training in this area.

There are important advantages to introducing tax return clients to additional services. Much of the extra work disclosed while preparing the tax return is not time-sensitive in that it could be done after tax season ends (which hopefully is April 15) and even stretched into the summer months. Also, any number crunching can be assigned to summer interns, which our office has been very successful with.

Generating the work during "slow" periods helps to even out the workload, create revenue where it wouldn't exist, and provide challenging, interesting, and satisfying services while truly helping clients.

The best ways to identify clients who are excellent candidates for cross-selling is to create a cross-selling culture.

Sometimes we, as accountants, become aware of important life-altering issues when we prepare tax returns, but we don't want to appear as if we are trying to generate fees, so we pass on the extra telephone call. We shouldn't act like that. Suppose you went to a dentist for a regular cleaning and you were not told that you need a periodontal consultation? How would you feel? Or if you finally brought your car in for servicing and weren't told that all your hoses should be changed? How would you feel? Suppose you went to an attorney for a prenuptial agreement and he or she did not tell you to revise your will? How would you feel?

Offering clients additional services is a good deed. The fact that you also will charge them for the advice doesn't lessen the value of the suggestions. The extra telephone call, away from the hubbub of tax season, will be a great favor for the client and should create a feeling of goodwill. Also, in some instances, you can even ask the client if they know of anyone else in their circumstances that you could be referred to. In many cases, increasing clients' awareness of services that they truly need fosters a feeling that you are more than just a tax preparer, but a trusted adviser that transcends tax preparation.

Adapted from "Introducing Tax Clients to Additional Services," by Edward Mendlowitz, issued by the PCPS Management of an Accounting Practice Committee and published 2003 by the AICPA. Product N0.090483; Available at www.cpa2biz.com.