Pricing Your Services

Are Your Advisory Meetings Creating Real Value — or Just Recapping the P&L?

3 min read

May 30, 2025 1:50:41 PM

Let’s be honest: if your client advisory meetings feel like a glorified financial report walkthrough, you’re not alone — and you're likely leaving impact (and revenue) on the table.

Are Your Advisory Meetings Creating Real Value — or Just Recapping the P&L?

Inside the Collective by DBA community, we talk with accounting firms every day who are looking to provide more value in their advisory meetings — and get paid accordingly. But there's a problem:

"Client Advisory Services" means something different to almost every firm.

And so does pricing.

Some accounting firms charge hourly, some have packaged pricing, and others haven’t priced advisory services at all — they're simply adding them on without positioning or structure. If you're nodding your head, here's the good news: this can change fast.

The Real Value Isn’t the Numbers — It’s What You Do With Them

From our experience working directly with small business owners inside Dillon Business Advisors, we’ve learned something powerful:

The most impactful meetings are not the ones where we analyze every line of the P&L — they’re the ones where the client walks away with clarity, strategy, and support for the real challenges they’re facing.

That’s what small business owners actually care about. They want a partner who understands how hiring issues, cash flow dips, vendor struggles, or even personal finances affect the big picture. They want your perspective, your guidance, and your plan — not just your spreadsheet.

Introducing the Advisory Meeting Framework

To help accounting firms deliver real value (and price it appropriately), we’ve built an advisory meeting framework — a simple, powerful structure to lead effective, meaningful advisory meetings.

Here’s the breakdown:

1. Connection

Start with rapport. A personal, friendly check-in sets the tone and reminds your client they’re not just a number on your calendar.

2. Values & Priority Investigation

Use open-ended questions to uncover what’s really driving their decisions. What are they working toward? What’s keeping them up at night?

3. Financial Analysis

Yes, this part matters — but it’s not the whole show. Highlight KPIs, trends, and opportunities in a way that connects to their goals.

4. Strategy

Collaborate on forward-looking strategy. Address challenges, present improvements, and connect financial data to real-world business decisions.

5. Action Plan

Summarize the conversation with 2–3 clear, client-owned action steps. It keeps them moving — and makes your next meeting even more effective.

Advisory Means Advising, Not Just Reporting

Your ability to lead this kind of meeting is what sets you apart from the accountant down the street who just hands over a monthly P&L.

Want to charge more for advisory? Start creating advisory experiences that clients would happily pay for — and refer their friends to.

We’ve seen firms elevate high-potential team members to lead these meetings, use simple report templates (not new software), and build stronger client relationships by anchoring every meeting in this five-part format.

Inside the Collective Community, We Dive Deeper

Have questions like:

“What data should I prepare ahead of a meeting?”
“What’s the right software for client-facing reporting?”
“How can I train my team to lead these meetings?”

We’ve got answers — from our own experience and from dozens of other accounting firms across the country doing the same thing.

Come join the conversation in the Collective Community. Your clients — and your bottom line — will thank you.

Rachel and Marcus Dillon

Rachel and Marcus Dillon, CPA, own a Texas-based, remote client accounting and advisory services firm, Dillon Business Advisors, with a team of 15 professionals. Their latest organization, Collective by DBA , supports and guides accounting firm owners and leaders with firm resources, education, and operational strategy through community, groups, and one-on-one advisory

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