During the Allinial Global EMEIA Regional Conference 2022, we were treated to an educational and entertaining session on CAAS with Craig Stanmore, Managing Partner of Enspira Financial and the Chair of AG Global Executive Board. With 15 dedicated team members who focus on CAAS practice exclusively, Craig has one of the most successful and innovative CAAS practices within the AG community.
While his hour-long session was full of great insights and practical tips, these three key takeaways really stood out.
- Why CAAS with the extra A?
At Craig’s firm the CAAS practice is most definitely CAAS with two As, where the extra A stands for advisory. In his view, advisory is the natural next step in the evolution of accounting, and a firm’s success with CAAS begins with the ability to understand where current trends are leading.
At a strategic level, accountants must not only consider and assess but also respond to new competitors entering the traditional CAS space, such as the Jeff Bezos–backed Pilot. A cursory look at Pilot’s website reveals that they are commoditizing not only CAS 1.0 (Financial CAS) and advisory but also tax. So, what is the best strategic response to nontraditional competitors entering the marketplace?
Craig sees CAS 2.0 (Business Insights CAS or CAAS) as the answer.
Accountants have a unique value proposition; they are close to the numbers. And extending that into data analytics, insights, and strategy is the natural next step. CAAS deepens the client relationship and loyalty, creates a pipeline for other services, and generates superior margins.
- Where is the gold?
Craig also explained that while there are two opportunities within CAS—one-time fees and recurring fees—the gold is in the recurring fees, particularly with services such as dashboarding. With options such as these, clients are charged a monthly fee to access the dashboard that’s been custom created for their business. Common dashboard widgets include but are not limited to:
- Normal P&L and balancing
- Key KPIs for their industry
- Gross margin analysis
- Pricing and capacity calculators
- Scenarios/what-if analysis
- Revenue-by-location analysis
Ultimately, what happens is a virtuous cycle where the one-time fee leads to a recurring fee, and the recurring fee leads to a one-time fee. For example, a strategic plan consultation (one-time fee) could lead to an ongoing fee for execution and implementation, and then the ensuing deep-dive conversation from the execution and implementation would eventually lead to a one-time advisory project (a one-time fee). The aim is to ensure that there are recurring fees at all times.
- How to leverage your AG membership
Craig’s session concluded with some helpful tips for AG members on how to leverage their membership to build and grow their CAAS practice, including:
- Mentoring each other in building CAAS capabilities (Craig himself has graciously offered to be a resource for those seeking advice and guidance)
- Participating in Allinial Global CAAS communities
- Leveraging the depth and breadth of talent within the AG ecosystem when pursuing new clients and projects
- Referrals by country or industry niche
- Offshoring to AG members to optimize cost reduction
CAAS is the fastest-growing opportunity in the market, and ignoring this growth opportunity means firms could be leaving a lot of money on the table. We hope that this summary of Craig’s session gave you some insights on how to approach CAAS and the support you can find within the Allinial Global community.
The Allinial Global CAAS Journey
As the #1 destination for future-fit firms, Allinial Global is dedicated to helping our member firms build and grow their practice with exciting emerging service areas such as CAAS. We’re thrilled to share that our new Regional Director of North America, Natasha Schamberger, has some exciting plans to help member firms in North America with their CAAS journey in partnership with CPA.com.
Starting with a Community Roundtable in July and culminating with a CAAS Retreat in conjunction with the December 2022 DCPA Conference, we have created a comprehensive road map to take your CAAS practice to the next level. Our road map leverages resources from CPA.com, the collective strength and wisdom of the AG community, and the experience and insights of a regional director dedicated to your success.
Look for details coming to your inbox soon and reach out to Natasha with any questions in the meantime.
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Check out our previous blog posts about CAAS:
You Just Attended the CAAS Workshop. Now What?
New Year, New Service, Let CAAS Be the One Part 1
New Year, New Service, Let CAAS Be the One Part 2
