Bring ultimate spend autonomy and control to your clients

Modern spend management is defined as setting enforceable budgets, managing company expenses in real-time, controlling spend, and seeing cash flows in one central location.

Spend management is viewed by finance leaders as the future of expense management. It’s a more proactive, strategic sourcing of company funds because it brings all spending into one place for smarter decision-making, compared to expense management which has been historically decentralized by department.

Managing business expenses requires meticulous tracking and controls. Old financial processes depend on physical expense reports to see where each employee has spent company money; this framework leaves your company with data that is days—if not months—behind. Expense management software that instantly syncs with budgets gives you real-time visibility into financial data and lets you control employee spend, so you never go over budget again.

Managing business expenses requires meticulous tracking and controls. Old financial processes depend on physical expense reports to see where each employee has spent company money; this framework leaves companies with data that is days—if not months—behind. Expense management software that instantly syncs with budgets gives companies real-time visibility into financial data and lets them control employee spend, so they never go over budget again.

By finding the right budgeting system, you can prevent employees from overspending. Imagine what could be possible if you could create and enforce budgets, track employee spending in real-time, and make strategic decisions based on the right data.

As a service offering within a firm’s client advisory services (CAS) practice, spend management advisory services streamline clients' back-office expense operations, such as budgeting, expense reporting, and forecasting, so the firm can devote more time to offering clients higher-value strategic insights. There is a growing demand among SMBs for spend and expense management. Read CPA.com’s survey of over 1,000 SMBs and firms survey to learn more.

Each client is different, so first it’s important to understand their needs and goals. One pricing model that has proven highly profitable for firms is offering a monthly subscription-based model. Whether a client needs traditional accounting services or a virtual CFO service, subscriptions allow firms to lock in better margins. For more information see our guide - 5 Steps to Spend Management Advisory.

Click here to access webinars, whitepapers, blogs, and other helpful resources to guide you on your spend management journey.

Verticals, or client niches, refer to different industry groupings, for example construction vs. community-based grant organizations vs. manufacturing. Verticals can also encompass different types of organizations with a specific industry. In construction, for example, there could be residential, commercial, and civil construction. Finding a vertical focus or “niche” is recommended to scale your CAS practice and can often be beneficial for accounting firms. Learn more about the benefits of a vertical focus in our blog or watch our webinar.

Even if your accounting firm currently doesn’t have an active niche vertical you are focused on, it’s always a good idea to establish one or more niches if growth is your goal. You can decide not to pursue one or more niches, but you’ll attract a higher quantity and quality of clientele for that niche.

While you may think spend management services are not a necessary addition to your firm's offerings, the reality is that there is almost always a use case for these services. Spend management addresses a range of client pain points, such as controlling costs, optimizing cash flow, and ensuring compliance, making it a versatile and valuable service that can benefit virtually any small or medium-sized business. Therefore, regardless of your firm's current client mix or strategic goals, adding spend management services can complement and enhance your existing service lineup, adding value both for your clients and your firm.

The best time to mention spend management services to clients is when you’re in a conversation about cash flow and expenses. When a client expresses frustration with any part of their current cash flow,expense management process, lack of control of employee spend and limited visibility into their financial standing, you can introduce the spend management services you provide.

Here are some questions to jump start a spend management conversation with clients:

• Does your organization’s spending regularly exceed allotted budgets?
• Are you seeking more control and visibility into organizational expenses on a monthly/weekly basis?
• Are you satisfied with the way company expenses are categorized and reported on?
• Does your company spend more on credit cards? Or do you pay via check and ACH?
• Have you had an issue with managing subscriptions or regular monthly spend?
• Are you experiencing fraudulent spend within your company?

That’s okay…having a client that doesn’t have a budget is an opportunity to recommend spend management services and outline the financial benefits, efficiencies and spend control this services area provides.

There are several ways you can identify the ideal clients for your advisory practice’s spend management services:

• Current clients: The next time you have a conversation with a current client, ask them if they’re happy with how they’re tracking and recording expenses. More often than not the client will express some type of frustration, which is your opportunity to explain spend management services. Also ask, how much time are internal staff spending chasing receipts and completing expense reports? More likely than not, it’s a lot!
• New clients: Any new client your firm starts working with regardless of specialty area (i.e. assurance, tax, advisory, etc.) should go through an onboarding process where the client is asked about their current spend and expense management practices.This is a great time to share your firm's preferred tech stack and why it’s important to utilize technology.
• By vertical: Specializing in a niche will help your firm to attract more clients that need help with spend management. Currently, spend management services are very popular among a variety of verticals, having the ability to customize budgets, complicated coding categories, and setting specific spend controls.

BILL is the preferred spend management tool of CPA.com. The BILL Accountant Partner Program has recently expanded to offer even more value to your firm and clients. Firms participating in the program now have access to an integrated financial platform and can choose between three distinct products to partner with. Exclusive benefits for firms are a cornerstone of this program, providing new opportunities for growth and client engagement. For the most up-to-date details, please reference www.cpa.com/bill.

To join the BILL Accountant Partner Partner Program, the company must be a finance-related partner, such as a bookkeeping firm, CPA, outsourced CFO, or accounting firm.

The BILL Accountant Partner Program partners are encouraged to share the solution with any of their clients or business connections with whom they have close relationships. Learn more about how to price, position and productize spend management services in our blog.

There are no costs for your firm to participate in this program. The BILL Spend & Expense product within the partner program is free to use for your firm and clients with no upsells.

The BILL Accountant Partner Program, in partnership with CPA.com, offers many benefits to your firm and your clients.

Benefits for your firm include:

• Dedicated account manager to assist you and your clients
• Rich educational content and programs from CPA.com on spend management and building next-generation CAS practices
• Co-marketing opportunities for your firm
• And more.

Learn more about the many efficiencies firms get when offering spend management services and technology to clients in our blog.

Benefits for your firm include:

• Free corporate cards and spend & expense management software
• Automation of expense reports
• Real-time visibility and insight into business spend
• Ability to control budgets and spending activity
• Enhanced rewards

Learn more or join the program today!

No. The BILL Accountant Partner Program in partnership with CPA.com is open to all client advisory services (CAS) providers, BPO, and CPA firms regardless of their AICPA member status.

No. When you partner with BILL, you have the option to enroll in specific product categories: Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, Spend & Expense or all three. Unique benefits are offered for each product category.

Although it is highly encouraged, your firm does not need to actively use BILL Spend & Expense to refer your clients.

The corporate card application process starts by joining the BILL Accountant Partner Program and selecting the BILL Spend & Expense product. Click here to start the application process.