There’s a gap between compliance-only agri accountants working with livestock clients, and those adding planning and forecasting—to the tune of 327% extra potential revenue. We discuss why.
Picture this: Cattle prices are bouncing back 29.8% after a price trough and one of your biggest farm clients makes a $500k buying decision off the back of it—without you.
It’s an opportunity missed. And if you’re reading this article, we’re guessing you’re looking to get in on those decisions.
The gap between compliance-only firms and those offering added strategic value is the difference between business as usual and potentially doubling your revenue—or more. But reaching that space, to get to a place where you’re seen as that high-value partner who can be trusted with those (often urgent) phone calls, takes change.
The biggest potential loss? Missing out on 320%+ revenue uplift.
While there’s nothing wrong with being a great tax accountant, if your firm is looking to really move up, to get unstuck from that compliance space and seriously push revenue, you’ve got to look beyond.
Tony Olsen, director at Flor-Hanly in Queensland, has been in the commercial and agri accounting space for over 30 years. He’s seen what can happen when a firm doesn’t branch out.
“There’s a risk that sophisticated clients leave for advisors who can respond fast,” he said on our recent webinar. “They might not leave you for the tax consultancy or the compliance work, but there’s a higher risk they’re going to go to someone else for the strategic planning advice.”
“If they haven’t already got that from somewhere else.”
Those sophisticated clients Tony mentioned are hungry for more. When a property comes up for auction, cattle prices drop or new markets open up, clients want to know: “Can I afford to move on this?” Not in two weeks, but in 24 hours.
“We do find it's those sophisticated high-end clients who actually want the relationships,” added Emma Olsen, Flor-Hanly co-owner, “and that's maybe a little bit counterintuitive. You might think that they know how to handle their affairs, but we find they're the ones who want someone they can trust, who they know is in their corner.”
Even better—they’re willing to pay for it.
Take a look at this: In collaboration with Xero, we tracked performance across financial advisors who’d made the shift to Figured and found that firms moving from compliance to advisory saw significant revenue uplift per client—198% on average, and 327% for multi-farm entities.
On top of that, adding planning and forecasting over and above core compliance duties leads to farmers feeling their accountants are significantly more valuable. When receiving only compliance services, farmers rated their accountant as ‘really valuable’ just 23% of the time. That jumped to 83% for those with planning and budgeting services.
Farmers want more strategic advisory help. Your firm is looking to branch out. So what happens next?
One of the big values underpinning Flor-Hanly’s success is that the firm isn’t in the numbers business, it’s in the people business.
“We’re very big believers that relationships are key to business,” said Tony. “For us, it’s very important to have strong long-term relationships with clients, and also with banks and other advisors within our team.”
“People enjoy being in long-term relationships. You build friendships with your clients, bank managers, solicitors and other people that you're working with. Of anyone, we probably have a better understanding of who they are, how they think, and what they’re trying to achieve. That’s really important.”
For Tony’s team, being that trusted voice in the room—the experts with the numbers and the models—enables them to act as the connecting point between farmers and their various business stakeholders. It creates stickier relationships built on year-round value, not just annual tax returns.
Those deep client relationships Tony mentioned? They only translate to perceived value if you can move fast enough to help when it matters.
In fact, we know from Department of Agriculture research that 87% of Australian livestock farmers are making major financial decisions without any strategic planning—not just small transactions, but hundreds of thousands of dollars in capital annually.
The reason is that they feel their advisors are too slow. If they need a decision made now, but their advisor takes two weeks, they’re going to make that call on their own.
Farmers need action. When existing plans change, they want to know that their advisor has the answers. Those who can deliver that service build the relationships. Those who build the relationships get the extra revenue.
Download the Free Guide:
The Strategic Planning Gap: Why 87% of Livestock Farmers Plan Alone
Tony, Emma and the team at Flor-Hanly know that acting fast in livestock advisory isn’t about having a crystal ball, it’s about being exceptionally and meticulously prepared for the future, backed up by real-time planning and reporting capabilities.
“No one gets a prize for getting cashflow or budget to actually be spot on,” said Tony. “That’s just a tool to guide you along your journey.”
“I like to describe [long-term strategic planning] as driving with your high beam lights on, and then the short-term cash flow, month-to-month modelling is driving with your low beam lights on to get through the year.”
The combination of Xero and Figured enables a large part of Flor-Hanly’s success in modelling and reporting.
“We’ve been working with clients using Figured on a regular basis, and we’ve got live models or cash flows sitting in there. It’s very quick for us to go to the model, add in the property purchase and get something meaningful done quickly for the bank and for the clients to make that decision.”
“We take it for granted a bit now, having that data feed into Figured,” said Tony.
Then comes the relationships side. Tony and Emma sit with their clients on an ongoing basis, asking about what they had originally planned, are they still planning it, if not, what’s changed? When they want to try something different or the market swings, they can quickly change the cash flow in Figured and look at the impact it has on short-term funding arrangements.
It’s planning, not reacting—using real-time insights to adjust on the fly, model new scenarios, talk with bank managers and solicitors, and advise strategic business decisions that can have a massive impact on their clients’ success.
Learn More:
Adding Advisory Services When You’re Already Maxed Out on Compliance
Ready to hear the full story?
Check out the full discussion with Tony and Emma, and see the 3-part framework that allows accountants and agri advisory firms like theirs to respond to livestock decisions in hours instead of weeks.
Or talk to our team about trialling a free Figured demo here.