Pitching and delivering any new service to your clients is much easier when you can identify which clients will quickly see the most value from your new offering, and that’s especially true when it comes to a cash flow service. Identifying specific characteristics and mindset in a client will help you hone in on where cash flow forecasting can make the greatest impact - for both your clients and your own business.

The key to incorporating cash flow advisory into your service offering is to start simple. Starting with a small sub-section of clients with similar problems will help you learn and iterate on the process required to roll out the service to more clients.

There are four main areas which should be considered when choosing the right clients for cash flow:

• Challenges and pain points - is the client worried about upcoming cash gaps? Or do they already spend a lot of time forecasting in a spreadsheet? 
• Bookkeeping - are the client’s accounts up to date? Do they benefit from regular reconciliation and timely data entry?
• Mindset - does your client have a long-term vision for their business? Are they open-minded and ready to invest?
• Characteristics - do they embrace technology? Are they open to your advice and responsive to emails?
  

By assessing new and existing clients on these criteria, you’ll be able to quickly and easily pinpoint clients that will get the most from your cash flow service. To help with this process, we’ve created a free guide called the Ideal Client Profile that outlines these areas in more detail. This checklist acts as a guide for our partners to use when deciding which clients to approach with a cash flow offering.

One Float partner that’s seen great success from using the Ideal Client Profile is bookkeeper Jenny Neale. The guide helped Jenny identify one particular client that could hugely benefit from cash flow forecasting, and she managed to secure a £100 per month retainer for the service.

“(The checklist) helps me feel confident about giving the right support to clients who need it, and gives me clarity as to who would benefit from this most,” Jenny said.

“For my practice, delivering a cash flow service has given me something more to offer. It’s a way I can demonstrate to my clients how well I know and understand their business and help my clients with their pain points before they happen. It helps us to plan ahead with our clients and I’ve found that reinforces the trust they have in us and the work we do for them.”

At Float, we offer a range of support to our accountant and bookkeeping partners, including the Ideal Client Profile.