The reality is that most accountants struggle to make the shift from compliance to advisory. So clearly something isn’t working, despite all the webinars, articles, training sessions etc. that I and others have produced over the years. Why is that?

Part of it is accountants themselves and their anxiety about stepping out of the compliance comfort zone.

This anxiety tends to be around…

1. The imposter fear: ‘Who am I to give business advice? I'm just an accountant.’
2. The liability trap: ‘What if my advice fails and they blame me?’
3. The credibility gap: ‘My clients see me as their numbers person, not their business guru.’
4. The differentiation delusion: ‘Everyone calls themselves a 'business adviser' - it means nothing anymore.’
5. The small client excuse: ‘My clients are too small and/or too unambitious to want to pay for advisory services.’

Do any of those sound familiar to you?

But even if you aren’t affected by these worries, there’s an issue with the term ‘business advisory’ from a business owner’s point of view.

It's meaningless.

Almost every accountant's website says ‘Accountants and Business Advisers’ without explaining what they actually do. It’s so vague it could mean anything at all.

And the truth is that most of those firms don’t offer anything different to standard accounting services.

So when a business owner needs help, their accountant isn’t the first one they turn to because they have no idea what kind of help you can provide. The harsh truth is that most business owners simply don't recognise their accountant as anything more than a number cruncher.

A better alternative to business advisory

What can you do if you want to get out of the compliance trap but don’t want to set yourself up as a ‘business adviser’ for all the reasons above?

The key is to use your unique strength: your expertise with numbers.

This where I believe profit improvement coaching comes in.

Why? Because:

• it leverages your natural expertise with numbers
• you don’t need to be an expert in your client’s industry
• it commands premium fees (£300-£1,000/month)
• clients actually implement their actions (because it's their idea)
• it transforms both your practice AND your clients' businesses.

You could argue that's still business advice, and many think the difference between advisory and coaching is just semantics.

But there is a difference. Business advisory implies in-depth knowledge across all business functions. A profit improvement coach focuses on helping clients understand and improve their numbers.

And it is a) squarely within your expertise as an accountant and b) exactly what most clients expect from you anyway. Plus, if your skills and experience do extend much deeper into the specifics of the business/sector, this approach is a great ‘in’ to build trust.

So, what is profit improvement coaching?

For 27 years, what I’ve been teaching are the coaching skills that enable accountants to deliver growth solutions as paid, recurring income. Yes, I’ve been calling it advisory as that’s the term that gets used most and that accountants recognise. But in reality it’s a coaching framework.

Coaching focuses on asking questions, not giving answers. As a profit improvement coach, you start with the numbers and then ask expansive questions that help your client to think clearly about their business so they uncover their own answers. And, since no one really likes being told what to do, they’re far more likely to implement the solution than if you tell them what action to take.

Profit improvement coaching means having meaningful conversations that clients truly value – and will pay for, because they see results. And because your starting point is the area where you feel most comfortable, the numbers, it’s a much less scary first step out of your comfort zone.

To find out more about profit improvement coaching and how to get started, download the free guide I’ve created: The £50,000 Purpose Gap.

Shane Lukas: AVN – The Accountants’ Network