These agreements put the focus on the results of a given task rather than the time spent doing it. You pay for the output or the results you want.

With no other product, or even service-based profession, is the decision of price left completely in the hands of the seller. Plumbers, contractors, and consultants all agree to perform a service for a set charge prior to starting the work. In all types of business, a scope is agreed, a price is given and a contract is drawn.

Fixed Price Agreements put the decision into the hands of the customer – where it belongs, before the work is done.

A FPA has a very specific scope. Look, for instance, at an accounting problem in QuickBooks. We would discuss the specific issues and decide TOGETHER that we need to review the accounting records and then provide the list of suggestions to fix the specific problem. We would decide if you or we are going to fix it. The bottom-line outcome is a clean QuickBooks file.

A FPA defines the responsibilities and end result so that there is no confusion as to what you are purchasing.

After defining the scope (work to be performed) and the value (the price), we believe that a guarantee should be assigned to the service provided. This is nothing new to our firm. We always try to go above and beyond what’s expected and get it right – but there is a new twist.

If the value to the customer is less than three times our price, we won’t do it!

Quantifying this is sometimes difficult but generally the security, reliability, and freedom that we hope to create in a business owner’s life speaks for itself. Whether it is tackling a difficult tax planning problem or freeing up a customer to run their business, there is value that can be determined and quantified.

You get to choose what level of service you want, as well as the price you are willing to pay for it, up front.

These levels start with a serious discussion about your overall needs and goals. We talk about the human needs before the numbers, which is the proper priority in our firm.

We know each customer is different and we will price the value received by the customer, not the hours spent. Value received is a joint decision by the customer and our team.

FPAs typically include accounting, cash management and business planning as well as regulatory compliance and reporting.

It’s simple! We discuss it! We decide on the new needs and we issue a change order to the original Fixed Price Agreement. We leave the decision in your hands, with several options and pricings for each scenario.

So far, our customers on fixed price agreements are very happy. They know the price, what the service is and that, no matter what, we will do the work at the stated price.

Most customers are able to relax and ask more questions, therefore allowing them to get better service and better advice because they aren’t tied to the time clock.

Lastly, our customers feel cared for because we can take the extra time to dive into their accounting and tax matters more deeply. We can ask the dumb questions which may not really be that dumb – meaning, we can think outside the box and take our customers with us.

For us, it has simplified our internal processes. Capturing time and billing is a long and tedious process and the week after billing could be painful depending on how much time was needed to do a particular project and the expectations of what it took to accomplish.

The most important benefit to all is the ability to truly be a trusted advisor. We are no longer working against the time constraints that limit our ability to be innovative, have fun and try new things. We are on the same side of the table, working together, united towards the same purpose.