Get Onboard with LiveCA LLP

LiveCA LLP is a virtual CPA firm. Founded in 2012 when Josh Zweig CPA, CA, LPA and Chad Davis CPA, CMA joined forces and created an online accounting firm out of a love of technology and desire to work from anywhere with an internet connection. As Canada’s first online only accounting firm they provide the same professional services as a traditional brick and mortar firm such as tax, accounting, bookkeeping, payroll and technology services however with an emphasis and focus on systems.

“Being a virtual practice in itself is not anything special,” says Chad. “But what makes it game-changing is how we have also focussed on building a practice driven by customer needs, not pricing based on a menu and not being closed minded on the services we’ll offer. Through this we spent a lot of time on processes, documenting as much as we can, systematically learning from every failure, and involving everybody in the firm in constantly improving every single aspect of what we do. Because of that we are able to attract the very best people, wherever they are located in the country. It’s really rewarding working next to people who believe the same things you believe and work tirelessly every day to make the lives of our customers better.” Chad Davis, CPA, CMA, Partner at LiveCA LLP, quoted in “LiveCA – how a practice became totally digital”

How does LiveCA LLP engage with clients and build strong client relationships?

All onboard? LiveCA LLP has an onboarding process for new clients that is focused on client engagement and providing value to their clients.

“Companies usually come to us because they think they need help with tax or their accounts. But we flip the conversation around from the very beginning, because we know that an even more important (but unrecognized) issue is that they don’t know what they want to get out of a good system and rarely consider the entire lifecycle of data in the context of decision making. Our intention is to find out exactly what information is required to support the things that are important to them, and without a good system for that it’d be pretty tough.” – Chad Davis, CPA, CMA, Partner at LiveCA LLP, quoted in “LiveCA – how a practice became totally digital”

The onboarding process for new clients focuses on providing value to the client from the initial meeting. New client engagement begins with a series of three online meetings, the first meeting referred to as  “Discovery” is to discuss the client’s history, goals, and needs. The second online meeting “Tech Demo” is where the firm discusses the technical aspects i.e. various apps and processes for the potential new client. The third online meeting referred to as “Pricing” provides the client with three fixed price plan options based on varying levels of service, specific for each client.

As Greg Toner, Senior Manager LiveCA LLP, explains in LiveCA – How a practice became totally digital: “There are countless opportunities to create value for clients through the proper use of technology combined with a strong tax and accounting knowledge base.”

The onboarding process then gets a “Kick off” when the new client meets their personal LiveCA team which consists of a Chartered Professional Accountant, a technical advisor and an associate. Clients then have unlimited access to their team.

“Although most customers come to LiveCA because the technology and processes we introduce solve some of their immediate pain points, the real value comes in the form of quarterly management meetings where we get to learn about the owner’s plan for the business. We support that call with financial information and the result is usually a great relationship that grows the more we learn from each other.” Chad Davis, CPA, CMA, Partner at LiveCA LLP, quoted in “LiveCA – how a practice became totally digital”

LiveCA LLP also uses social media such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and a Blog to engage with clients by providing useful accounting & tax information.

Lessons for Others

According to an article on icas.com this level of client engagement has enabled LiveCA “to turn 85% of prospects who they price into customers, and grow into a $1M practice within 18 months of starting up, earning well above average profits.”

The use of social media for client engagement is imperative for the continued growth and success of LiveCA LLP, and thanks to applications like Sykpe, Facebook, Twitter it makes it all possible. All onboard!

 

 

 

If you have concerns as to the accuracy of anything posted on this site, please send your concerns to Peter Carr, Program Director, Social Media for Business Performance.

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