Giving a client a statement of services and fees
How a firm gives a client a numbered statement of the services it buys and their fees, issued on letterhead from Client 360, and uses it at fee reviews.
By Achekam · · 4 min read · For Accountants & audit firms in South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya
"What exactly am I paying you for?" It is a fair question, and it usually arrives at a bad moment: after a fee increase, when a new financial director joins, or when a competitor has quoted a lower figure for what the client assumes is the same thing. The partner knows the answer. The client, looking at a monthly invoice with a single line on it, does not.
A statement of services and fees answers the question before it is asked. It lists, in one document, each service the client buys from the firm and what each one costs. It is not an invoice and not a statement of account. It is the client's own summary of the relationship.
Why clients ask what they are paying for
Clients rarely object to fees they understand. They object to fees they cannot connect to anything. Over a few years, a relationship that began as annual financial statements has grown to include payroll, monthly VAT returns, a provisional tax calculation, company secretarial filings and an annual meeting with the bank. Each was agreed at the time. Few clients remember the whole list.
That gap causes three problems:
- Fee resistance. A total with no breakdown invites a request for a discount.
- Missed work. A service the client assumes the firm does, but which was never agreed, falls through the cracks.
- Unfair comparison. A competitor's quote for "the accounts" is compared with the firm's fee for much more.
A numbered list closes the gap. Each service has a number, a description and a fee, and the client can point to any line and ask about it.
For audit clients there is a further reason for clarity. The International Ethics Standards Board for Accountants revised its Code's provisions on non-assurance services and fees; its announcement of the stronger independence provisions explains the changes, including the ban on services that create a self-review threat for public interest entity audit clients. A firm that knows exactly what it provides to each audit client is better placed to judge those questions.
Issuing the statement from Client 360
In Achekam, the statement is issued from a client's Billing tab in Client 360. Staff can issue a numbered statement of the services the client buys and their fees, as a PDF, and e-mail it.
Before issuing, check that the services and fees behind it are right. The firm's service catalogue, under CRM & SALES > Leads > Services & quotes, holds the services it offers, with prices that stay blank until a person types them. Staff can save quotation templates and start quotations from them. A statement is only as clear as the service descriptions in that catalogue, so write them for a client to read, not for internal shorthand. "Monthly payroll for up to the agreed number of employees, including payslips and monthly submissions" is better than "PAYROLL-STD".
What a good statement covers
| Column | What to put in it |
|---|---|
| Number | A simple sequence the client can refer to |
| Service | A plain description the client recognises |
| Frequency | Monthly, quarterly, annually or once |
| Fee | The agreed fee for that frequency |
| Notes | Assumptions, such as volumes or deadlines |
On the firm's letterhead
A firm can upload its logo and record its particulars under SETTINGS > Firm Profile and Branding & Themes. Achekam puts them on what it sends for the firm, such as client e-mails, invoices and the cover of financial statements, and the statement of services is issued on the firm's letterhead in the same way.
One point to check before the first statement goes out: a field the firm has not recorded is left blank rather than invented. If the registration number, VAT number or physical address is missing from the profile, it will be missing from the statement. Fill in the profile once, properly.
E-mailing it
The statement can be e-mailed to the client from the same place it is issued. Send it to the person who approves the firm's fees, and copy whoever deals with the firm day to day if they are different. A short covering note helps:
- what the statement is and why the firm is sending it;
- that it reflects the services agreed so far;
- an invitation to raise anything that looks wrong or missing.
Keep the statement separate in the client's mind from what they owe. The client's invoices, receipts, credit notes and statements of account sit in the firm's receivables ledger on the server, and a statement of account can be downloaded or e-mailed from there. The statement of services describes the relationship; the statement of account describes the balance. Sending both on the same day invites confusion.
Using it at the annual fee review
The statement earns its keep once a year, when fees are reviewed.
- Before the meeting, issue an up-to-date statement and send it to the client with the agenda.
- In the meeting, go through it line by line. Ask whether each service is still needed and whether anything is missing.
- Discuss changes in terms of lines: a line added, a line removed, a fee for a line adjusted, with the reason.
- After the meeting, update the catalogue and the client's services, and issue a revised statement for the client's records.
This changes the tone of a fee review. Instead of defending a total, the partner is discussing a list the client can see. Services the client no longer needs can be dropped without argument; services they did not know the firm offered come up naturally, which is where cross-selling to existing clients starts. Recurring fees agreed at the review then flow into the firm's retainers, described in retainers and the billing run.
Choose three long-standing clients with growing fees, issue each a statement of services this month, and see what questions come back before you roll it out to everyone.
General guidance only, not advice on your own circumstances. Tax and payroll rules change: check the current position with the authority or your adviser.
