How to create automated Engagement Letters?
Introduction
Growing an accounting firm means sending numerous proposals and engagement letters. Without a proper process in place, creating these letters can be time-consuming. Also, creating engagement letters in haste might risk your business.
In this article, we will walk you through the process of using automation for engagement letters while highlighting their importance in business growth.
What are Engagement Letters?
Engagement letters define the legal-relationship between your firm and your clients. These letters define the scope of the engagement, terms and conditions, and the compensation for the engagement.
Most engagement letters follow a standard format, consisting of:
Description: Description of the firm, the engagement, and services offered.
Contacts: Leadership, senior management, or any other person designated as the single point of contact for the client.
Scope of Service: All the services offered to the client will be defined in this section.
Roles and Responsibilities: Roles and responsibilities of the firm and the clients during the course of the engagement.
Terms and Conditions: All the terms and conditions with respect to the work undertaken by the firm.
Deadlines: The estimated time of completion of the engagement and the expected dates of release of documents.
Inclusions: All services or deliverables pertaining to the services offered.
Pricing: Billing rates of the firm and the total cost of execution of the engagement.
Importance of Engagement Letters
Setting expectations
Engagement letters set the right tone for a healthy relationship between firms and their clients. The letters clearly set the right expectations for both parties and help in maintaining transparency during the engagement.
Defining the scope
The engagement letter clearly defines the scope of work so that both clients and firms know what to expect from the other party. The client will also be aware of the extra charges that they might incur in case they avail extra services from the firm.
Mitigating risks
As the accounting profession expands beyond tax and audit, it is important to establish a legal framework for mitigating risks associated with client work.
Advantages of Automated Engagement Letters
Quick Turnaround Times
Creating engagement letters from scratch is time-consuming. Each time you onboard a new client you would want to spend your time on solving complex business problems and not on menial and time-consuming tasks such as formatting documents. Automated engagement letters are a quick and cost-effective way of creating consistent and professional engagement letters.
Improved Efficiency
Automation eliminates all the low-value and time-consuming tasks, leaving you with more time for high-value and strategic client work and in turn improving the overall efficiency of your firm.
Eliminate Manual Work
Manual work increases the risk of human error. Automation, on the other hand, gives you a repeatable model for producing consistent results. You can combine your accounting expertise with cutting-edge technology for creating high-quality and standardized templates that can be used for creating consistent and professional engagement letters and thereby reduce the risk of human error.
Business Expansion
The speed and cost-effectiveness of automation makes onboarding new clients easy. You can share questionnaires with clients and their responses can be used for generating proposals and engagement letters quickly. The efficiency of the process allows you to produce consistent results even while dealing with a large number of clients.
How to create Engagement Letter Templates with Qount?
Here is tutorial on how to create engagement letter templates with Qount: