Stop Billing and Ducking, Start Pricing With Options

"Bill and duck" is a term I coined a few years ago.

In the case of CPA firms, billing and ducking is the process of proposing a price (as with an audit), and later billing an extra amount that the client didn't preapprove. The "bill and duck" practice is acting on a temptation to capture result of scope creep combined with a lack of communication.

The scope creep can take a couple forms. Either the original (usually time-based) budget for the work was higher than the price a firm proposed (to get in the door, the firm reduced their price to some amount below budget—probably a number close to the prior-year auditor's fee), or else "other issues arose."

Most commonly, these "other issues" are pinned on the client for not being ready when the job starts. And further blamed on "staff not telling partners before proceeding with the work." (These are actually both the firm's fault, which I discuss in "Retraining Clients When You've Taught Them to Abuse You.")

Billing and ducking is just ugly. So are write-offs. There are better ways.

When a firm wants to get in the door, a low price will often do it. But do yourself a favor and make sure of two things:

1. Scope better. Be very, very, very, very clear about the scope of work—both with the client and with your team.
2. Offer options. By offering options, you can show your lowest (walk-away) price, but you can also move most buyers up.