What If You're the Reason Your Clients Won't Ask Questions?

One of the most common things I hear from business owners is that their accountants and bookkeepers don't communicate with them. And when they finally do hear from them, they sometimes leave those conversations feeling embarrassed, talked down to, or downright stupid for not understanding something. And that’s how they end up as our clients and then stay forever.

And I think there are two things happening here that we, as accounting professionals, need to talk about.

First, let's talk about communication.

Business owners are BUSY. At any given moment, they're managing employees, answering customer questions, putting out fires, and thinking about the next 40 billion things they need to accomplish. And somewhere in the middle of all that, we send an email asking them to identify a handful of transactions or schedule a financial review.

When they don't respond, we follow up once or twice, via email, and then we tell ourselves we've done our due diligence.

But have we?

Our clients hired us to help them stay accountable for their finances. And I believe that means taking responsibility for keeping the communication going, even when they're difficult to reach.

Sometimes that means sending another email. Sometimes it's a text message, a phone call, or a carrier pigeon if that's what it takes!

Because sometimes it's not that our clients don't care. It's that they are crazy busy and that we haven't found the way to connect with them that works or that makes what we are asking for sound like a priority to them.

At My CFO, when we've been trying to reach someone for a while, our team will sometimes start sending GIFs and memes. And you know what? Those silly little jokes often get the response we've been waiting for. Suddenly, we're laughing together, the client responds, and BAM! The meeting is scheduled after a month of radio silence.

Now, let's talk about the second part. Making our clients feel uncomfortable and stupid.

I don't think most accounting professionals intentionally make their clients feel uncomfortable and stupid. I think we're so accustomed to speaking our own language that we forget how unfamiliar it sounds to someone outside our industry. Especially for business owners that have never had any formal financial training. Zero of your terms will be common language to them.

We throw around terms like accruals, reconciliations, liabilities, depreciation, and estimated tax payments as though everyone should know what they mean.

But why would they?

Our clients didn't go to school for accounting. They didn't spend years learning financial reporting or studying tax regulations. They started businesses because they were passionate about something entirely different.

And that's exactly why they hired us! To help them. Not make them feel like more of an imposter.

They don't necessarily know which financial deadlines are approaching, how much money they should be setting aside for taxes, or why their Profit & Loss looks different from their bank balance. They are trusting us to help them understand those things.

It is our responsibility to simplify the information, explain why it matters, and create an environment where our clients feel comfortable asking questions.

I want you to think about the last time you had to do something that made you feel completely out of your element.

Maybe you were sitting in a doctor's office trying to understand medical terminology. Maybe you were meeting with an attorney, buying a house, or trying to figure out something technical that everyone else seemed to understand.

Remember how uncomfortable that felt? How you worried about asking a question because you didn't want to look foolish? That feeling is how some of our clients feel EVERY SINGLE TIME THEY MEET WITH US.

And I think we have an incredible opportunity to change that.

Imagine being the accountant your clients actually look forward to meeting with. The person they feel safe enough to tell when they're struggling financially, when they've made a mistake, or when they're dreaming about something that feels completely out of reach.

Imagine what those relationships could become if our clients knew they would understand our vocabulary, that they would never be judged for asking a question, admitting they didn't understand something, or needing a little extra encouragement to show up.

Because at the end of the day, our job is about so much more than producing accurate financial reports. We're supporting human beings who have poured their hearts, savings, and years of their lives into building something meaningful.

And I believe they deserve to feel cared for throughout that process,
Crys 🦄

P.S. For Accounting Professionals:

💜 Join my CFO Advisory Institute! If you're a bookkeeper, accountant, or CPA who wants to build deeper relationships with your clients and learn how to turn their financial information into meaningful conversations about their goals, this mentorship was created for you!

The CFO Advisory Institute officially launches January 1, 2027. VIP Enrollment is now open! Learn more about the CFO Advisory Institute here.