What Are Client Advisory Services?

Client Advisory Services aren't just upgraded bookkeeping or an excuse to charge more—they’re an intentional, ongoing effort to help businesses understand, interpret, and act on their financial data. Think of it as moving from “recording the past” to “designing the future.”

Client Advisory puts your firm on your clients’ frontline battle for market success. Once you engage clients with these services, you become an essential part of their operations, making you an invaluable resource they’ll come to year-round. Sounds great, right?

Here are some of the key components:

• Forecasting, Cash‑Flow Modeling & Outsourced CFO Services

  Encompasses rolling forecasts, scenario planning, cash runway analysis, and outsourced CFO engagements that provide clients with consistent, strategic financial leadership—without hiring a full-time executive.

• Budgeting & Strategic Planning

  Covers building budgets, setting performance targets, identifying financial goals, and tracking progress through KPIs and dashboards.

• Tech & Automation Consulting

  Involves recommending and helping implement tools that improve workflows, integrate data sources, and reduce time spent on manual tasks.

• Benchmarking & Industry Insights

  Offers clients comparative data to see how they stack up against peers, identify areas of strength or weakness, and spot opportunities for growth.

• Virtual CFO / High-Level Advisory

  Provides executive-level support in areas like pricing strategy, hiring plans, fundraising, entity structuring, and expansion guidance—without needing a full-time CFO. (Yes, this overlaps with the point above. And yes, that’s kind of the point.)

• Tax Planning & Strategy (Depending on the Firm)

  While some firms treat tax as separate from CAS, others include year-round tax strategy, estimated payment planning, entity-level tax optimization, and education around regulatory changes as part of a holistic advisory approach.

In the end, really any business advice you can provide that isn’t steeped in compliance could be considered CAS. That’s part of the reason opinions vary on what it includes. For the record, you probably shouldn’t charge for restaurant or movie suggestions. But you do you.

What CAS isn’t? As we just said, it’s not compliance with a few pretty charts on top. It’s not a one-time deliverable. And it’s definitely not “whatever we don’t want to call bookkeeping.” Perhaps most importantly, it’s not one-size-fits-all. CAS customizes according to client need. That’s what makes it so valuable.

Why Are Firms Prioritizing CAS?

Let’s be honest: CAS isn’t just a feel-good idea. It’s a revenue engine.

• The 2024 CPA.com and AICPA PCPS CAS Benchmark Survey showed CAS practices grew 17% year-over-year, with a 29% increase in median net fees per professional—up to $156,250.

• Firms that embrace advisory services have seen up to 473% growth in that segment alone, according to Thomson Reuters.

• 85% of firms surveyed by Xero in late 2023 said they now offer CAS—up from just 41% the year before. Clients want it. Firms profit from it.

So if you're wondering what are client advisory services doing for firms financially—the answer is: a lot. In short: CAS isn’t just a smart move—it’s increasingly a necessary one for firms that want to stay competitive.

CAS in Everyday Terms

If compliance-based services are about checking boxes, CAS is about doodling in the margins. Compliance activities, like audit and tax processing and filing, provide much of the raw data advisors use in their work, but are not in and of themselves advisory—because they’re missing the “here’s what this means,” and the “here’s what you should do next.” 

CAS is about partnering with clients in the strategic AND tactical decision making they have to do on a regular basis. That goes beyond delivering a file they can send out to the government showing they’re crossed their proverbial Ts.

What It Takes to Deliver CAS

• Consistent Client Conversations

  CAS is a relationship, not a report. Firms that succeed in this space build in regular check-ins, planning sessions, and strategic reviews. This is in-the-weeds, roll-up-your-sleeves-and-dive-in work.

• Clear Service Packaging

  Firms that offer CAS successfully tend to standardize how they offer it. Think tiered service models, fixed-fee pricing (or even value-based, which might be especially attractive to smaller clients), and clearly defined deliverables.

• Technology Infrastructure

  Advisory services thrive on clean data. That means automating bookkeeping, integrating systems, and using real-time dashboards to fuel insights.

• Trained Staff

  Delivering CAS often requires accountants to shift from “doing” to “advising.” Soft skills like communication, listening, and strategic thinking become just as important as debits and credits.