In a profession where many CPAs and accountants operate as generalists, specializing within a niche can provide a huge competitive advantage.  Many firms have realized that the more focused their practices become, the more their practices grow.  Plus, clients and prospects will travel further, wait longer, and also pay higher fees to work with a specialist.

In this course, Andrew Schwartz CPA explains to accountants new to the profession the value to becoming a specialist. According to Andrew, specializing in a niche allows an accountant to build a much deeper knowledge base in his or her area of interest and expertise, allowing that accountant to work more effectively and also provide clients, prospects and referrers with better information, advice and strategies. Many course attendees will leave the session with a new excitement to commit to a niche and will realize how easy it is to build a successful firm or practice group working primarily with only those clients from industries or other niches that you actually choose to work with.

According to one of Andrew’s colleagues who began building his niche CPA practice in the late 1990’s: “My CPA practice has grown 500% over ten year and my success has largely been due to working to create a niche practice. Clients really appreciate the value you bring when you know their industry. It sets you apart from the competition.”

Course Key Concepts: Accountant, CPA, niche, specialist, specialty, benchmark

Learning Objectives
  • Recognize how specializing within a niche is preferable to operating as a generalist for accountants working in today’s competitive business environment
  • Discover how to create a concise vision statement and a meaningful tagline for your firm’s specialty using examples provided in the course
  • Explore real-life benchmarking examples created by Andrew for his niche client base
Last updated/reviewed: March 19, 2024
3 Reviews (13 ratings)

Reviews

5
Anonymous Author
This is a great course that gives an insight into why specialized skillset can improve your earning potential for small accounting firm. The instructor did a great job on benchmarking and giving examples to dentistry industry. Thank you for insight!

5
Anonymous Author
Great job, thank you so much, very informative, wonderful!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

5
Member's Profile
Great information given for topic. Would recommend to others.

Prerequisites
Course Complexity: Foundational

No advanced preparation or prerequisites are required for this course.

Education Provider Information
Company: Illumeo, Inc., 75 East Santa Clara St., Suite 1215, San Jose, CA 95113
Contact: For more information regarding this course, including complaint and cancellation policies, please contact our offices at (408) 400- 3993 or send an e-mail to .
Instructor for this course
Course Syllabus
Introduction And Overview
  Introduction to The Benefits of Becoming A Specialist8:10
  The Benefits of Becoming A Specialist6:45
  The Generalist's Challenge3:39
  Commit to Your Niche9:13
  Turbo Charge Your Specialty with Benchmarking13:33
  Practice Overhead9:57
  Staff Matters5:32
  Productivity Metrics5:50
  Network with Other Specialists5:53
Continuous Play
  The Benefits of Becoming a Specialist for Accountants New to the Profession1:08:05
Supporting Material
  Slides: The Benefits of Becoming a Specialist for Accountants New to the ProfessionPDF
  The Benefits of Becoming a Specialist for Accountants New to the Profession Glossary/IndexPDF
Review And Test
  REVIEW QUESTIONSquiz
 FINAL EXAMexam