"My last guy did it free."

Easily the most annoying sentence in the English language if you run an advisory-focused CPA firm.

That one line is the lovechild of three problems:

1. Hourly billing conditioning clients to see you as a cost,

2. Years of giving away advisory during tax prep, and

3. Zero structure around how you present and price value.

A CAS firm that moved from hourly to value pricing grew revenue per client by 61% by bundling outcomes instead of selling hours. Same brains, same humans, different pricing strategy.

This is the playbook.

Why "My Last Guy Did It Free" Shows Up

That objection is not about your price.

It’s a symptom of how the last accountant trained them to think:

• "Quick questions" became free 30–60 minute consults.

• Tax prep meetings turned into tax strategy, cash flow coaching, and business advisory… all buried in a $800 1040 or $2,500 S corp fee.

• Nobody labeled “advisory” as a separate, billable service, so clients assume it should be free forever.

Add in AI and tax software noise, and you get lines like:

“They think AI is going to do all the advisory work for free soon. How do I compete with that perception?”

If you're still charging like a form-filler, you’ve basically agreed with them.

Principle 1: Separate Compliance From Advisory Publicly

If advisory is invisible, the only thing they see on the invoice is “tax return.” That’s what they anchor your price to.

You want two lanes in your firm:

Lane 1: Compliance lane

Examples: 1040s, business returns, payroll filings, basic bookkeeping
Positioning: Required, standardized, limited scope

Lane 2: Advisory lane

Examples: tax strategy plans, CFO services, profit optimization, 1031 planning, pricing models
Positioning: Optional, high impact, capacity-limited, outcome-driven

Clients push back with “my last guy never charged for this” because nobody before you had the spine to say:

"That’s advisory. Different service, different scope, different outcome."

So you build that line in your process.

Principle 2: Use Tiers To Anchor Value, Not Hours

Value pricing lets you pricethe outcomeand set the highest price you can charge without killing demand.

For advisory, that means good / better / best packages that reframe their thinking away from “free” to “how big of a result do I want?”

For example, for an SMB CFO offer:

• Tier 1: Essentials – monthly reporting, 1 strategy call, basic KPIs

• Tier 2: Growth – everything in Tier 1 + cash flow forecasting + tax planning + implementation support

• Tier 3: Scale – everything in Growth + pricing strategy, financing support, and direct access

Why this kills the “last guy was free” objection:

• You’re not justifying “why I charge”

• You’re asking “which level of outcome do you want?”

Clients often move to mid or top tier when they see a premium option, which is exactly how value pricing increases revenue per client by 20–61%.

Principle 3: Script Your Response To "My Last Guy Did It Free"

Never argue. Reframe.

Step 1: Acknowledge without apologizing.

"Yeah, a lot of firms bundle advisory in for free. That’s usually why they’re burnt out and can’t be proactive."

Step 2: Separate you from “last guy.”

"We run a different model. Tax returns here are just the ticket to the game. The real value is in proactive planning that saves you money and grows profit. That’s what this advisory package is."

Step 3: Quantify the gap.

"Out of curiosity, how much did your last firm actually save you in taxes over the last 3 years? Did they show you a plan on paper?"

Most say no. Good. Now:

"That’s the difference. You weren’t paying for advisory because you weren’t getting advisory. You were getting forms. This engagement is about outcomes, not filings."

Step 4: Tie price to outcome.

"If this plan puts an extra $40k in your pocket over the next 12 months, is a $2k/month investment reasonable?"

Now you’re not defending your fee. You’re defending their ROI.

Principle 4: Show Your Work (Once) With a “Paid Diagnostic”

CPAs accidentally train clients to expect free advisory during sales calls.

Fix it with a paid diagnostic: low-ticket, high-value front-end offer that proves your brain is not a commodity.

Example:

• “Tax Optimization Diagnostic” – flat $750–$2k

• Includes: last 2–3 year return review, risk scan, missed deductions, entity check, 12-month tax planning outline

Then, apply the fee toward an annual advisory package if they move forward.

Why this works:

• Filters price-shoppers who only wanted free ideas

• Shows literal dollars on the table (missed deductions, bad structure, etc.)

• Makes the bigger advisory fee feel safer because they’ve sampled your thinking

If every diagnostic uncovers $10k–$50k in errors or missed opportunities, a $1,500/month plan suddenly looks like a 61% revenue bump for you and a huge win for them.

Principle 5: Use Proof And Numbers, Not “Trust Me”

You kill “my last guy did it free” with math, not vibes.

Bring:

• Before/after stories: “This client was paying $Xk in tax. After re-structuring + planning, it dropped by $Yk.”

• Benchmarks: CAS/value-priced firms lifting revenue per client and margins significantly.

• Simple ROI equations: “This advisory adds ~$60k/year to your bottom line. Fee is $18k. That’s a 3.3x return.”

You’re selling an asset that throws off returns, not a cost line item. Value-based pricing is explicitly about profit maximization, not fairness to the hour.

Principle 6: Stop Apologizing For Monthly Fees

A ton of CPAs are getting hammered with “no monthly fees” and “I just want the tax return.”

That’s just misalignment between your model and their mindset.

Your options:

• Keep them and stay stuck in the low-fee loop

• Or flip the script: “Our firm works on monthly advisory retainers. If you’re looking for once-a-year tax prep only, we’re not the right fit.”

CAS and advisory firms that lean into recurring value-based pricing build more predictable cash flow and healthier margins than project-only shops.

That’s where the 61% revenue bump comes from: you change the business model, not just the rate.

What A 61% Revenue Bump Actually Looks Like

Let’s say:

• 40 business clients

• Average annual revenue per client: $3k

• Total: $120k

You roll out a value pricing model:

• 10 cheapos fired or downgraded

• 30 clients moved to advisory tiers averaging $4.8k/year

Revenue:

• 30 × $4.8k = $144k

• 10 smaller clients at $2k = $20k

• New total: $164k

That’s a ~37% bump right there before you even get aggressive. Layer in a few $10k+ advisory retainers and you’re very quickly past 61% uplift with fewer, better clients.

The punchline: the objection you fear is literally the doorway to a more profitable firm. You just need the script and the backbone.