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lone. Rather, success is best accomplished when everyone in the firm works together to reinforce the firm's unique selling proposition. Linking marketing to profitability? At times it does sound like a magic trick. If you understand the elements that make up profitability and evaluate how marketing can influence each, it becomes easier to see the direct relationship between the two. Once this connection is understood, you can effectively implement marketing activities that will positively drive the profitability of your firm. According to industry reports, estimated billings for accountants providing payroll services to small business clients can range from $480 to $1,700 per client per year. If you are willing to invest a small amount of time and money into understanding payroll and how to market it as a service to clients, your annual profits could increase exponentially.

There are four basic concepts that drive profitability in a CPA firm: (Mostad)
* Chargeable Hours
* Realization Rates
* Effective Use of Non-Chargeable Time
* Cost Control

Clearly, the more business you bring in through marketing activities, the more chargeable hours you will have. (Mostad) Having a solid growth plan for future new business also makes it easier to cull unprofitable clients. Every CPA firm has a certain amount of time they know their staff and partners will not be able to charge to clients. But that doesn't mean non-chargeable time has to be unprofitable. If that time is focused on activities such as business development, new product development, or staff development, in the long run it will be profitable. The second way marketing contributes to better use of non-chargeable time is by making the most of proposals. Following a strategic marketing plan helps your firm avoid ad hoc, unfocused, individual marketing activity that wastes both time and money. It will save costs overall if you follow an integrated marketing plan concentrated on the right target market.

Marketing director Maggy MacPherson, of regional CPA firm Beard Miller Co. LLP, in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, recognized what few firms like to admit - her firm's Web site needs a lot of work. 'The site is not very user-friendly right now,' said MacPherson, who is leading the redesign of a new site that at press time was scheduled for an October 1 launch. 'We'll have a stronger message about the firm, our philosophy, and a new look and feel. It will be graphically interesting, but still simple and easy to use.'

MacPherson said that the firm updated information in past years to the Web site, but never redesigned the portal, making it hard to locate information and therefore not as helpful to existing or prospective clients as it needed to be.

Web sites are one of the farthest-reaching marketing tools for CPAs today, and can't be thought of as an added feature any longer, said Tracey Segarra, marketing director for New York City-based Citrin Cooperman & Co. LLP. Without having an online presence, or with an outdated Web site, firms are seen as unprofessional and antiquated. The cost of building and maintaining a Web site is well worth the reward, and does not necessarily mean spending thousands of dollars if the firm finds the right designer. Web sites as marketing tools is not a new concept, but there are still a number of CPA firms th