Communicating client fee increases with confidence

21 April 2026

Last updated: 21 April 2026

Gemma Marjoribanks
Practice Support Specialist

Rising costs are pushing businesses, including accountancy firms, to review fees and cut unprofitable services. Many want to act but lack confidence, leading to delays or blanket price rises that may not suit their firm. With clients also under pressure, clarity on your needs, the value you deliver, and confident communication can make fee changes far easier.

Pricing with confidence

As accountants you’re used to talking with clients about pricing, margins and value, and helping them grow their profits. But it can still feel uncomfortable letting them know about your own fee increases. There are a few things you can do to feel more confident in your communications about fee increases with clients.

Know your firm’s numbers

With costs increasing and changes happening, understanding how your firm is currently doing is key for making any financial decisions. Make sure you know your forecast monthly costs, including any known or estimated increases. Identify your most and least profitable services.

You may understand all of this for clients, but firms sometimes neglect doing this work for themselves, so take time to review your numbers and carry out scenario planning for your own firm. This can help you make informed decisions, support long-term success and allow you to increase your prices to the right level. You also need to decide whether you’re going to increase every fee or focus on specific services, based on your margins.

Once you know your numbers, evaluate your current pricing model. There may be various ways you’re currently billing clients.

Monthly pricing packages

- More firms now offer a set monthly price to clients in return for an agreed amount of work. This can benefit your own monthly cashflow, as well as that of your clients’, by offering a steady and predictable level of fees each month.
- When you evaluate your pricing model, look at what’s included in your monthly packages. Which packages are most clients on? Are these packages still profitable for your firm?
- For example, some clients may have grown, so their scope of work has increased, but they’re still paying the same monthly fee.
Fixed annual fees

- Many firms have fixed annual fees for work like accounts and tax returns. These fees are often increased each year by a standard inflation-based percentage.

- As you head into a new tax year, take a fresh look at whether those fees are still profitable, fair for your clients and right for your firm, or whether they need adjusting.
Hourly billing

- Charging by the hour is still common practice for many firms. However, it can feel unpredictable for clients who want certainty over their costs, and it’s becoming less attractive as a pricing model.
- As technology evolves, particularly with the use of AI and task automation, hourly billing may no longer reflect the value of your firm. Tasks may take less time, but the expertise and value you’re providing for your clients haven’t changed. If anything, they’re likely to have increased.
Fees for one off projects

- You may be engaged to do one-off projects for clients. This fee may be a standard one for the type of project, such as helping prepare the financials for a business plan or assisting a client in switching accounting software.
- Understanding how these have gone in the past and how profitable projects have been can allow you to make an informed decision on whether you need to adjust your prices here.
- Knowing what your competitors charge can be useful. However, it’s important to be understand the accounting market, and know where you want to compete in terms of price and the message that sends.

Understand the value you provide to clients

The role of the accountant has changed in recent years. Accountants now work more closely with clients, staying in regular contact and offering timely advice on their business.

This support helps clients make informed and timely decisions, understand their tax liabilities and plan strategically. It also helps them make their own pricing decisions and focus on the areas that matter most.

This is an important role and one that should be valued.

Consider when you last put your prices up

If it’s been a while since you last increased your fees, your clients may be expecting it. In fact, they may be wondering why you haven’t already.

If you've recently increased your prices but aren’t seeing the profit you’d like, it’s worth getting started with planning for next time, doing the in-depth work on your margins, and working out where you’re most and least profitable.

Communicate with clients

Often, how clients react to pricing changes isn’t about the pricing itself, but how the changes are communicated. Take time to plan your approach so clients receive the message clearly and in the best possible way.

Give clients plenty of notice and explain the change in clear terms. While price increases aren't always welcome, they’re rarely unexpected. Being transparent about your expectations with clients can help maintain trust. Rushing a last-minute price increase or sending a higher-than-expected invoice to a client is more likely to lead to pushback and complaints.

If you have regular catch ups or meetings with clients, talk to them about your price increases prior to sending any written communication. Explain what’s changing and why. Prepare for questions and challenges but stay clear and confident in your message.

Follow up with written communication, giving them at least 60 days’ notice of the new prices. This gives clients time to factor the increase into their own cash flow estimates, especially if they pay a monthly fee.

Keep your team informed. Staff who deal with clients regularly need to understand the changes and how to explain them if they receive queries. Agree clear messaging across the firm so that all clients receive a consistent explanation. Put a clear process in place to capture any feedback and escalate any strong responses that might severely impact the client relationship, including the client remaining with the firm.

Remember, your clients are running businesses too. Many of them will have put their own prices up recently, often with your guidance, and most will understand. Some may still push back on the increase, so being confident in why it’s necessary will allow you to handle any difficult conversations with confidence.

Once you’ve made the decisions and had the discussions, it’s time to increase your prices in line with what has been agreed and when. Make sure to update your invoicing software, as well as engagement letters and any other places you display your prices, including your website and social media.