Why do write-up? These tools help keep write-up profitable

Practical Accountant, The, December, 2002 by Tom Davis

Back in 1982, the firm that I was working at decided to get into the computer technology business because it saw a change about to occur to a major part of its business.

This firm performed monthly write-up services for several hundred clients. It was concerned that many clients would look at low-cost accounting packages to perform their own bookkeeping services.

Well, here we are 20 years later and write-up services are still with us, as are many issues we faced in 1982. Write-up is still considered to be a low-value service by many firms, and it is still hard to find qualified staff to perform write-up.

So why are clients still coming to accounting firms for write-up? It's because they need it. Low-cost accounting software is a small part of the...