Ah, the joys of figuring out your fees. What I manage as the Practice Administrator of the group is individual rates, family rates, group rates for EAP,  and then also EAL pricing. What I will share here are some of our strategies on how we set rates.

EAP Rates for EAP are based on regional averages. We surveyed what the average price was for an hour of therapy and went from there. We adjusted our rate to accommodate the fact that we are an experiential based program and NOT a talk therapy office-based program. We added 25% to the average cost so as to assist in covering expenses traditional therapy does not have. We have different rates for individual, family and group. Again, we looked at the professional market rate.

Horse Sense has not adjusted rates in five years and will in the coming months. My experience in health care is that rates for direct service (not merchandise or products) adjust every 3-5 years. The adjustment we make is based on reasonable percentage adjustment and increased operating costs. On average this could run from 5-15%. I will caution you on a double digit percent increase to services unless this is in line with market adjustments occurring within your community.

EAL Rates for EAL are different from EAP. This is because this is a different service, different market, and the market value for experiential personal, professional or corporate development is higher. Again, this is determined by regional market value and incorporates operating costs. We do adjust for non-profit and for-profit groups, and I would encourage you to do the same.

Getting prices together can be cumbersome. Take advantage of the resources you have at hand to determine these figures. There are good tools out there to help you determine fees thus saving you time and money.

Until Next Month,

Lisa

When I first became a coach back in 2000, I learned a very valuable tool from my own coach to help me set my first fees.

First, choose a number that you wouldn’t bat an eye at to say to someone else. For example, let’s say that you would feel comfortable asking $75/hr for your service.

Second, take that number and double it. Did you almost choke at the thought of charging $150/hr for your service? If you did – good! You’re a step closer to finding your fees. (If you didn’t almost choke, well that’s an indicator you started off too low to begin with!)

Third, now that you have the higher number that feels just a wee bit high, back down from that number and see how easily it rolls off your tongue. So if you try to say “my fees are $140 an hour” and it’s still too hard, get down to a number that you can comfortably say (you might still be a bit nervous but it will come out of your mouth). Perhaps it’s $125/hr or even $100/hr.

Whatever your end result, it is likely to be higher than your gut instinct. Remember that what you are selling is a highly specialized service and you deserve to be compensated emotionally, spiritually and financially appropriately! Believe in your pricing. You must believe that your EAP/EAL services are worth what you are charging or you will never be able to attract clients who see the value.

--- Coach Elizabeth

www.elizabethbarbour.com

As a timely reminder I wanted to throw down some general company tips to get your barn in order for the annual tax man.

• Purchase business assets before year end and take advantage of the (up to) $108,000 section 179 deduction.  See details at http://www.irs.gov/publications/p946/ch02.html#d0e2333.  I bought a computer at 11pm on December 31 once.  Good stuff.

• Defer income to next year.  If you are on the accrual basis, delay your billings.

• Prepay expenses this year.  Expenses on a credit card are deductible in the year charged (not paid), and if you are on the cash basis, paying your bills with cash early will get you a better deduction.

• Write off your client accounts that are uncollectible.  You get no tax benefit from waiting.

• If you are on the cash basis, pay out employee bonuses before year end.  If you are on the accrual basis, you will get the deduction even if you don’t actually pay them until next year

• Issue 1099 forms to your contractors.  If you paid anyone more than $600 for services, you will need to follow the instructions for issuing those forms.

• Have the company contribute to your 401k plan if you have one.

• If your company is going to have a loss as an S-Corp, LLC or Partnership, review your basis in the company with your CPA so that you can take advantage of the loss personally.

• Clean up your books for year end.  Hire a bookkeeper to clean it up, they are much less expensive than the tax accountant/CPA.

Feel free to contact me with questions, complaints go to the IRS!

Mike Sowinski, CPA

www.cfoconsultants.net

Hello fellow equine enthusiasts, and welcome to Mike’s CFO Corner.  The bucks stop here.

In my first installment, I will describe the kinds of challenges many businesses face, and hopefully give you some inside scoop on how well run businesses operate.

Some of the challenges facing Horse Sense and most other small businesses include slow and sometimes outdated financial information, an outdated financial plan, a lack of internal data that can be used to manage the business and make sound decisions, and holes in internal controls and policies and procedures.  Interestingly enough, all of these issues are generally not addressed by CPA firms!

The first step is to assess the current financial condition of your company.  This includes taking a look at how you are doing compared to the industry and other standard benchmarks.

Once you have identified any trouble areas, integrate into your business a way to address those problems in the future so that the company is always improving.  There are many techniques to gather and use financial data, make sure you use some!

The next step is to look into the future using a budget.  A more detailed description of the budget process will be posted on the trailblazer’s website soon.

Update your plan every month and compare to the actual results.  This step takes very little time, but you will see what is going wrong and you can fix it.

Remember, if you fail to plan, plan to fail.  I’ve never met a wealthy business owner that didn’t have a plan.

Mike Sowinski, CPA
Contact Mike