The Professional's Guide to Value Pricing 2000

Chapters 1 through 5 of the book cover a history of the accounting profession and move into why people buy what they buy, and how much they will pay.

Chapters 6 and 7 challenge the 40-year-old practice of hourly billing.

Chapter 8 looks at price psychology and at why professionals suffer from write-downs.

In Chapters 9 through 13 you will find alternative to the hourly billing method that are superior in obtaining the value for the services provided.

Chapter 14 reinforces the importance of customer service and loyalty. Chapter 15 is about making the transition from a compliance CPA to a consultant.

Chapter 16 discusses the morality of hourly billing vs. Value Pricing, along with some of the ethical quandaries that attorneys are struggling with as they shift away from hourly billing.

In Chapter 17 the critical link between a professional's level of self-esteem and the ability to Value Price is explored.

Chapters 18 and 19 are for those who want to delve deeper into theory and law and cover anti-trust policy and price theory.

Chapter 20 concludes with some thoughts regarding the death of the Almighty Hour and whether or not Value Pricing is a fad that will disappear or a portentous "paradigm shift" that will permanently alter the way in which professionals price their services.

Ronald J. Baker started his accounting career in 1984 with KPMG Peat Marwick's Private Business Advisory Services in San Francisco. Today, in Corte Madera, California, he is a partner in Baker & Barnett, CPAs--the firm he co-founded in 1988. He is a Contributing Editor in PARTNER-TO-PARTNER ADVISORY, published by Harcourt Professional Publishing. He travels across the United States as a frequent speaker at CPA events and conferences and as a consultant to CPA firms on implementing Total CPA Education Foundation and has authored four courses for them: HOW TO BUILD A SUCCESSFUL PRACTICE WITH TOTAL QUALITY SERVICE; THE SIFT FROM HOURLY BILLING TO VALUE PRICING; VALUE PRICING, PART II; and ALTERNATIVES TO THE FEDERAL INCOME TAX. He graduated in 1984 from San Francisco State University with a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and a minor in economics. He is also a graduate of Disney University. Mr. Baker currently resides in Petaluma, California.