Infographic comparing CPA compliance work versus advisory services showing three scenarios: lease signing, executive hiring, and expansion capital. Left side depicts CPAs as cleanup crew doing reactive compliance work while talent leaves. Right side shows Joy F.L.O.W. Method transforming CPAs into proactive advisors earning 3-5x premium fees through pattern recognition and strategic guidance.

You Gave Away $47K in Free Advice: CPA Pricing Guide

January 09, 20261 min read

You Gave Away $47K in Free Advice: CPA Pricing Guide

words - The CPA’s Role Upgrade: From Cleanup Crew to Indispensable Advisory, The Problem: Stuck in the Compliance Trap, The Solution: The Advisor’s Advantage, images of cleanup, paperwork, tax reports, phones, people coming through a door. Compliance verses transformation role, solution: advisor’s advantage, soluution: Joy F.L.O.W. Method™ with pictures of people

(Figure 1: Created with Notebook LM by Joy Francis)

by Joy Francis, CFO and AI Automation Strategist

You gave away $47,000 in free advisory last year.
Want the invoice?
Here's how it happened:
"Can you just look at this real quick?"
"Do you have a sec for a cash flow question?"
"What would YOU do in this situation?"
18 minutes here. 35 minutes there. 12 minutes on a Friday at 4:47 PM.
All of it strategic. All of it valuable. All of it billed at $0.
Your client left relieved.
You left drained.
And a consultant somewhere charged $15K for the exact same advice.
I'm legally blind. I can only see four characters at a time.
That limitation forced me to develop pattern recognition systems that find cash flow leaks in 30 minutes that other CFOs miss after weeks of analysis.
45 years. thousands of businesses. $350M+ in hidden cash found.
And here's the pattern I see in EVERY CPA practice:
You're already doing advisory work. You just don't know how to price it.
That ends today.
The $10K Engagement Starter Pack gives you:
→ The pricing framework that makes $10K–$15K feel inevitable, not ambitious
→ The proposal template that closes deals in 48 hours
→ The sales script that shifts "quick questions" into scoped engagements
→ The 48-hour challenge that gets you your first advisory conversation this week
$97 to stop giving away six-figure advice.
That's not an expense. That's self-respect.
Stop giving it away for free.
P.S. If you read this and thought "my clients won't pay that"—that's exactly why you need the mindset workbook that's included. The money is there. You just can't see it yet.
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Joy Francis, CFO & AI Automation Strategist

Most CPAs focus on compliance, but in 2025 that’s not enough. Discover 5 warning signs your CPA is holding your business back—and what a future-proof, strategic CPA can do for your growth.

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