How I’m Restructuring CAS Proposals to Sell Advisory More Effectively

Read Time: 3:51 minutes

✋Welcome to The CAS Cache, a newsletter designed to help accounting firms grow their CAS offerings in five minutes or less.

Disclaimer: Some links below support my writing of this newsletter, and some give you a deal.

Issue Sponsor 😎

Micky Deming from Full Stadium Marketing recently delivered an outstanding presentation to The Kick C@$ Community. His team helps accounting firms accelerate growth through strategic clarity and targeted marketing execution. Book a strategy meeting today.

Want to sponsor The CAS Cache? Reply to this email to get more details.

I've been selling CAS for a while, and my proposals have worked well enough. However, I've recently been rethinking how I structure pricing conversations.

After digging into Alex Hormozi's 100M Money Models, I saw some ideas that struck me as more innovative ways to handle proposals: feature downsells, anchoring with premium tiers differently, and tying incentives to client behavior. I haven't implemented these yet, but I plan to start testing them because I believe they'll make the sales process more effective and give me more control.

This post is a look at how I'm changing my CAS sales approach.

Upcoming Live Events that I will be at:

• All Things CAS Roundtable - Have you got a question, challenge, or idea about running and growing your CAS service? Join our live, unrecorded monthly roundtable in The Kick C@$ Community. A space to ask anything and hear what’s working (or not) from fellow CAS leaders in real time on the second Tuesday of every month at 3 PM CST.

• The CAS Quarterly Marketing Roundtable - Marketing a CAS firm isn’t one-size-fits-all. This live, unrecorded quarterly roundtable is your space to crowdsource ideas, check your strategy, and hear what’s moving the needle—from lead gen and niche positioning to referrals, content, and beyond. Join us on October 22nd at 1 PM CST in The Kick C@$ Community.

• Speaking at Intuit Connect on October 27th through October 29th.

Why I Don't Negotiate on Price

Not long ago, I had a prospect push back on my full assessment fee of $5,500. They wanted me to cut the price.

Negotiating on price sets the wrong tone for me. It signals that my value is up for debate, and that's not how I want to start a CAS relationship.

Still, that experience made me think about how to handle similar situations in the future. Instead of walking away, could I offer a feature downsell?

Hormozi's approach is simple: remove features without lowering the price. For example:

• Full assessment with a money-back guarantee = $5,500.

• Stripped-down version with no guarantee = $3,000.

I haven't tried this yet, but it's the option I want to have ready next time. It gives the client a choice without my compromising my pricing.

Anchoring With the Big Number

Another change I'm planning is how I present tiers.

In the past, I'd lay them out in a proposal:

Bronze, Silver, Gold, with all the prices at the bottom. What usually happens is that the client zeroes in on the lowest number, and I can usually convince them to consider the middle tier.

Hormozi's framing made me realize I might be leaving money on the table. He talks about the psychology of anchoring, like putting a $16,000 suit on first and waiting for the customer's reaction before placing the next suit on them. In the example, Hormozi's body language indicated he couldn't afford it, so they moved him into a $2,000 suit. If he hadn't reacted negatively, they would have left money on the table moving downward.

In the future, I want to start with the premium option. Present the highest tier first, then work my way down. That way, I can assess the prospect's body language before moving to the next tier.

Using the Assessment to Drive Behavior and Upsells

In the last issue, I shared how I'm experimenting with credits from my full assessment to encourage CAS upsells. Instead of applying a flat credit, I'm testing tiered credits that reward clients who choose higher packages. This type of pricing model encourages clients to opt for more comprehensive engagements while still providing value at every level.

For example, my top tier would apply the assessment back as a credit over 3 months, the middle tier over 6 months, and the bottom tier over 12 months.

I haven't fully rolled this out yet, but I plan to use it selectively. The potential is clear: it sets expectations early, creates a natural path toward higher-value services, and aligns incentives on both sides. My goal is to refine this model over time and share what works best, so other firms can adapt it as well.

Why This Matters for Me (and Maybe for You)

I'm not sharing results here because I don't have them yet. What I do have is a new framework for how I want to sell CAS.

For me, the shift is about:

• Using feature downsells as an alternative to negotiating price.

• Presenting tiers differently.

• Designing proposals to read body language before moving on to a lower package.

• Using credits to incentivize behavior.

These changes will help me sell CAS more effectively, and I'm looking forward to testing them in live conversations.

Next Step: See the Full Breakdown

If you'd like to see exactly how I structure my proposals, I've recorded a 16-minute video for The Kick C@$ Community. It walks through the actual tiered proposal I've built and explains how I plan to present it. Feel free to R&D (rip off and duplicate) it for your own firm.

👉 Join the Kick C@$ Community.

Right now, I'm running a Hormozi "win your money back" guarantee:

• Join for 30 days at $60.

• Post an intro and interact once (attend a live event, create a post, or comment).

• At the end of 30 days:

  • Stay? I credit you 2 months ($120).

  • Leave? I will refund your $60.

Either way, you'll walk away with a CAS proposal template you can put to work immediately.

Thanks for reading, Luke Templin!

P.S. There are four ways I can help you grow your CAS offerings when you are ready:

1. Join my How to Start Offering Advisory Services Cohort.

2. Cannot wait until it starts? Check out the pre-recorded version here.

3. Join The Kick C@$ Community to grow your CAS offering alongside others doing the same.

4. Automated white-labeled financial digests for your clients with FinDaily.io