The Perfect CAS Offering

Read Time: 5:00 minutes

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

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Every firm wants to build the perfect CAS offering.

A clean tech stack. Scalable workflows. Rock-solid pricing. It is the kind of thing you could present at a conference and get a round of applause for.

Here’s the problem: it doesn’t exist.

There’s no such thing as a perfect CAS offering. There’s always something to tweak, improve, or evolve. And waiting until it’s “just right” before launching? That’s the fastest way to kill your momentum—or worse, never start.

I was reminded of this on a recent trip to Tanzania. I was visiting a hospital my client supports. From a U.S. perspective, the facility was far from ideal. The nurses I was touring with pointed out some of the less-than-sterile conditions—there was even exposed rebar sticking out of the top floor, which they hoped to expand one day.

But the doctor I was with reminded us of something important: While the hospital wasn’t perfect, it still provided care to people who otherwise wouldn’t have access. Compared to many parts of Africa, it was a significant step forward.

That perspective applies to how we approach CAS, too.

While we obsess over building the “perfect CAS offering,” someone else is already meeting with clients, experimenting, helping business owners, and growing their accounting firm—even if the table is a little wobbly.

The Real Cost of Perfect

The need for perfection is ingrained in the accounting profession. I’ve wrestled with it myself, and I see it in accounting firms, especially when building out CAS.

One example that sticks with me: a Top 100 firm I know spent an entire year crafting what they hoped would be a perfect CAS offering. A whole year. Committees, planning documents, strategy decks, the works.

That CAS offering? It never fully launched.

Even worse, some of their top talent became frustrated with the lack of progress and left.

Meanwhile, small firms with little structure get a basic advisory meeting in front of a client, gather feedback, and build from there. It is not perfect, but it is a start. And starting wins every time.

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• 6 Fundamentals of Marketing Strategy Development with Chad Peterson (fractional CMO) on March 27th at 11 AM CST

• Inquisitive Selling - How to Close the Trust Gap and Scale your Firm with Michael Ly (firm owner) on April 2nd at 12 PM CST

• How to Build a Niche Go-to-Market (G2M) Strategy with Katie Thomas (digital marketing guru) on April 8th at 12 PM CST

• Finding Clients on Upwork and Fiverr with Tailor Hartman (firm owner) on April 18th at 1 PM CST

• How to Stop Spending Money on Job Ads That Aren’t Attracting the Right Applicants with Alex McFarland (accounting recruiting guru) on April 21st at 12 PM CST

• Built to CASh out – How to build a Scalable, Valuable, Exit-Ready Firm with Daniel Talbott (firm owner and accounting M&A guru) on April 28th at 12 PM CST

Starting or Expanding CAS in Your Accounting Firm, Try This Instead

Whether you’re standing up CAS for the first time or trying to test a new CAS service offering, here’s the approach to consider.

Pick One Thing to Focus On

Don’t try to build the complete offering all at once. Just pick one thing.

A quarterly advisory meeting is a great starting point. It’s simple, direct, and valuable. On day one, you don’t need dashboards and forecasts—just a conversation about where the business is headed and the owner’s goals.

You can layer in more later—forecasts, KPIs, etc.

Find One Client to Be Your Guinea Pig

You don’t need a full book of clients to test something new. You need one who’s open to trying something different.

Tell them you’re piloting a service and you’d love their feedback. Keep pricing flexible. Think of this like R&D—it might cost you more time, but you’ll learn fast.

Ask for Active Feedback

At the end of the meeting, ask: “On a scale from 1 to 10, how valuable was this for you?”

It’s a simple question but incredibly effective. If the score is under 8, follow up with, “What would have made it a 10?”

This loop helps you evolve the offering faster—and shape it around what clients want, not what you think they want.

Review What Worked (and What Didn’t)

After a few meetings, take time to review. What landed? What felt forced? Where did you struggle?

You’re not just building this service for your clients—you’re also building it for your team. If there’s a piece that always causes friction, cut it. If clients consistently ask for more of something, expand it.

This is your minimum viable service. You’re building a flexible foundation, not a finished skyscraper.

Get Internal Buy-In the Right Way

Bring your team in once you’ve got a few wins under your belt.

I like doing this over a casual lunch-and-learn. Share how it worked, what the client got out of it, and what your team should look for to uncover similar opportunities in their client base.

Real examples always beat theoretical frameworks. Your team is much more likely to engage when they see the practical value, not just another set of slides.

Add a Few More Clients and Repeat

Now, you’ve got something worth expanding. Add a few more clients into the mix. Continue to refine. Build your confidence—and your capacity—as you go.

Keep your feedback loops tight, stay flexible, and don’t forget: done is better than perfect.

The Wobbly Table Is Still Saving Lives

That operating table in Tanzania may not have looked impressive, but it still saved lives. The same goes for your early CAS offering.

It may not be shiny. You may still be figuring out the structure. But if it’s helping your clients see their business more clearly and make better decisions? That’s a win.

You don’t need perfection. You need to get going. The next time you catch yourself delaying a launch or over-architecting a CAS service offering, ask yourself this:

Are you building a hospital that serves patients—or waiting until the tile matches before opening the doors?

Let’s choose progress over perfection.

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