Advisory should be priced on the value and clarity of a defined package, not on hours or folded quietly into compliance fees. Fix a small number of fixed-scope advisory packages with clear deliverables, price them against the outcome for the client rather than time spent, and hold the price with confidence — discounting a defined package signals the offer wasn’t worth the price in the first place.
Why advisory so often gets underpriced
Compliance work has a rhythm firms know well: a return, a filing, a fee that’s roughly proportional to the effort. Advisory doesn’t fit that pattern, so many firms either bill it by the hour — which punishes efficiency and creates awkward conversations — or throw it in free with compliance to justify a fee increase. Both approaches make advisory hard to scale, because neither reflects what the work is actually worth to the client. See how to move from compliance to advisory for the capacity side of this problem.
1. Define fixed packages, not open-ended time
Pick two or three advisory offers — a quarterly review, a cashflow forecast, a growth or exit planning package — and fix exactly what’s included, what isn’t, and what the client walks away with. A defined scope is what makes fixed pricing possible; open-ended “advisory support” almost always ends up billed by the hour because nobody can price what isn’t bounded.
2. Price against the outcome, not the time
A cashflow forecast that helps a client avoid a funding crisis, or a growth plan that shapes a six-figure decision, isn’t worth the same as the hours it took to produce. Anchor the price to what the work is worth to that client’s business, informed by firm size and complexity, rather than backing into it from a time budget.
3. Separate it clearly from compliance fees
If advisory is bundled invisibly into the compliance fee, clients never see it as something with its own value — and neither does your team, which makes it the first thing dropped when the firm gets busy. A distinct line item, even inside a combined package, makes the value visible and gives you something concrete to sell to existing compliance-only clients.
4. Hold the price and review it on a rhythm
Confidence in the price matters as much as the number itself — discounting a fixed-scope package the moment a client pushes back undermines the whole model. Review pricing periodically as part of a regular operating rhythm, rather than negotiating case by case, so the packages stay consistent and defensible across the firm.
Pricing is an operating decision, not just a sales one
Getting advisory pricing right depends on the same things that make advisory deliverable at all: defined processes, freed-up capacity and a team that delivers consistently. That’s why pricing usually needs to be fixed alongside delivery, not on its own — the kind of joined-up change a structured engagement like the Optivo method is built to make.
Common questions
Should advisory be hourly or fixed fee?
Fixed fee for a defined package almost always works better — it rewards efficiency, gives the client certainty, and is easier to sell and to hold firm on than an open-ended hourly rate.
How much should we charge for advisory?
There’s no single UK figure — it depends on the package, the client’s size and complexity, and the value of the outcome. As a rough guide, start from what the work is worth to that client’s business, not from the hours it takes you to deliver it.
What if clients push back on the price?
Push-back usually means the scope or the value wasn’t made clear, not that the price is wrong. Revisit how the package is presented before discounting it — discounting a defined package erodes its perceived value for every client after.
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