The Hidden Factor Draining Your Firm’s Margins

Ask 10 firm leaders what’s keeping them up at night, and 9 out of 10 of them will say:

• Staffing
• Retention

Talent is a top pressure point for firms. But the truth is, even firms with strong teams still run into major roadblocks. I learned this early on in my career. Even with great people, your margins can still slip away.

And the hidden culprit, hiding in plain sight, is unclear or incomplete client requests.

My First Run-In with the Client Readiness Gap

Back when I was working in public accounting, we had an engagement that should have been relatively straightforward. It was an audit that the firm I was working at had handled for years. The client was responsive, the team was really strong, but we were still constantly behind.

Why?

It was the endless back-and-forth of trying to get the correct information. I’d send a request, wait a few days, make a call, then finally get a reply… Only to realize the document was incorrect, in the wrong format, or missing details.

So, from there, I’d set another follow-up. Then another. So much time was spent managing this back-and-forth. By the end of the busy season, I was spending more time tracking down information than actually doing the work.

I was frustrated. The client became frustrated. My team became frustrated. Deadlines slipped, and there was no amount of “just adding additional staff” that would have fixed it. If only I had a platform like Suralink that could centralize requests and track responses, much of this could have been avoided.

During this time, I didn’t know what to call this problem, but I now know that this was the Client Readiness Gap in action. 

The Hidden Cost of Missed Requests

I would love to say I’m taken aback by Suralink’s State of Audit Efficiency report where they found that only 36% of requests are fulfilled correctly the first time, but I’m not. That stat reflects exactly what I experienced: two out of three times, your clients are giving you forms that are incomplete, inaccurate, or in the wrong format.

When that happens, deadlines slip, rework piles up, client and team happiness fall, and margins begin to decline.

Imagine this scenario:

• A client uploads an incomplete or wrong file.
• Your staff reviews the file, identifies issues and sends a follow-up.
• Clients take days to respond, and your staff waits for clarification.
• Team member frustration rises, budgets rise and deadlines slip.

If the client doesn’t respond for a week, it puts your entire team behind. One or two clients with unclear requests or documents are easy to overcome, but it’s nearly two in three clients who have problems getting requests right the first time. 

These inefficiencies aren’t just frustrating; they directly eat into your profitability. For audits, the research shows:

• 25% of audits fail to meet realization targets.
• 22% of engagements exceed the original fee quote.
• 26% of engagements miss deadlines

These inefficiencies erode your margins and frustrate your team. At the same time, your clients are dealing with their own set of challenges.

The Client’s Perspective

If you’re feeling frustrated by your current process, you may be tempted to blame the client. But the client is experiencing a similar story.

According to Suralink’s Inside the Client Experience report, 70% of clients said unclear or incomplete instructions were the reason they couldn’t provide what firms needed.

The reality is that clients want to help. They don’t ignore requests on purpose. But lack of context, vague asks, and scattered communication can make it difficult to respond properly.

According to that same report:

• 38% of clients said they needed clarification but were unable to receive timely support from their engagement team.
• 47% of clients said the request felt irrelevant or misaligned with previous discussions.

When every engagement feels like a second job for clients, it’s easy to see why they question the value of the service. 

Fortunately, this is a problem that’s easier to fix than you might think. 

But the solution doesn’t necessarily involve hiring more people.

Here’s Why More Staff Won’t Fix It

I’ll never forget the moment our team realized we were drowning. This was not because of the work itself, but because of the endless chase for the right information.

It was on a warm evening, everyone was tired, actually, no, we were all exhausted from working long hours, and the manager broke down. He said, “We are over budget and way behind. Something has to change.”

In the middle of this chaos, the natural thought was, “Let’s just add more people to solve the problem.” 

So more people were added to the engagement. 

And what I learned during that experience is something that has stuck with me ever since: 

Hiring more staff won’t fix a broken process.

In my case, adding more team members didn’t make the process smoother. Truthfully, it only added to the chaos. More emails. More follow-ups. More cooks in the kitchen.

The core problem remained: unclear requests were creating drag. If you don’t have clear processes for requesting, tracking, and validating client information, increasing your headcount won’t solve the problem. It will only lead to more people chasing the same issues.

Poor workflows swallow up the limited capacity that firms already have, leading to higher rates of burnout and turnover.

During this time, I realized that if you don’t fix the way information flows, no amount of extra hands will keep the engagement on track.

The key to success is to improve your request process.

Four Steps to Improve Request Accuracy

Firms that improve their request accuracy and streamline client collaboration see major gains. In fact, firms that are using Suralink already report a 40%+ time savings across their engagements.

It’s worth the time and effort to revamp your processes to achieve such a positive outcome.Not sure where to start? Follow these four steps.

1. Redesign Requests for Clarity

Be as specific as possible with your requests. Instead of asking for “bank statements,” ask for “January-March 2025 checking account statements in PDF format.”

The more information and context you can provide, the higher the likelihood that the request will be accurate the first time.

2. Centralize Collaboration

Email chains and Excel trackers are messy. It’s easy to lose track of what’s been delivered and whether information is missing.

Instead, focus on centralizing client collaboration. Provide clients and staff with a single source of truth where they can view, upload, and comment on requests.

Having a single platform for collaboration eliminates duplicate work and reduces confusion. That’s why many firms are moving to request management platforms like Suralink, which keeps everyone aligned and eliminates scattered email chains.

3. Explain the Why

Tell clients why you need the information you’re requesting. Adding context can reduce back-and-forth messages and increase the likelihood of them responding correctly. Why? Because they understand the purpose behind your request.

Tools that allow you to add in-context comments, like Suralink’s pinned notes on documents, make it easy to explain the “why.”

4. Measure Accuracy

Implementing changes is just one piece of the puzzle. You need a framework to measure accuracy to see if those changes are paying off.

Make sure that you’re tracking how many requests are fulfilled correctly the first time. 

Many firms skip this step, but it’s important to remember that what gets measured can be improved.

Final Thoughts

Staffing is a top challenge for firms, but it’s not the only one. 

The Client Readiness Gap might not show up on your org chart, but it’s quietly eroding margins across firms every day.

I’ve lived it. I’ve felt the frustration. And I’ve seen that more staff isn’t the answer.

The good news? Compared to recruiting and retention, this is an issue that’s surprisingly easy to solve with the right tools. 

Use the guide above to revamp your processes and send clear requests the first time. Your staff, your clients, and your margins will thank you.

Bio for blog

Katie Thomas, CPA is a 40 under 40 CPA Practice Advisor recipient, Top 50 Women in Accounting recipient, and the owner of Leaders Online, where they help accounting and B2A (business to accounting) professionals increase their impact, influence, and income through thought leadership and digital marketing. To get in touch with Katie, visit www.leaders-online.com.