Reasons to Specialize in a Vertical Market
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5. There is an abundance of software tools to help you specialize and add value

Specialization also means helping your client keep more and better detailed information about their specific type of business. Working with vertical-specific accounting software--software that goes beyond simple checkbooks accounting and begins to focus on the internal operational requirements of the business--introduces opportunities to add more value to the professional engagement.

Examples: Appgen’s MyBooks Professional is highly customizable for these purposes and their Custom Suite can be remarkably easy to modify for vertical markets. QuickBooks’s vertical applications include Premier Nonprofit and Premier Contractor. ComputerEase is another app for the construction industry and Yardi is tailored for property management.


6. You can become your clients’ expert consultant in these software tools

Retail stores, as another example, frequently require point-of-sale software to manage transactions at store locations. Contractors and construction companies require job costing and other types of software, which goes beyond simply managing the bank account. The accounting professional can be an important factor in determining when the business needs more in-depth tools, and can further impact the decision of which tools to implement.

Other examples include helping clients streamline workflow management and improve reporting the costs of operations, use of cash, sales, revenues, and profitability, all through specialty or customized software and other recommendations you provide the client.

7. Hosting such software can further add value to your specialization toolbox

If hosting bookkeeping software, such as QuickBooks, can help the accounting professional work closer with clients and add a distinctive service, then hosting vertical-specific accounting and business software in some cases, can do the same. By hosting these applications, you and your business clients can access data anytime and anywhere while also receiving virus protection and automatic backup of files. This can provide the added advantage of having a clients’ reporting data at your fingertips, regardless of their location, and streamline your consulting activity as an expert and specialized financial advisor.