Introduction
Roberts Cowling is a progressive Brisbane accounting firm serving clients across Australia. When principal Ben Roberts recognised that their advisory services lacked the structure and professionalism their clients deserved, he turned to Brieff to transform their quarterly accountability meetings.
The result was a systematic approach that improved client outcomes and justified premium pricing, including one client who saved $600,000 annually by acting on recommendations earlier.
The challenge of structuring advisory
"The major one is structured advisory," Ben explains. "We wanted to move beyond just giving clients an A4 sheet with the projects they committed to and then having to manually check in during the quarter."
Without systematic follow-up, commitments languished. "Typically what happens is they realise the next accountability meeting is coming up, but two days before that meeting they've ticked off those projects." The reactive approach meant missed opportunities, and dented professional credibility.
"It's the middle piece to our quarterly accountability service now and everything else plugs into it."
Ben Roberts, Roberts CowlingWhy Roberts Cowling chose Brieff
The firm needed a platform that integrated with their workflow while adding professional structure. Brieff's focus on the complete client cycle, from agendas to automated communication to progress tracking, was the fit. "It sort of completes the puzzle," Ben says.
Onboarding sealed it: "I think we'd not even been a 30 minute onboarding call and I think I'd already set up two clients in that time."
How they use Brieff
Brieff provides consistent agenda templates and goal-setting frameworks so the team doesn't recreate meeting structures each quarter. Automated reminders keep clients engaged with their commitments throughout the quarter, not just before the next meeting, and notifications alert Ben the moment a client completes a task.
The impact
Clients now act earlier. "They tick off their goals earlier than what they did previously… which means they drag that impact forward." In one case, a Victorian client saved $600,000 annually by implementing recommendations sooner.
The structured approach elevated the service. "I can probably justify our higher price for it because we are actually constantly following them up." And retention is perfect: "Every client that I've ever had in quarterly accountability is still on them. No one's ever dropped off."
