What is the right fee for client advice?

From an adviser business owner’s perspective, it is clear that your advice pricing and the fees clients pay for your advice and service, largely determine your overall success and profitability.

Where pricing can go wrong

Dan S. Kennedy and Jason Marrs identify several common pricing pitfalls in their book, No B.S. Price Strategy, including:

1. Pricing based on textbook formulas, industry norms or other “standard” approaches
2. Excess concern about competitors’ lower prices
3. Attracting clients who buy purely on price
4. Holding fixed beliefs about “what clients will pay”
5. Allowing apples to apples comparisons
6. Insufficient differentiation
7. Not offering premium pricing options
8. Poor understanding of business maths
9. Low self belief or business confidence (imposter syndrome)

While we won’t unpack each of these in detail here, they are worth reflecting on as they commonly underpin underperformance in adviser businesses.

What is everyone else charging?

If I had a dollar for every time I have been asked that question, I would have quite a few more dollars!

According to the Adviser Ratings 2025 survey, the average ongoing advice fee was $4,688 yet many advisers charge significantly less. In some cases, far less than their time, effort, risk and the value they deliver would justify. For some, this means operating with minimal or no real profit.

However, what others charge is largely irrelevant. It is useful context but the market is not you.

Price is only ever an issue in the absence of value. When you deliver meaningful, intrinsic outcomes and communicate that value clearly, your pricing becomes justified.

The real danger in benchmarking against other advisers is that without fully understanding your own value or believing in it, or knowing what value they provide, you may end up delivering exceptional service at an inferior fee. The result is predictable – underpayment, underperformance and unsustainable business outcomes.

Compared to what?

Another risk arises when advisers consider increasing fees. A common concern is “If I charge that amount, will clients see me as expensive?”

The better question is, compared to what?

Perception of price is always relative. It depends on who you are compared to and what you are compared against.

Most advisers I know deliver outstanding advice and service. Client surveys consistently show high levels of trust, appreciation and long-term loyalty.

So why do some advisers still undercharge?

In my view, the reasons are typically a combination of:

• Limited value delivery
• Lack of awareness of the true value they deliver
• Inability to clearly demonstrate or articulate that value
• Discomfort or anxiety in asking for appropriate fees

If you benchmark yourself against undercharging advisers, you are making the wrong comparison.

The answer

To arrive at the right fee structure, consider the following:

• Define your value – Develop a clear Client Value Proposition. Understand and articulate the full range of outcomes you deliver, both financial and emotional.
• Understand your cost to serve – Accurately calculate every component involved in delivering your advice and service. Be honest and thorough.
• Gather client feedback – Many advisers have never formally surveyed their clients. Loyal clients typically remain because they trust you and genuinely value what you do.
• Reflect on your value – Take the time to review all of the above. Recognise the true worth of your advice and your business.
• Set sustainable fees – Revisit your pricing and ensure all clients pay a fee that enables you to remain profitable, continue operating and consistently deliver high value outcomes.

The bottom line

As the Victorian thinker, John Ruskin is often credited with observing …

“It is unwise to pay too much, but it is worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money, that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because the thing you bought was incapable of doing what it was bought to do. The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot – it cannot be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run, and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something better.”

The team at Capstone can help you set the right fee for your practice. To find out how contact:

Kym Turner
Senior Practice Manager
Capstone Financial Planning
P: 03 8622 0719
E: k.turner@capstonefp.com.au