leadership

learning to ‘run with the big dogs’

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dogs run race adobestock_73651025 copytoday any firm can compete and win against the world’s largest firms.

by domenick j. esposito
8 steps to great

even these days – or, especially these days – there is room in the cpa firm market to build a powerful mid-market sustainable brand and, yes, potentially the category killer.

more from domenick j. esposito: the cpa success formula: ties that bind  |  8 steps to great: the vast new opportunities for smart, aggressive firms | and more…

the opportunity is there for the taking.

but you need to focus on what matters if you want to “run with the big dogs.”

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accountability is for everyone

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businesswoman working late at deskdo you credit others as much as you do yourself?

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

most firms consider accountability an essential part of their leadership practices.

more on performance management: base retirement on today’s operations | who decides what? | firms say what would change retirement pay | action plans for transitioning partners | how retirement issues affect succession planning | how partner ratings factor into equity | develop your employees or suffer the consequences | 5 harmful management attitudes (and how to fix them)

in the pcps top issues survey, for firms with 11 to 20 professionals, partner accountability/unity landed in second place. for firms with 21 or more professionals, this same issue ranked first in concerns to be addressed.
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weisermazars mp blake charts u.s. expansion

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blake
managing partner james blake

succession planning will be key to success.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 staff

weisermazars is looking to guarantee its success as a firm long into the future by helping its professionals find their own success earlier on in their careers.

the new york-based accounting and consulting firm, which ranks as the nation’s 23rd largest, has its up-and-coming professionals take over the responsibilities of partners nearing retirement under a process that begins very gradually some three years before the partners retire. and it grooms those up-and-comers to handle increased leadership roles via internal training programs conducted by its top executives.

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13 succession plan requirements

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time to retire clock facemake sure you’re not growing your own competition.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

there are various sections that should be included in any succession plan. we are not going to present you with a sample succession plan, but even better, to describe topic areas you should address in your plan.

more on performance management: base retirement on today’s operations | who decides what? | how involved should retired owners be? | how to find a partner’s replacement | best practices for mandatory retirement | 7 succession questions to ignore for now | the pitfalls of equity allocation and reallocation

as always, there are various best practices to consider as you put your plan together. for any succession plan to work, you have to start with consideration of the business model you use:
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everyone needs strategic planning

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and a7 main areas, with specific tips for each.

by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

question: do you recommend strategic planning for a small accounting practice?

more practice doctor q&a for pro members (go pro here): help clients, increase revenue: make sure everyone on staff knows your firm’s full menu of services | i made partner, now what? | how to sell your practice | when a client balks at necessary work | 14 ways to use timesheet data | how to make staff a team again | it’s not sales. it’s your duty | how to notify clients of a partner’s retirement | closed for tax season? looks that way | is joint representation a conflict? | lowballing and why it (usually) doesn’t work | what goes in a client’s permanent file?

answer: i recommend it for everyone. it is important for larger firms to make sure the partners are on the same page.
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who decides what?

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businessman looking thoughtfulyou need to ponder some questions before you answer.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

everywhere you turn, you overhear someone talking about, being asked about the status of, or referring to their need to develop, a succession plan.

more on performance management: how retired partners are robbing their own firms | how involved should retired owners be? | how to find a partner’s replacement | action plans for transitioning partners | how retirement issues affect succession planning | succession: the questions to care about | 7 succession questions to ignore for now | cpa firm performance assessments: 15 core competencies, 21 questions

as a matter of fact, for the past 12 years through surveys with the aicpa, we have been asking firms to share with us whether or not they have a succession plan in place.

when you consider the responses to this question from the pcps succession institute succession management surveys conducted in 2008 and 2012, clearly more and more firms are:

  • getting their act together,
  • documenting their succession management strategy and
  • thinking through the ramifications of retiring one or more senior owners.

here is the question we asked along with summary data from both surveys: read more →

help clients, increase revenue: make sure everyone on staff knows your firm’s full menu of services

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maybe they’ll be so interested they’ll want to learn that work.

by ed mendlowitz
the 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 practice doctor

question: we have around 30 full-time staff, and most of them graduated less than three years ago.

more practice doctor q&a: i made partner, now what? | 19 ways to stop wasting reviewer time | why your clients need annual minutes – and how you can help | how much overhead is too much? | there’s more to growth than marketing | how to make annual staff evaluations work | are you managing knowledge or wasting it? | how to notify clients of a partner’s retirement | 7 ways to lose a client’s trust

how can we let them know more about the services our cpa firm provides so they can help sell our services?
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how retired partners are robbing their own firms

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masked man carrying large money bagif you don’t set policies and enforce retirement deals, your firm could become a financial hostage.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

as many as 30 percent of firms pay more to retiring partners than they initially agreed, according to our succession survey.

more on performance management for pro members: how involved should retired owners be? | firms say what would change retirement pay | action plans for transitioning partners | how retirement issues affect succession planning | how partner ratings factor into equity | develop your employees or suffer the consequences | what having your employees’ backs means | do cpa firms need management or leadership? |  job 1 for the practice owner: client management

here’s why.

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innovate or die

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photo of a skunkuse a ‘skunk works’ mentality so the compensation trap doesn’t ruin you.

by august aquila
creating the effective partnership

the focus on most cpa firms is on billable hours. while there is nothing inherently wrong with this focus, it has become the overriding focus of firms.

more on leadership for pro members: 3 ways to halt a poor leader | 5 questions for every mp to answer honestly | does your dashboard need fine-tuning? | the 4 best ways to use your senior partners | how to tell a culture change is due | today’s top six partner compensation trends | 11 steps to building a better partnership team | why your firm should be a republic | 8 financial ducks to line up now | partnership is about persuasion

there is nothing wrong with making money today, but what about building for the future? with “today” being the dominant focus, what is the encouragement to cpas to innovate? in most firms there is no alignment with innovation and compensation.
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the robo-cpa: jim sikich prepares for disruptive technologies

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sikich
sikich: today only 20 percent of revenue comes from audit, and 15 percent from tax. the rest comes from management advisory services, led by technology, which accounted for about 50 percent of its total revenue.

sikich_logoif ibm’s watson is smart enough to play chess or jeopardy, can robotic tax prep and audits be far behind?

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 staff

the technology revolution is on pace to change the accounting profession much more than it already has, with the potential to replace accountants in work that ranges from tax preparation to high-level business consulting, warns james a. sikich, chief executive and managing partner of the sikich accounting and consulting firm in naperville, ill.

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