mergers & acquisitions

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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24 points for after the deal is done

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colleagues working side by sidehow to make sure these two firms start working as one.

by august aquila
creating the effective partnership

congratulations! after years of planning and months of tough negotiations, you’ve finally closed the deal on merger of your cpa firm.

more on leadership for pro members: innovate or die | 3 ways to halt a poor leader | partners love, hate leadership | 8 questions that staff ask in a merger | the 4 best ways to use your senior partners | 11 steps to building a better partnership team

you might be thinking the most difficult work is behind you. think again! you now have to move your eye from the financial to the human side of the merger.
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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 →

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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thinking ‘downstream’ merger? check these 25 potential problems first

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two businessmen look at a tablet while one drinks coffeematch expectations to reality.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm mergers: your complete guide

when checking out a downward merger candidate, do your due diligence.

more on mergers for pro members: 12 reasons to merge in a smaller firm | 3 factors that always affect negotiations | what to discuss at the first merger negotiation meeting | mergers 101: when negotiations aren’t really negotiations | 5 steps to take before merging

here are the first 16 major issues to consider:

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18 concerns about merging in smaller firms

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man rubbing his eye and holding glasses while looking at computer with notes stuck to sidethe good news? they all can be overcome.

by marc rosenberg

though not universally true, larger firms will find many aspects of smaller firms to be below their own standards.

more on mergers: 20 terms to settle when merging up | 3 factors that always affect negotiations | what to discuss at the first merger negotiation meeting | what to ponder before issuing a letter of intent | plant seeds to turn up merger candidates | 13 ways to screw up a merger

the questions that the acquiring firm needs to ask are:

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12 reasons to merge in a smaller firm

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silhouetted figures against us outline mapfrom buying talent to expanding territory, mergers can be fast ways to grow.

by marc rosenberg

if an opportunity to merge in a smaller firm were presented to you, would you be interested in pursuing it?

more on mergers: 20 terms to settle when merging up | 3 factors that always affect negotiations | mergers: assessing compatibility | case studies reveal potential loi issues | one times fees is a steal! | looking to grow your firm? how to find a seller in four steps | 14 keys to a successful merger | 5 steps to take before merging

my guess is that in excess of 90 percent of all cpa firms would answer this question with a resounding “yes!”
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4 ways to create more capacity

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purple no. 4 billiard ballconsider creating two classes of partners.

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

when partners plan to retire, how do we go about creating additional capacity or freeing up the necessary capacity to handle the client transitions that need to occur?

more on performance management: partner retirement and the war for clients | succession: the questions to care about | 7 succession questions to ignore for now | develop your employees or suffer the consequences | what having your employees’ backs means | 5 harmful management attitudes (and how to fix them) | job 1 for the practice owner: client management

first, all of the “c” clients, which is our shorthand way of describing the smallest clients the firm serves – who while profitable, don’t have much opportunity to hire us for additional services – should not be transitioned to partners, but rather to managers.
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20 terms to settle when merging up

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green checks being made on checklistwhat the smaller firm needs to determine. they get a say, you know.

by marc rosenberg

when a small firm considers merging upward, they listen to the terms offered by the larger firm and decide whether they can accept them. through a combination of face-to-face meetings, negotiation sessions, telephone calls and review of materials, the seller should be comfortable with each of the following:

more on mergers: what to expect when merging up | 13 questions to assess an upward merger | mergers: assessing compatibility | 14 provisions to include in a letter of intent | want to merge? ask for data | merger prep: getting to know you | plant seeds to turn up merger candidates | 13 ways to screw up a merger

1. hopefully, you have identified the problems and the goals you have for the merger (retirement, access to staff, technical expertise, management capabilities, etc.). do you see each of these problems and goals actually being addressed and resolved with the merger?
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how to find a partner’s replacement

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man choosing someone's face from a photo arrayshould you add a partner … or capacity? they’re not the same thing.

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

let’s assume you have a retiring partner. you have decided how to pay the partner for his/her value in the firm, you have pinned down the mandatory sale of ownership date (mso) so you can phase that partner out of his or her leadership role in the firm, and you have covered the single most abused part of the succession process, which is client transition. it is now time to discuss how to find replacements for the retiring senior partners.

more on performance management: action plans for transitioning partners | partner retirement and the war for clients | succession: the questions to care about | the pitfalls of equity allocation and reallocation | cpa firm performance assessments: 15 core competencies, 21 questions | how to target what skills to develop now

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

the most commonly asked question on this topic is “how can we find people with the same technical skills, management ability, client service capacity and vision for the firm’s future as those who are leaving?” the simple answer is “you won’t, so stop looking for that exact combination.”
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