strategy

partners as role models: the good, bad & ugly

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two older businessmen talkingaccountability and reviews are more important at higher levels, not less.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

evaluation of performance and goal achievement is something done that should be performed multiple times during the year. unfortunately, many cpas tend to think of management as a waste of time, and evaluations as purely a human resources requirement created by the government to protect employees to the disadvantage of the organization.

more on performance management: how to implement strategy, step by step | how the best managing partners turn ideas into reality | make accountability a process | accountability requires clear expectations | base retirement on today’s operations | how involved should retired owners be? | how to find a partner’s replacement

well, that is one way to look at it. but we think it’s the wrong way.
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how to start strategic planning

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businessman writing on a flip chart16 questions to ask.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm retreats

strategic planning is the process of examining where you are now, where you want to be and most importantly, what you need to do to get there. it’s that simple.

more on retreats: how to identify partner potential in staffers | 13 steps in succession planning | staff best practices … for the firm | 25 ways to turn good firms into great firms | make more money | how to address partner compensation at a retreat | how to decide who decides what | how marketing for cpa firms is different | how to take action after a retreat 

the word “process” is very important. many people view strategic planning as an event, fixed in time, the results of which are bound in an immaculately prepared document and cast in stone. actually, strategic planning is a never-ending process. it goes through phases; it is continually monitored, changed and tweaked as circumstances warrant.
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start with sound firm governance, economics

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hand drawing a rainbow-colored 33 critical components of success.

by domenick j. esposito
8 steps to great

“growth is never by mere chance; it is the result of forces working together.”

– james cash penney
founder, jcpenney

your firm is a business and the vehicle for generating wealth for you and your partners. you need to operate it with strict governance processes, a system of accountability and a firm economic foundation.

more on strategic planning: how to develop tactics for your strategic plan | taking a balanced scorecard to your partners | as tax season ends, strategic planning seasons begins | the big eight: harsh realities for firms today | seizing the $10 trillion opportunity | learning to ‘run with the big dogs’

balance sheets, usually funded by partner capital and a line of credit for seasonal working capital needs, need to be strong to protect your cpa firm from the loss of a senior partner, loss of a marquee client or just an overall poor economy that results in tepid growth for clients and therefore a reduced appetite for professional services.
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ceo charles weinstein: eisneramper targets work-life balance

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weinstein
weinstein

individual work plans, overseas assignments among company’s offerings for employees.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 staff


eisneramper logo

the cpa profession has to make itself more relevant – to both its clients and its workers – to thrive through the rest of this century, according to charles weinstein, chief executive officer of eisneramper, one of the profession’s largest firms with more than $300 million of revenues projected for all 2015.

more from the corner office:  chris allegretti makes retention a top priority at hbk  | lou grassi focuses on recruiting, retention at namesake n.y. firm | richard berkowitz drives berkowitz pollack brant to ‘warp speed’ | randy myeroff at cohen & co.: winning the youth movement | rick dreher innovates wipfli for clients, younger workers | how blain heckaman drives value at kaufman rossin | weisermazars mp blake charts u.s. expansion | frank longobardi: cohnreznick’s battle for top talent | the robo-cpa: jim sikich prepares for disruptive technologies |  exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

“short-term, we need to make the profession cool,” he says. the “cool” in this case applies to the profession’s workforce. “a lot of it has to do with providing work-life balance for our employees, and that means more than just addressing their parenting or family issues,” he explains. “it also very much concerns meeting the needs of millennials and other younger-generation workers, whose concept of work and life in many cases is that they will work hard when that’s needed and expected of them, and then want balance for the rest of the time.”

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how to implement strategy, step by step

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businessman's shoes toeing words "what's your next step?"be specific and find ways to “catch” the partner in action.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

an example of the process

it’s one thing to say “the managing partner implements strategy,” another to put it into action.

more on performance management: make accountability a process | pay varies when performance varies | accountability is for everyone | 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

following is an example of this process, providing more detail to show how it might look in actual practice. let’s assume that one of the goals of a partner is to increase the most trusted business advisor activity for his or her top clients. in the initial goal sheet, for this one goal from the managing partner, that might look like this:
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chris allegretti makes retention a top priority at hbk

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allegretti
allegretti

also: expanding on the notion of ‘most trusted advisor.’

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 staff

while hiring top talent is a key concern for chris allegretti, chief executive officer of hbk cpas & consultants in canfield, ohio, he’s even more concerned with his firm’s ability to retain its best people.

hbklogomore from the corner office: lou grassi focuses on recruiting, retention at namesake n.y. firm | richard berkowitz drives berkowitz pollack brant to ‘warp speed’ | randy myeroff at cohen & co.: winning the youth movement | rick dreher innovates wipfli for clients, younger workers | how blain heckaman drives value at kaufman rossin | weisermazars mp blake charts u.s. expansion | frank longobardi: cohnreznick’s battle for top talent | the robo-cpa: jim sikich prepares for disruptive technologies |  exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

“of  course our job is to recruit the best, but we ‘re also finding that we have to constantly ‘re-recruit’ them by investing in their futures and making our firm the place where they’ll want to stay,” he says.
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how to develop tactics for your strategic plan

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overhead view of five people in a meeting‘failure to hold your partners accountable is unacceptable leadership.’

by domenick j. esposito
8 steps to great

once you know where you want to go and when you want to get there, the next step requires you to develop the tactics or steps on how you and your partners are going to get there.

more on strategic planning: taking a balanced scorecard to your partners | as tax season ends, strategic planning seasons begins | the big eight: harsh realities for firms today | seizing the $10 trillion opportunity | learning to ‘run with the big dogs’

let’s take an example. assume, for purposes of illustration, that your strategic plan and your firmwide balanced scorecard indicate that you will elect a new ceo in the next year or two.
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lou grassi focuses on recruiting, retention at namesake n.y. firm

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grassi
grassi

paid internships, outreach to high school among managing partner’s strategies.

grassi & co. logo

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 staff

“the number one challenge for our organization today is finding and maintaining talented professionals,” says louis c. grassi, chief executive officer and managing partner of grassi & co.

more from the corner office: randy myeroff at cohen & co.: winning the youth movement | rick dreher innovates wipfli for clients, younger workers | how blain heckaman drives value at kaufman rossin | weisermazars mp blake charts u.s. expansion | frank longobardi: cohnreznick’s battle for top talent | the robo-cpa: jim sikich prepares for disruptive technologies |  exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

to make itself more attractive to a younger generation of workers, his new york city-based firm is offering paid internships. grassi says the offer is available to “students interested in the field of accounting as a way to identify and develop young talent in our area.”
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how the best managing partners turn ideas into reality

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man and woman in meeting across deskapproaches can differ dramatically from one partner to another.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

how can the managing partner operationalize the strategy within the policies, process and budget set forth by the partner group?

more on performance management: accountability includes partners | accountability requires clear expectations | base retirement on today’s operations | 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

to keep this simple, because it can get very complex extremely fast, let’s say that the firm has three strategies the partner group has mandated:
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richard berkowitz drives berkowitz pollack brant to ‘warp speed’

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berkowitz
berkowitz

workload compression is offset by expanding practice areas, client mix.

berkowitz pollack brant logo

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 staff

“changes in business, changes in laws and changes in regulatory environments are happening at warp speed,” warns richard berkowitz, managing partner of the berkowitz pollack brant advisors and accountants firm in miami.

more from the corner office: randy myeroff at cohen & co.: winning the youth movement | rick dreher innovates wipfli for clients, younger workers | how blain heckaman drives value at kaufman rossin | weisermazars mp blake charts u.s. expansion | frank longobardi: cohnreznick’s battle for top talent | the robo-cpa: jim sikich prepares for disruptive technologies |  exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

he ranks handling of the fast-paced flow of updated information regarding laws, regulations and related matters among the most prominent issues and opportunities facing his firm and other cpa practices around the country. his firm’s $56 million in revenue during 2015 rank it as the nation’s 68th largest accounting firm in the nation and florida’s third largest.
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managing the managing partner

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businessman standing at conference table with 4 colleagues seated behindchecks and balances are key.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

as past success and personal development continuously demonstrate, organizations operate more effectively when people are managed. and since partners are people, rather than gods or superheroes, it makes sense that we put something in place to manage them as well.

more on performance management: accountability is for everyone | succession plan requirements | base retirement on today’s operations | how involved should retired owners be? | firms say what would change retirement pay | 4 ways to create more capacity | 7 succession questions to ignore for now | how partner ratings factor into equity | hazards of not reallocating equity | 5 harmful management attitudes (and how to fix them) | do cpa firms need management or leadership? |  job 1 for the practice owner: client management

with this general background in mind, let’s dive a little deeper into how a managing partner goal-setting process might work.
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8 questions to analyze your pricing

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number 8 in gold

building a growth-centric pricing strategy requires analyzing 3 factors.

which pricing schemes are working best today?
join the survey; get the results.

by august aquila
creating the effective partnership

think of any services, professional or commercial, that you have purchased over the last few years.

more on leadership for pro members: what makes a successful strategic plan? | back to basics: 25 ways to grow your practice |3 ways to halt a poor leader | 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 | partnership is about persuasion

would you pay a premium rate to a bonsai gardener just to trim a regular tree or shrub? most likely not, since there would be many a gardener available to do this simple task. however, the price of an open heart surgery would not matter, if the operation would save your life.
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taking a balanced scorecard to your partners

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working day in office.without commitment, strategic planning is a waste of time.

by domenick j. esposito
8 steps to great

when an initial draft of the strategic plan has been agreed to by your initial strategy think tank, the next step requires you to expand the process to all the partners. this can be a very painful process, but it is a healthy one that must take place. it creates buy-in and will clarify who is on the bus and who isn’t.

more on strategic planning: as tax season ends, strategic planning seasons begins | the big eight: harsh realities for firms today | seizing the $10 trillion opportunity | learning to ‘run with the big dogs’

lots of good things happen in this phase of the strategic plan.  a number of your partners, who may be questioning if this firm is the firm that they want to be part of as they build their careers, will begin to see that your merely good firm is trying to transform itself into a mid-market sustainable brand.
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