also: firms rethink retirement age.
by allan koltin
the rosenberg survey
the issue of capitalization has definitely come to the forefront. with all of the changes taking place in the profession, trends ranging from technology (artificial intelligence) to new products and services, it is apparent that firms will need to make significant investments if they want to remain competitive.
more from the map survey: efficiency can help prevent slowdowns | staff policies improve, but not mentoring
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.
this dynamic brings in new issues of overall firm profitability, as well as the potential compression of current partner earnings. it is a classic case of the investment in innovation vs. the wants and needs of partners in terms of compensation.
next, as leases are expiring, firms are also rethinking office space requirements because of advanced technology and the wants and needs of millennials. we continue to see a shift from partners with large outer offices to partners with smaller inside offices and the height of staff cubicles being minimized so that the look and feel (call it millennial space) is a window view for everyone.
most of the new office designs and layouts today include much more open architecture and really address the issue that as the profession moves to a work anytime/anywhere environment, why does office space exist? the answer seems to be largely around collaboration. as part of that, we have seen much more of a “starbucks feel” with smaller open areas and additional conference rooms being part of the redesign of office space. we’re also seeing firms taking training much more seriously and making investments in more substantial training centers than i’ve ever seen before. having toured some of these offices, i will say it looks and feels great and replaces the old school stuffy office design that has been with us for the past 50 years.
with the big 4 predicting a 50 percent reduction in college campus recruitment of accountants in 2020, i see great hiring opportunities for local, regional and middle-market national firms on the college campuses.
for many years there was a feeling that the professors were brainwashed to only recommend the big 4 to their “best and brightest” and i think with the big 4 moving to artificial intelligence and, hence, having less of a need to hire accounting graduates, we will begin to see an abundance of good talent for all of the other firms over the next couple of years.
the retirement age issue seems to be gaining traction. specifically, two decades after bringing retirement ages down from no retirement, to age 70, to 65, 62, to 60, we are seeing a complete reversal in which firms are now rethinking retirement ages and potentially swinging toward keeping 60-something partners for a longer period of time. what hasn’t changed, however, is the importance of the firm to be able to make a unilateral call in terms of when they would like an equity partner to retire. my guess is that firms that have mandatory retirement ages of 60 or 62 are strongly considering moving the retirement age out to 65 or 67.
the large, top 25 cpa firms seem to be strategically moving from acquiring traditional compliance-based cpa firms to now looking more toward buying advisory, consulting and specialized outsource firms (and industry specialization in any of these scenarios is a plus).
additionally, i sense the pendulum on becoming an “employer of choice” and “best place to work” firm may also be reversing itself. for some firms, they have gone so far in accommodating talent that the partners feel they are the ones working the hardest and also are beginning to show a level of frustration that they can’t get the managers and staff to put in the necessary billable and total working hours.
some firms are saying “it is what it is,” and “we need to reinvent ourselves,” both in value pricing, as well as continuing to find products and services with which we can make money unrelated to billable time.
it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.