here’s what you’re looking for: marc rosenberg

you need skills in general, in business development and in being a good boss.

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library

the old-school way of developing staff into partners was very simple:

• staff are bountiful. those with the right stuff move up; we’ll move the others out and hire a new crop to replace them.
• it’s up to the staff to pull themselves up by their own bootstraps and make their mark. nobody showed us how to make partner. nobody held our hands.
  

more: making partner: what managers need to know | the 17 rules for making partner at a cpa firm | who shouldn’t be a partner? | nine reasons people are promoted to partner
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• it’s up to the staff to tell us that they want to be partners. unless and until they show us this ambition, we won’t talk to them about becoming a partner.
• bringing in business can’t be taught. you’re either born with it or you’re not.
• and while we are on the subject of business development, we all know from experience that marketing must be done nights and weekends. clients are too busy during the day. and we need the days to get our billable hours in. so a partner must commit to working long hours, including nights and weekends, and be willing to sacrifice his or her personal life for the firm.

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eight ways that firms benefit.

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library

there are two cases for heavy managing partner oversight in practice development.

first case. cpa firms are very top-line-oriented businesses. expenses are largely fixed because most are for personnel compensation and benefits, so opportunities for increasing profits from cost-cutting are greatly limited. as a result, increases to the revenue or top line often fall directly to the bottom line. it’s easy to see why, far and away, increasing revenue is the most effective way to increase profitability. because the managing partner is (or should be) responsible for the firm’s profits, it makes total sense for the managing partner to play a major role in the firm’s growth.

more: 10 ways to hold partners accountable | five ways to evaluate partners | manage partners with goal setting | overarching authority that managing partners must have | herding cats: advice for managing partners
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second case. if a firm’s staff is its most important asset (or at least tied with clients), then revenue growth is the firm’s life-giving force. without revenue increases, firms become stagnant and die a slow death. therefore, revenue growth requires heavy involvement by the managing partner.
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five red flags.

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library

there are two sides to every discussion. i may have made it seem as if you’d have to be a fool not to want to be a partner. but being a partner isn’t for everybody. the reasons listed below exclude issues not germane to this discussion, such as a desire to change careers, opportunities to join one’s family business or boredom with accounting.

more: nine reasons people are promoted to partner | how to make partner?
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long hours. at most firms, when the staff leave, the partners are still working. some feel it sends a negative message to the staff because it implies that there is an expectation for partners to work long hours and therefore make it difficult to enjoy a healthy work-life balance. rosenberg map survey metrics corroborate this: partners average around 2,410 total work hours but the staff average is 2,280, a difference of 130 overtime hours.
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14 keys. yes, they’re all important.

by marc rosenberg
the role of the managing partner

we have shared the most important parts of overall cpa firm management and the main duties of the managing partner in particular.

more: 10 ways to hold partners accountable | five ways to evaluate partners | manage partners with goal setting | overarching authority that managing partners must have | herding cats: advice for managing partners
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

we presented a job description for a managing partner. depending on the day of the week and the makeup of the group discussing this job description, several items would be finalists for the most important duty on the list. few would argue if the winner of that competition were managing staff. here is the managing partner job description item pertaining to staff:
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plus nine reasons they should want to be.

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library

before we get too far, we must answer a basic question: why would a cpa firm ever want to make someone a partner in the first place? why would it want to share profits with more people?

more: how to make partner?
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the short answer is that it must be beneficial to both the firm and the new partner. a win-win, as the saying goes.
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don’t keep it a mystery: six common mistakes.

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library

accounting firms worldwide are dealing with an enormously difficult challenge today – one that has topped every firm’s list of critical issues since the turn of the century and will continue to be a high priority for years to come. the vast majority of firms struggle with it. failure to solve it causes hundreds of firms to merge out of existence every year.

more rosenberg: 10 ways to hold partners accountable | five ways to evaluate partners | compensation is no way to manage partners | 4 big issues that firms face | make sure partners focus on two things | manage partners with goal setting | clarify partner expectations | how the managing partner manages the partners |

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the “it” is, of course, succession planning, with difficulties rooted in a perfect storm of causes:

• the huge number of baby boomer partners nearing or reaching retirement age, coupled with …
• an acute shortage of younger people with the desire and the skills to succeed them, accompanied by …
• cpa firms’ historical weakness at retaining staff and developing them into leaders and future partners. evidence of this is the fact that 80 percent of first-generation firms never make it to the second.

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do your firm’s core values mean anything?

by marc rosenberg
the role of the managing partner

we have addressed the techniques managing partners use to manage the partners. one of the most effective tactics to show leadership in working with partners – and managing the firm – is to create ways to establish accountability for their behavior and conduct. in this post, we drill down on this.

more: five ways to evaluate partners | compensation is no way to manage partners | clarify partner expectations | exceptional managing partners offer their advice
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i have had the privilege of working with dozens of highly effective managing partners during my career. these leaders are the cpa profession’s equivalent of rock stars. one question i always ask them: what makes your firm so successful? they almost never cite the obvious suspects: great at bringing in business. lots of billable hours. high rates. expertise. long work hours.
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bonus: two forms you can use.

by marc rosenberg
the rosenberg practice management library

why do firms conduct performance evaluations of partners?

• to clarify what is expected of the partner
• to improve performance
• to provide management with information to use in allocating partner income, which should be linked to performance

more: compensation is no way to manage partners | make sure partners focus on two things | entitled rainmakers and other practice development errors | breaking it down: marketing job descriptions | how and why to hire a marketing director | how to brand and differentiate your firm
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five types of partner evaluations

1. self-evaluation
2. upward evaluations of the partners by the staff
3. client satisfaction and loyalty surveys
4. peer evaluations
5. traditional one-on-one appraisal sessions, same as for staff

larger firms use evaluations more than smaller firms. this is because larger firms tend to have more sophisticated management practices, including partner accountability, which is one of several techniques for managing partner behavior and conduct. smaller firms often avoid partner evaluations because they struggle with partner accountability. that’s not good, but that’s the life they lead.
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6 ways to combine it with personal interventions.

by marc rosenberg
the role of the managing partner

too many firms’ primary way to manage partner performance and hold them accountable is with compensation. their reasoning is this:

more: make sure partners focus on two things | manage partners with goal setting | overarching authority that managing partners must have | herding cats: advice for managing partners
exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

if partners perform well, they will see their reward in the form of higher compensation. if partners perform below expectations, they will get the message in the form of a disappointing compensation number. other methods are not necessary. it’s all about the money.
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