succession & retirement

four new checklists for succession planning

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start with the four goals you need to start working on today.

by august aquila
aquila global advisors

true succession planning is a really a lifelong process.

its primary purpose is to ensure the continuity of the practice from one generation of leaders to another. ultimately it’s the founder admitting and accepting that he or she won’t live forever. that’s a very difficult and emotional fact to come to accept, especially after spending a lifetime building and running a practice.

august aquila

more august aquila on 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间:  partner accountability: seven signs your firm may be in trouble | 12 steps to a foolproof merger |  seven steps to building a great partnership  |  5 success tips for tax season  |  managing partner job #1: how to get buy-in  |  the 10 basic ways to boost profits at an accounting firm  |  the war for clients: aquila’s top three strategies   |  can you really change a partner?  |  11 weekly self-assessment questions for professionals  seven keys to a successful merger  – click here for the pre-merger data gathering checklist for an accounting practice (pdf, 4 pages)  |  seven steps to enforcing accountability among your firm’s partners  |  five steps to achieving partner unity  |  eight essentials for measuring client service  |  partner accountability: seven signs your firm may be in trouble  |  integration: seven keys to a successful merger  |  12 things that should not be on your partner retreat agenda  |  five ways how not to implement a system of partner accountability  |  seven reasons why it’s time to start holding the partners accountable  |  25 ways to grow your practice  |  are bad clients driving you crazy?  |  herding cats: change management for cpa firms

in this article, we’ll address four stages, each with a checklist:

  1. for the managing partner who is thinking about succession, there are four primary goals that he or she should be working on during the next few years.
  2. the next area to address is whether the current managing partner plans to remain with the firm.
  3. once you get some answers to these questions, then it’s time to start focusing on the successor and his/her goals for the future of the firm.
  4. while there are many other areas that need to be covered, let me just end by mentioning a 10-step process that you may want to consider. read more →

will today’s succession crisis create tomorrow’s buyers’ market?

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source: succession institute, aicpa

crisis? what crisis?

by rick telberg

the profession may consider cpa firm succession a crisis, but you’d hardly know it from how little cpas are doing about it.

some 79% of cpa firms surveyed say succession will be an issue for them within the next 10 years.

but only about 1 in 4 are doing anything about it.

sure, 46% of multi-partner firms now say they have a succession plan.  and that’s better than the last such study. but, says dominic cingoranelli at the succession institute, which delivers succession-planning strategies to cpa firms and authored the study, “the idea is still is not getting all that much traction.”

read more →

compensation issues for the new managing partner

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five factors to consider in their new compensation plan. and five key responsibilities for the new managing partner.

by marc rosenberg, cpa
author of how to operate a compensation committee

baby boomer partners are rapidly approaching retirement age, creating a huge demographic shift. one result of this is a dramatic increase in new managing partners at firms.

many firms are skipping a generation and turning the reins over to “younger” partners. firms are also asking their new mps to divest themselves of a significant part of their client base to enable them to focus more on managing the firm.

how should the new mp be compensated?

read more →

why accounting firm partners are “popping prozac like m&m’s”

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four reasons behind the succession crisis: the perfect storm.

by marc rosenberg
author of cpa firm succession planning: a perfect storm

let me warn you in advance – reader discretion is advised.

succession planning is a very sobering topic. during several retreats i have led, this issue has literally brought tears to partners’ eyes. they start popping prozac like m&ms. why? because succession planning forces us to confront our own mortality. this is never easy – just ask your estate planning clients.

more marc rosenberg:

the 15-item checklist for your next partner retreat
five new responsibilities for a new partner
planning a partner retreat for real results
the 10 biggest mistakes in reading map statistics
how cpa firms make money in turbulent times
re-engineering partner accountability [video]
why cpas aren’t making more money [video]
slow learners need not apply
10 to-do’s for a partner buyout

before the recession, the aicpa’s survey of firms’ top practice management issues consistently reported succession planning as the no. 1 area of concern. more recently, recession-related issues such as bringing in new clients, client retention and fee pressure have pushed succession planning back to no. 5, but most industry observers regard it as the no. 1 endemic problem in the cpa profession. and it’s going to get worse before it gets better. read more →

the profession’s four biggest dilemmas

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and four simple solutions.

by rick telberg

if this is february, then it’s the season for already forgetting our new year’s resolutions. i don’t know about you, but i’ve already broken a few of them.

but there are some new year’s resolutions that we cannot afford to ignore. for accountants, here are just four. that’s right: only four. that’s all we have space for here. but each is hitched to a pervasive dilemma within the profession.

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larry autry, wp: looking to acquire a practice group

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strategy 2012: succession solutions

what are your critical challenges for 2012, and what can do you about them? a number of the profession’s leading lights have been sharing their thoughts with accounting today. here’s one:

larry g. autrey
whitley penn

the aging of partner ranks. older partners want to continue when they’re in good health, while younger staff sees that as preventing their career progression.

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succession planning: what’s your excuse?

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are you scaring away the next generation of owners?

via accountingtoday

you know it’s important. so why do only 35 percent of multi-owner firms and 9 percent of sole proprietors have written succession plans in place?

robert fligel

“most firms don’t have any plan,” robert fligel, president of rf resources tells accounting today. “even to do a memo would be a major accomplishment… it’s human nature; we don’t want to deal with mortality because it’s a very daunting thing. but there’s a fantastic sense of relief when you do these things. and you should think about your clients – you don’t want to leave them in a lurch.”

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four more years: clients delay retirement

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“boomers have been scarred.”

half of baby boomer clients who have postponed retirement due to the economic downturn expect to work at least four years longer than they originally planned, according to cpa financial planners.

fifty-two percent of cpa financial planners said their clients – who typically have between $500,000 and $5 million in assets – are at least somewhat confident in the stock market now — a turnaround from a year ago when 54 percent said their clients were not very confident.

more highlights:

  • 48 percent of cpa financial planners said their typical client is somewhat or very pessimistic about the u.s. economy amid gaping budget deficits and high unemployment.
  • 51 percent of cpa financial planners said at least one client was turned down for a mortgage or refinance in the past year. the most common reasons: lower home values and higher underwriting standards.
  • 44 percent of cpa financial planners said their average client emerged from the recession with increased net worth and 17 percent saw their net worth stay the same.

read more →