anybody? anybody? bueller? please?
by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 research
as if the general and long-term shortage of accountants isn’t bad enough, now we’re seeing a widespread reluctance to take the final step in an accounting career, the step into partnership.
more: outlook 2023: compensation gets creative | what new leaders want in ownership | getting partners to accept a new pricing philosophy | survey results: partners rejoice on surging fee growth | headcounts grow 5%; pay rates surge at 7% pace | fourteen rules for lateral partner hires
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this is serious. according to the 2022 rosenberg survey, a quarter of all partners are over the age of 60 and either near or past many mandatory retirement ages. many have sold their equity yet continue to work just to help their own firms grapple with personnel shortages.
but nobody works forever.
partners have never made more
what’s going on? it’s partners who make the big bucks in this business. in fact, they’ve never made more. partners in the big firms make an average of $770,000. those in the slightly smaller firms – $10 million to $20 million in fees – are pulling down not-too-shabby incomes averaging $612,000, almost 10 times the average family income in america.
and those in the $2 million to $5 million firms might be making a little less, but their average income just shot up an incredible 37 percent in one year.
nonetheless, firms are continuing to find a disturbing number of partnerworthy managers declining partnership offers, according to marc rosenberg of the rosenberg associates.
how come?
are millennials lazy?
there are two reasons for the reluctance, says rosenberg. “(a) staff see partners ‘working all the time’ and are not willing to make the sacrifices they feel will be required of them … and (b) partners continue to suck at mentoring staff on what a great job they have.”
are the upcoming millennials lazy, or are their values oriented around something other than income? or are they looking to jump into the corporate sector? or to beachcombing on a caribbean island?
the survey didn’t say, but it’s a question cpa firms had better answer, and soon. the baby boomers’ biological clocks are ticking. last year, 59 percent of big-firm partners were over age 50. now it’s 63 percent. further, the aicpa found that 75 percent of its members became eligible for retirement in 2020.
merging for leadership
lack of leadership is one contributing factor to the recent increase in m&a activity. firms that have failed to grow their own are having to go out and buy what they need or sell to a firm that still has partners. in fact, rosenberg says, merging up may be the only exit strategy for aging boomers who don’t want to see their retirement packages wither along with the firms they’re leaving behind.
kristen rampe, also of the rosenberg associates, says that even boomer partners who have mentored their professionals into partnership can’t retire because often the newbies already have a full book of business. they can’t take on the retiree-wannabe’s clients even if they want to.
and want to is something they often don’t.
“many newer generation partners have no appetite for the long-hours lifestyle of baby boomers,” rampe says. “it’s not uncommon to need two new partners to replace a founder who’s been working 3,200+ hours per year. few want that job.”
allan koltin, of koltin consulting, is observing a reluctance to neither accept the offer nor even pursue it.
“i’m already seeing firms ‘doubling down’ in their recruiting strategies (and investments) and in moving ‘star’ talent through the career path to partnership at an exponential rate. the 10- to 15-year ‘apprenticeship’ approach just doesn’t play well today with young talent.”
the outlook is scary – too few professionals coming in at the bottom, and too many ready to leave at the top. that doesn’t leave much in between.