partnership

the four keys to creating a firm vision that unites and mobilizes

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and the eight ways to give core values real business value.

by robert j. lees and august j. aquila
how to engage partners in the firm’s future

when we talk about having a compelling vision, we don’t just mean the simple, well-crafted statement you find in a lot of firms.

for a vision to be compelling, for it to persuade the partners that they want to play an active part in making it a reality, a vision must have four elements: read more →

thresholds and core competencies for a new partner

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what it takes to make partner: the 27-point checklist the best firms follow.

marc rosenberg, author of how to bring in new partners, cites at least six areas that partnerships at the nation’s best firms habitually evaluate before naming a new partner, including: nine intangibles, four financial and legal considerations, five practice development issues, three production and client management metrics, two technical proficiencies, three supervisory skills and one very important administrative credo. read more →

deciding between equity or non-equity partners

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five reasons for one, eight for the other. and they’re not all created equal.

after studying some 700 firms, marc rosenberg has some fairly hard-and-fast rules about how to bring in new partners. here, he delivers five reasons to lean toward deciding on bringing in traditional equity partners and eight reasons for making them non-equity partners. all things being equal, they aren’t.

read more →

managing partners reveal 11 strategies for getting their firms to the top

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survey of 150 chief executives also shows 10 ways they stay there.

by robert j.  lees and 
august j. aquila
creating the effective partnership

this article builds on two extensive bodies of research. the first, to which we refer briefly, is on what differentiates those managing partners who make a substantive difference to their firm’s performance from their peers. to add to our anecdotal understanding of this difference together with our years of desk research, we asked 150 practicing and managing partners from the u.s. and europe what they believed truly successful managing partners did to make a real difference. the result of this study is an in-depth understanding of the leadership attitudes and behaviors of successful managing partners. read more →

11 considerations in a partnership buy-sell agreement

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ed mendlowitz cpa the practice doctor q and a

by ed mendlowitz
“tax season opportunity guide“

question: i have an accounting practice with three partners. we do not have a partnership buy-sell agreement and feel we need one, but cannot agree on what should be in it. none of us want to give up any independence, be locked into something or have to start being more accountable. can you offer some suggestions?

response: first, 11 not-so-simple questions for you: read more →

partner problem? first, ask yourself these 21 questions

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dealing with dysfunctional partners: the six-step process.

by august aquila
creating the effective partnership

as much as you would like to, you cannot ignore them; nor can you accept them as they are. doing that would be unfaithful to your core principles and ultimately cause more harm to the firm than any one of them is worth.

that leaves us with three options: rehabilitate them, fire them or place them outside of the firm. but first, be sure it’s not you.

read more →

the wrong way to account for partners’ ownership shares

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and the two methods used by the smartest firms.

by marc rosenberg
author of how to bring in new partners

regardless of whether it is a corporation or a partnership, there is a substantial amount of accrual basis capital in a cpa firm. all the partners “own” some portion of that capital.

there are at least three methods for determining how much capital each individual partner “owns.” one of them should be avoided like the plague. read more →

4 first steps to the right partner comp system

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how to become and remain competitive in the marketplace.

by robert j. lees and august j. aquila
creating the effective partnership

the challenge in designing the right system for the firm’s context is ensuring it motivates the partners to deliver the initiatives the firm needs to be successful.

if compensation is supposed to motivate and reward productive behavior and outcomes, and discourage non-productive behavior and outcomes, then you must ask yourself, “how well are we doing?”

we don’t claim that our recommended system is perfect since we know that the perfect compensation system does not exist. we do feel, though, that it encompasses the critical elements needed for leaders to better engage and reward partners.

we believe that if a firm wants to maximize its performance and keep its partners motivated and engaged, then it needs to design a compensation plan, which includes the following elements: read more →