partnership

are you driving your best partners crazy?

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businessman holding two papers with happy and angry face each on themthe best firms know another way

by august aquila

professionals loathe anything bureaucratic. but we know of many firms who ask their partners to account, in detail, for every minute of their time.

more on leadership:work together better in 11 steps | drop politics, be accountable | what makes a successful strategic plan? | innovate or die | partners love, hate leadership | 8 ways leaders destroy firms | how to combine two firms after merger: carefully

yellow_key_clip_art-e1375897299811-16p-hiexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

to ask high-need-for-achievement professionals at the top of their field to provide what, to them, is bureaucratic data immediately implies a complete lack of trust and respect for their expertise and their position. it is simply a motivational disaster, which distances the partners from the firm. partners know that they have to account for their time but we know too many firms that, often at the behest of the finance function, ask for a level of specificity that drives the partners to distraction.
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best practices for one-on-one communication

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4 winning habits of top accountants.

component parts of how the other person perceives your in-person communication
component parts of how the other person perceives your in-person communication

by martin bissett

i’ve had the benefit of meeting, speaking and observing hundreds of very successful and unsuccessful partners over the last two decades and there is indeed a set of differentiating factors that set a partner apart from the chasing pack.

more on the passport to partnership: 3 questions to evaluate your firm culture | learn to read your firm’s culture | 5 ways to get buy-in for firm culture | competence: more than technical skills | experts advise what partnership takes | partnership: competence is just the foot in the door | are you partner material? maybe not

here are the four “best-selling behaviors” that i’ve observed:

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why ‘walking together’ is so important

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three partners, one male and two female, walking and smiling outside a buildingpartners must show a unified front.

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

in our work with managing partners, we always talk about the importance of the partners “walking together,” of sharing that common vision.

more on leadership for pro members: 7 warning signs for your firm | the checks and balances your firm needs | don’t weed out the roses | back to basics: 25 ways to grow your practice | 3 ways to halt a poor leader | 8 questions that staff ask in a merger | 8 financial ducks to line up now

but if the partners are to share the vision, they have to play an active part in determining the firm’s direction – and, critically, how it’s going to get there.
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7 levels of communication management

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chart showing passport to partnership's 7 levels of communication management4 reasons that senior managers struggle.

by martin bissett

ultimately, when we have to interact with clients, subordinates, superiors or peers, the questions are always the same: who do i need to deliver this information to and what approach would they respond most favorably to?

more on the passport to partnership: 3 questions to evaluate your firm culture | learn to read your firm’s culture | competence: more than technical skills | experts advise what partnership takes | partnership: competence is just the foot in the door

in arriving at “communication” we come to the most intangible of all the components to obtain a “passport to partnership.”
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buyout: the flip side of buying in

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three businessmen shaking handsplus 9 reasons why goodwill averages 80 percent.

by marc rosenberg
how to bring in new partners

one of the benefits that new partners receive in exchange for their buy-in is that they will receive a buyout when they retire.

more on partnership: what does buy-in buy? | how to structure partner buy-in | keys to bringing in new partners

the flip side of this is that they must agree to buy out the older partners when they retire. therefore, any plan for bringing in new partners must include a provision for a partner retirement/buyout plan.
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5 ways to measure partner potential

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learn to read your firm’s ‘cultural blueprint.’ptp_2ndc

by martin bissett
passport to partnership

what conclusions can you draw from your knowledge of how the promotion system works in your firm that you need to keep in mind?

more on the passport to partnership: 3 questions to evaluate your firm culture | learn to read your firm’s culture | 5 ways to get buy-in for firm culture | competence: more than technical skills | experts advise what partnership takes | partnership: competence is just the foot in the door | are you partner material? maybe not

in terms of firm culture, you need to understand the four navigational points of the compass:

  1. who do i need to stay on the right side of?
  2. what are the unwritten rules in my firm?
  3. whose opinions can be trusted?
  4. what really impresses the partners?

and here’s a five-part analysis to see how you measure up:

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research results: how firms pay new partners

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plus: 14 flaws of most comp plans.

by marc rosenberg
how to bring in new partners

most firms are giving out raises of 10 to 15 percent when they promote senior managers to partners. but, of course, it’s not as simple as that.

more on partnership: what does buy-in buy? | how to structure partner buy-in | keys to bringing in new partners

there are essentially two the kinds of systems that firms across the country are using:

(1) the formula and

(2) the comp committee. but let’s dig deeper into the data, which comes from

but let’s dig deeper into the data, which comes from the rosenberg map survey.
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7 warning signs for your firm

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man with head down on laptop keyboardif it’s suffering these, a culture change is due.

by august aquila

accountability, according to the merriam-webster online dictionary, is “the obligation or responsibility to accept responsibility or to account for one’s actions.” let’s explore what this definition means.

more on leadership for pro members: 6 ways to pay partners | work together better in 11 steps | drop politics, be accountable | what makes a successful strategic plan? | innovate or die | partners love, hate leadership | 8 ways leaders destroy firms | how to combine two firms after merger: carefully

first, there is an obligation. an obligation is a promise to do something. if a company has a financial obligation and fails to meet it, it may go into bankruptcy. if individuals fail to meet their obligations they also fall into a state of bankruptcy – i.e., failure.
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3 questions to evaluate your firm culture

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silhouettes of three business partners talking against a window in an officeyou have to gauge this to effectively move toward partnership.

by martin bissett

this second c is a stormy and choppy one, often fraught with political icebergs but navigated diplomatically and with maturity, will lead you through.

more on the passport to partnership: learn to read your firm’s culture | 5 ways to get buy-in for firm culture | competence: more than technical skills | partnership: competence is just the foot in the door | are you partner material? maybe not

case study on culture

deborah had done well. she was bridging the firm’s culture gap and fulfilling its desire to be seen as an equal opportunities employer by becoming the practice’s standout rising star.
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how many partners is too many?

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older businessman leaning back thinkinghint: probably fewer than you have.

by domenick j. esposito
8 steps to great

more often than not, cpa firms support too many partners relative to the firm’s revenue, profitability and its anticipated growth rate. that usually means, too, that the partners are doing a lot of work that could or should be done by staff.

more on strategic planning: is your pyramid upside down? | start with sound firm governance, economics | how to develop tactics for your strategic plan | taking a balanced scorecard to your partners | as tax season ends, strategic planning seasons begins | the big eight: harsh realities for firms today | seizing the $10 trillion opportunity | learning to ‘run with the big dogs’

look at the average revenue per partner for the mid-market sustainable brands and you will see that the trend is to get more done with fewer partners, more staff and more effective use of technology.
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learn to read your firm’s culture

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four young business people chatting outside office buildingbonus: 3 outlooks from our exclusive expert council.

by martin bissett

the passport to partnership study collated a number of responses from existing partners of accounting practices in a conversational style.

 

more on the passport to partnership: 5 ways to get buy-in for firm culture | competence: more than technical skills | partnership: competence is just the foot in the door | are you partner material? maybe not

examples that really stood out on the realities of individual variances in firm culture are showcased below.

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