salary

accountability is for everyone

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businesswoman working late at deskdo you credit others as much as you do yourself?

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

most firms consider accountability an essential part of their leadership practices.

more on performance management: base retirement on today’s operations | who decides what? | firms say what would change retirement pay | action plans for transitioning partners | how retirement issues affect succession planning | how partner ratings factor into equity | develop your employees or suffer the consequences | 5 harmful management attitudes (and how to fix them)

in the pcps top issues survey, for firms with 11 to 20 professionals, partner accountability/unity landed in second place. for firms with 21 or more professionals, this same issue ranked first in concerns to be addressed.
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13 succession plan requirements

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time to retire clock facemake sure you’re not growing your own competition.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

there are various sections that should be included in any succession plan. we are not going to present you with a sample succession plan, but even better, to describe topic areas you should address in your plan.

more on performance management: base retirement on today’s operations | who decides what? | how involved should retired owners be? | how to find a partner’s replacement | best practices for mandatory retirement | 7 succession questions to ignore for now | the pitfalls of equity allocation and reallocation

as always, there are various best practices to consider as you put your plan together. for any succession plan to work, you have to start with consideration of the business model you use:
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accounting industry extends 5% growth into busy season

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source: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间
source: 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

a great time to be an accountant.

next question:
the secret to success in the accounting business?
join the survey; get the answers

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间

have we mentioned it’s a great time to be an accountant?

we have, of course. but the good news shows no signs of slowing. according to 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 sources, increases of 5 percent or more were seen in

  • overall staff employment;
  • cpa firms, both overall and staff;
  • payroll, both overall and staff;
  • women overall, at cpa firms and in payroll;
  • and tax preparation, which skipped into double digits.

payroll staff saw the steepest decline, in hourly wages.  the new 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 careers and hiring outlook survey results come amid a tax season, which by most measures, is much improved over last years.

more on tax season for pro members (go pro here):  busy season 2016: more clients, fewer problems  |    problem clients causing big trouble  |  most tax professionals call 2016 busy season much improved over last year | stress less this tax season  |  is tax season the new fraud season?  |  5 tax season motivation tips  |  recognize your tax season resources  |  tax season 2016: irs in crisis  |  eliminate tax season excuses  |  record pre-season hiring surge: ready for biggest tax season ever?  |  16 qualities of a good tax season client  |  8 ways to delight tax season clients  |  small tax season leaks can cause great damage  |  5 ways thorough beats sloppy in tax season  |  tax season management: multi-tasking is a myth  |  digital workflow systems make tax season easier  |  why cpas need to worry about cyber crime (especially in tax season)

here 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 reports on:

  • current hiring trends in each of the cpa, tax, payroll and bookkeeping segments of the industry;
  • average hourly wages for key segments;
  • average hours worked per week;
  • and trends concerning women in the accounting workforce.

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the 3 best partner compensation formulas

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two hands honing a large knife4 common carve-outs, 9 challenges and 10 complications of all compensation systems.

by marc rosenberg
partner comp: art & science

compensation formulas are the most common system for allocating partner income.

more partner compensation for pro members (go pro here): why firms use partner comp formulas|3 subjective compensation systems | 11 points in designing a partner comp system | 3 tiers of compensation | partner compensation 101|what partners earn and how they earn it | partner compensation: an art, not a science | how partners view compensation: it’s not all about the money | why most partner comp systems are performance-based

now let’s look at some of the better formula systems we’ve seen:

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who decides what?

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businessman looking thoughtfulyou need to ponder some questions before you answer.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli
卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 / succession institute

everywhere you turn, you overhear someone talking about, being asked about the status of, or referring to their need to develop, a succession plan.

more on performance management: how retired partners are robbing their own firms | how involved should retired owners be? | how to find a partner’s replacement | action plans for transitioning partners | how retirement issues affect succession planning | succession: the questions to care about | 7 succession questions to ignore for now | cpa firm performance assessments: 15 core competencies, 21 questions

as a matter of fact, for the past 12 years through surveys with the aicpa, we have been asking firms to share with us whether or not they have a succession plan in place.

when you consider the responses to this question from the pcps succession institute succession management surveys conducted in 2008 and 2012, clearly more and more firms are:

  • getting their act together,
  • documenting their succession management strategy and
  • thinking through the ramifications of retiring one or more senior owners.

here is the question we asked along with summary data from both surveys: read more →

how retired partners are robbing their own firms

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masked man carrying large money bagif you don’t set policies and enforce retirement deals, your firm could become a financial hostage.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

as many as 30 percent of firms pay more to retiring partners than they initially agreed, according to our succession survey.

more on performance management for pro members: how involved should retired owners be? | firms say what would change retirement pay | action plans for transitioning partners | how retirement issues affect succession planning | how partner ratings factor into equity | develop your employees or suffer the consequences | what having your employees’ backs means | do cpa firms need management or leadership? |  job 1 for the practice owner: client management

here’s why.

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why firms use partner comp formulas

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numbers floating around man examining calculator with magnifying glassplus 5 ways to make them more sophisticated.

by marc rosenberg
partner comp: art & science

compensation formulas are the most common system used by cpa firms to allocate partner income. indeed, many small firms are not even aware that there are alternative systems available, and they’re puzzled as to why a firm would not want to use a formula.

more on partner compensation for pro members: 3 subjective compensation systems | 11 points in designing a partner comp system | 3 tiers of compensation | partner compensation 101| what partners earn and how they earn it | partner compensation: an art, not a science | why most partner comp systems are performance-based

compensation formulas are most heavily used by small firms, especially those with fewer than five partners. since over 90 percent of all cpa firms have fewer than five partners, formulas are the most common system. but once firms hit the five-partner mark, they find that other systems, mainly the subjective systems described in the previous chapter, are preferable. this will be explained later in this post.
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system vs. system: partner compensation best practices

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chart outlining multitier system
for full size, see full article

bonus lists: 12 allocation systems and 22 intangible performance attributes.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm retreats

“if people are concerned about their absolute level of compensation, then they can be satisfied. however, if their focus is on relative standing, then they can never be satisfied.” – andrew grove, former chairman of intel

you’ve decided you’re going to discuss partner compensation at your next retreat, then you’ll need to start with some warm-up materials.

begin with this partner compensation best practices13-point checklist:

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partner comp: three subjective compensation systems

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plus balloting details for those who use paper and pencil.judge gavel,dollar banknotes and calculators

by marc rosenberg
partner comp: art & science

there are at least three performance-based systems for partner compensation. none rely completely on intractable formulas, but instead introduce various degrees of subjectivity. needless to say, none are without some controversy.

more on partner compensation: 11 points in designing a partner comp system | 3 tiers of compensation | what partners earn and how they earn it | how partners view compensation: it’s not all about the money

but each system requires serious thought. here’s a comprehensive of the three approaches. which does your firm use now? why? which might be a better approach?

let’s take a closer look:

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11 points in designing a partner comp system

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businessman sitting on scales with stack of coins in other traybonus checklist: the 12 systems used by firms to allocate partner income.

by marc rosenberg
partner comp: art & science

because partner compensation is the most sensitive aspect of cpa firm practice management, adopting a new system or modifying the current one requires an exceptional amount of thought, care and study. here we summarize the many issues firms need to address in designing their partner compensation system.

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