younger partners see succession differently

young woman driving a carare you acting like an owner or an employee?

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

several of our younger partner readers have posed a couple of questions to us on the topic of mergers, as well as succession in general.

more on performance management: more merger questions than you imagined | merging for the wrong reasons | why accountability falls to mps | how to implement strategy, step by step | how to decide who decides pay | accountability includes partners | succession plan requirements | how retired partners are robbing their own firms | 4 ways to create more capacity | partner retirement and the war for clients | succession: the questions to care about | hazards of not reallocating equity | cpa firm performance assessments: 15 core competencies, 21 questions | 5 harmful management attitudes (and how to fix them)

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

at the end of the day, remember that just because junior and senior partners may be in different positions, have diverse perspectives and at times, opposite expectations, that doesn’t necessarily mean that you can’t find resolution in the same solutions. so, let’s pick up with a question/comment or two.
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7 levels of communication management

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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more merger questions than you imagined

business group of two women and two men shaking handsthere’s a lot to consider whether merging up, down or laterally.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

although we find that an internal ownership transition often can be your best bet, a merger makes sense in many cases. so, if this is the direction you are heading, we’ve highlighted some of the issues below that we think you ought to consider, with the first one being to really take a close and hard look at the compatibility of the organizations courting each other.

more on performance management: how to compensate your managing partner | the job of managing partner: empowered or emasculated? | how the best managing partners turn ideas into reality | make accountability a process | accountability requires clear expectations | base retirement on today’s operations

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

who is a likely candidate for a merger?

if you are going to consider a merger, which firms would seemingly be a good fit for your practice – i.e., your clients and your employees and if, applicable, partners?  the better the fit, the more likely you will be able to retain clients and employees, and the greater the chance for overall success of the merged firms.
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5 ways to measure partner potential

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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merging for all the wrong reasons

jigsaw puzzle with pieces missing and word "incomplete" in gapfirst: get your house in order; don’t expect someone else to do it for you.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

for at least the past 10 years, the merger market among cpa firms has been pretty active. while the market volume has waxed and waned a little several times during this period, mergers have been a topic in almost every strategic planning retreat we have facilitated.

more on performance management: how to compensate your managing partner | mps: how to elect them … and fire them | partners as role models: the good, bad & ugly | managing the managing partner | pay varies when performance varies | accountability is for everyone | who decides what?

 

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

 

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paying the managing partner: today’s trends and best practices

businesswoman holding giant dollar symbolhow firms are balancing base salaries against billable hours.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

the managing partner should have a compensation plan unique to that position focused on carrying out the strategic and tactical objectives of the firm.

more on performance management: how to elect a managing partner … and how to fire them | why accountability falls to managing partners | how to implement strategy, step by step | how to decide who decides pay | accountability includes partners | succession plan requirements | how retired partners are robbing their own firms | 4 ways to create more capacity | partner retirement and the war for clients | succession: the questions to care about | hazards of not reallocating equity

goprocpa.comexclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

while there can be some individual performance goals assessed, the bulk of the managing partner’s incentive package and focus should be on overall firm performance. the key here is that you don’t want an incentive system for the managing partner that is overly focused on individual goals because the real value of this position is in driving firmwide change.
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3 questions to evaluate your firm culture

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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managing partners: how to elect them… and fire them

midsection of businessman moving out with cardboard box from officeand why a five-year term is ideal.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

often, firms elect a managing partner with a majority vote, but to dismiss a managing partner within their elected term requires a higher vote, commonly two-thirds of the equity vote. in some larger firms, the people running for managing partner might not be eligible to vote in this process, but in many others, everyone can vote.

more on performance management: the job of managing partner: empowered or emasculated? | how the best managing partners turn ideas into reality | make accountability a process | accountability requires clear expectations | base retirement on today’s operations | how involved should retired owners be? | how to find a partner’s replacement

the reason why everyone should be allowed to vote is simply that the smaller the firm, the more likely that removing the candidates being considered for the position puts too much control in the minority ownership of the firm. for example, consider the following six-partner firm scenario:
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how committees kill firms

businesswoman working at deskwhy managing partners need to be accountable.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

as we have said so many times before, everyone likes the idea that “i” will hold “me” accountable. but few like the idea of “anyone else” holding “them” accountable.

more on performance management: the job of managing partner: empowered or emasculated? | partners as role models: the good, bad & ugly | managing the managing partner | pay varies when performance varies | accountability is for everyone | who decides what? | cpa firm performance assessments: 15 core competencies, 21 questions

so, once it is decided that accountability is important and someone needs to be responsible for implementation, the discussion quickly shifts to “let’s form a group of people, like an executive committee or a compensation committee to hold us accountable.”
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learn to read your firm’s culture

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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the job of managing partner: empowered or emasculated?

woman executive coaching a male employee across deskwhy eat-what-you-kill firm cultures produce weak ceos.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

let’s review some best practices as to how the managing partner is elected, what is expected, for what term and how he or she is protected if removed from that role.

more on performance management: how to monitor goal progress | how to implement strategy, step by step | how to decide who decides pay | accountability includes partners | succession plan requirements | how retired partners are robbing their own firms | 4 ways to create more capacity | partner retirement and the war for clients | succession: the questions to care about | hazards of not reallocating equity | cpa firm performance assessments: 15 core competencies, 21 questions | 5 harmful management attitudes (and how to fix them)

the job differs whether it is being filled under the eat what you kill (ewyk) or building a village (bav) models. for example, under the ewyk model, the managing partner is likely the largest equity partner, or if not, then the default would be that the role of the managing partner would be that of administrative partner.  because the ewyk model is usually a silo model built around superstars, the managing partner’s role is to handle all of the matters that the other partners don’t want to do.  it is not uncommon in these scenarios that the managing partner earns a stipend to fill that position, and that the stipend is not very much (maybe $25,000 to $75,000 a year).

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5 ways to get buy-in for firm culture

industrial metal number 5change management is one of the keys.

by martin bissett

cultural issues are dynamic, very broad and unique in each firm. as such it is a challenge to summarize them accurately and comprehensively.

more on the passport to partnership: 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

from our research, however, the wise choice for anyone wishing to get their passport to partnership appears to be to study

  • their firm’s existing culture,
  • that of its senior individuals and
  • that of those who have the ear of those senior individuals

to understand not only the route to partnership, but the terrain that they need to cross too.
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lee beall: finding next-gen leaders at rea & assoc.

beall
beall

nextgen participants spend 12 months developing skills and one major project.

by 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 staff

rea & associates logodeveloping leaders from within the ranks of his firm is by far the top practice management issue for lee beall, chief executive officer of rea & associates, a central ohio area accounting and consulting firm that generates more than $35 million a year.

more from the corner office: joe kask leads ‘paradigm shift’ at blumshapiro | ceo charles weinstein: eisneramper targets work-life balance | hbk’s allegretti says firm must stress excitement factor | lou grassi focuses on recruiting, retention at namesake n.y. firm | richard berkowitz drives berkowitz pollack brant to ‘warp speed’ | randy myeroff at cohen & co.: winning the youth movement | rick dreher innovates wipfli for clients, younger workers | how blain heckaman drives value at kaufman rossin | weisermazars mp blake charts u.s. expansion | frank longobardi: cohnreznick’s battle for top talent | the robo-cpa: jim sikich prepares for disruptive technologies |  exclusively for pro members. log in here or 2022世界杯足球排名 today.

beall and his leadership team first became aware of the need to internally cultivate leaders a few years ago, when, he recalls, “we looked at our employee base at the time and didn’t have a clear picture of who would be the next generation of leaders in our firm. this was a sobering reality.”

today, rea has a set goal of selecting beall’s replacement as ceo from an internal pool of candidates and committed to not looking outside for new leadership positions.

“if firms simply ignore the responsibility to identify and develop leaders within, the success, future and sustainability of these firms will be at risk,” beall says. he adds that leadership impacts most all of the other key practice management issues, including mergers and acquisitions, finding and retaining good workers, and meeting clients’ changing expectations.
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