there are too many partners who are there for retention reasons \u2013 not good business reasons.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
what about the partner who starts his\/her own firm? these are the real entrepreneurs in this industry. it\u2019s interesting how they come to be. the individual in question starts life as a junior accountant or graduate, learns how to do that part of the job, stays in the current firm for a few years, gets more experience and then shifts firms. they stay at the next firm for a few years and then maybe shift firms again. all the way observing how each of the partners conduct business.<\/p>\n
one day (usually in the person\u2019s 30s) they wake up and say to themselves, \u201ci am sick of being an employee of an accounting firm. i\u2019m a good accountant. i want to go out on my own. i want to start my own firm.\u201d they have just had an entrepreneurial seizure!<\/p>\n
off they (you?) go believing that just because they are a good accountant that they know how to run a successful accounting business that provides great accounting services. nothing could be further from the truth. being a technician (knowing how to do the work) and being a business owner (knowing how to run a business that works) are two vastly different scenarios.<\/p>\n
here\u2019s the issue. how did this new entrepreneur learn how to run the business they have just started?<\/p>\n
from the partners that they worked for. they learned by osmosis. and where did those partners learn their great (tongue firmly planted in cheek) business skills from? the partners before them. and so on and so forth.<\/p>\n
if you want to run a better business you must first become a better business person.<\/p>\n
if you stick to the traditional model, the only real way to create wealth in this business is to have fewer partners in your firm and a higher leverage of people per partner.<\/p>\n
there are plenty of sole practitioners around the world who hire 20+ people and as such they are making $1 million-plus profit per annum. the issue of low profitability starts when you have too many partners and the leverage (people per partner) is low.<\/p>\n
it\u2019s very easy to prop up profits in an accounting firm \u2013 just have the partners charge more time. they have the highest (apparently) charge rates, so all time charged by partners is theoretically all profit.<\/p>\n
recently i asked a simple question at one of my coaching club meetings. “if you could wave a magic wand, then the ideal business partner is someone who\u2026?” and then got them to answer the question. this is what the group came up with.<\/p>\n
the ideal partner in an accounting firm is someone who\u2026<\/p>\n
\nbrings something to the table \u2013 complements existing partners<\/li>\n is a good cultural fit in the firm<\/li>\n is a good communicator at the partner level<\/li>\n is a good communicator with team members<\/li>\n is a good communicator with clients<\/li>\n is stable \u2013 emotionally and financially<\/li>\n is profit- and growth-motivated<\/li>\n has a good work ethic<\/li>\n is reasonably fit and healthy<\/li>\n is at the same stage in life mentally<\/li>\n shares similar values and ethics<\/li>\n has an ability to respect other partners<\/li>\n knows what they want \u2013 goal-oriented<\/li>\n is supportive of new ideas<\/li>\n is flexible in their thoughts and actions<\/li>\n is a good business builder<\/li>\n is fun to be with<\/li>\n shares the vision<\/li>\n walks the talk not just talks the talk<\/li>\n acts in the best interests of clients and the firm at all times<\/li>\n can bring in new business<\/li>\n<\/ol>\nhow many of these 21 can your current partners answer favorably? maybe some partners you have are not a fit. do you need fewer, more or different partners?<\/p>\n
maybe some change needs to happen in your firm at the partner level.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
plus: 21 characteristics of an ideal partner.<\/strong> \nby rob nixon<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1840,"featured_media":49750,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_relevanssi_hide_post":"","_relevanssi_hide_content":"","_relevanssi_pin_for_all":"","_relevanssi_pin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_unpin_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_keywords":"","_relevanssi_related_include_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_exclude_ids":"","_relevanssi_related_no_append":"","_relevanssi_related_not_related":"","_relevanssi_related_posts":"","_relevanssi_noindex_reason":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3058,2254,3120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-52707","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-client-accounting-services","category-growth","category-pro-member-exclusive"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nthe accountant as entrepreneur: an oxymoron? - 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n