the partnership

solving the partner compensation puzzle

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start with this 20-item checklist.

by marc rosenberg
author of “cpa firm management & governance“

if you ask the partners, they will tell you that the most critical and sensitive aspect of cpa firm practice management is the allocation of partner income.

because of the sensitivity of partner compensation, firms change various aspects of their allocation system quite often.  for this reason, the smart firms include wording in their partnership agreements on partner compensation that is very short and quite general.  this way, the firm doesn’t have to revise the partnership agreement every time a change is made.

it’s a complicated task. there are seven different systems in use today, three basic tiers, a couple ways firms are calculating bonuses, and at least a dozen other items to ponder and work through.

here is a checklist of decisions that the best firms are making to determine the compensation of each partner:

read more →

what does being a partner mean?

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how to set and enforce standards of performance.

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

partners are the culture in a professional services firm – what they believe, what they reward, what they do and how they do it determines what and how things get done.

but, one of the problems we consistently hear about is the lack of clarity in what being a partner means. and, in the absence of clarity the partners typically fill the gap by doing what they think it means, with all of the differences of thought and behavior that inevitably brings. read more →

identifying the right new partner in a 26-point checklist

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responsibilities, abilities, and deliverables.

bringing in a new partners is part art and part science. marc rosenberg, after studying thousands of cpa firms, has a few suggestions on the science, with a series of checklists covering intangible, financial, legal, practice development, production, client management, technical, administration, and supervision-related benchmarks. read more →

10 ways to achieve partner accountability

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卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 contributor marc rosenberg knows how to be succinct, as well as insightful. pondering the question of accountability in a cpa firm partnership, he quotes the legendary david maister, ““if people are not prepared to be held accountable for what they do, it is unlikely they will achieve much.” 

but then he adds his own epigram: “if there are no consequences for failing to achieve a goal, then it is less likely that the goal will be accomplished.”

that said, he presents a new checklist:

the 10 main ways that firms achieve partner accountability read more →

10 bad habits partners need to kick

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if actions speak louder than words, what does that say about your firm’s core values?

by august j. aquila and robert j. lees

creating the effective partnership

the concept of core or shared values gets a lot of press and most professional service firms’ websites promote their core values to prospects, clients and recruits. but, like so many management ideas that are on the soft side, they are often more talk than reality.

creating the effective partnership:  every partner’s first question: ‘what’s in it for me?’  |  the 9 building blocks of a winning vision that the big four have discovered  |   the politics of an accounting firm partnership  |  nine rules to creating highly effective partnership teams   |   audacious vision and grand purpose prove essential to cpa success | are you creating a sustainable firm? | the debilitating effects of denial at accounting firms | the five psychological hurdles that cpa firms must confront today

for too many firms, their espoused core values don’t actually represent what the firm stands for and don’t guide individual behavior. often, in fact, neither the partners nor the employees know the firm’s core values and no one in the firm is evaluated or rewarded on how well they live them. read more →

the 15 rules for partner teamwork

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no lone rangers, no prima donnas.

how healthy is your firm’s partnership? 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 contributor marc rosenberg, cpa, has been asking that question for 20 years at more than 700 firms by now. he has a few ideas. in fact, he has a checklist of 15 items by which to measure the strength and sustainability of any accounting practice. how well does yours measure up?

the tried-and-true rules for successful partner teamwork

1. partners agree on a common vision, goals and a set of firm practices, which are followed by all partners, even if each partner doesn’t agree 100%.

2. key firm personnel are viewed as team players, particularly in servicing clients.  clients are viewed as clients of the firm, not the individual.

3. people rarely go on sales calls alone.
read more →

10-point checklist for bringing in a new partner

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the steps to take today to exit gracefully in the future.

by mark rosenberg
how to bring in new partners

succession planning has hit cpa firms hard.  as baby boomer partners approach retirement age, they naturally are focusing on who can take their place and eventually write their retirement checks.

there are two primary exit strategies for partners: 1) sell or merge out of existence. or 2) stay independent, retire and get bought out by younger partners who write the partners’ retirement checks with smiles on their faces.

the vast majority prefers method no. 2, but unfortunately, this option is not available to many partners and firms.  for various reasons, these firms have not developed new partners to take their place.

here is a 10-point checklist for what firms need to do to bring in a new partner: read more →

partners demand accountability, except….

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except when it affects themselves.

by marc rosenberg
author of how to bring in new partners

partner accountability addresses what is expected of each partner, how partners will be managed so that the expectations are met and what the consequences will be for failure to meet these expectations.

i have interviewed hundreds of partners on partner accountability.  i frequently ask them if they would like the firm to have partner accountability.  the most common response i get, somewhat apocryphal, is:  “yes, i’m all for partner accountability (long pause) as long as it doesn’t affect me!” read more →

the 9 building blocks of a winning vision that the big four have discovered

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learn more about the research findings

and that you can use too.

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

what should a compelling vision contain?

while we still see some visions that talk about becoming the leading player in a state or region, we are seeing a real recognition that a vision is a lot more than the statement we used to see firms use across accounting and the other professional services firms sectors.

more creating the effective partnership: the politics of an accounting firm partnership  |  nine rules to creating highly effective partnership teams   |   audacious vision and grand purpose prove essential to cpa success | are you creating a sustainable firm? | the debilitating effects of denial at accounting firms | the five psychological hurdles that cpa firms must confront today

consider, now, the common ideas from the visions of the big four firms:

read more →

27 tough questions for evaluating the performance of a managing partner

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including: managing partner evaluation forms, parts 1 and 2.

by marc rosenberg
cpa firm management & governance

this is really an upward evaluation.  like all upward evaluations, people evaluating the managing partner should be limited to those in a position to offer informed input.  this means that at firms of fewer than 10 to 15 partners all the partners will probably want to participate.  but once a firm gets beyond 10 to 15 partners, an increasing number of partners may not be in a position to respond to the evaluation factors listed in the form.

more cpa firm management & governance:  18 things partners owe their firms – and each other   |  17 ways to measure a partner  |  how the structure of an accounting firm changes through the years    |    congratulations! your firm needs a human resources director    |    the 19-point marketing director job description    |    checklist: how the best managing partners and firm admins work in concert     |    21 questions for managing the managing partner    |    no partner vote needed: 17 decisions best left to the managing partner alone    |    new rules: 13 items that should be in your managing partner’s job description    |    when is it time to shift your firm from partnership-style to corporate-style governance?    |    not every firm needs a general patton    |

firms with management or executive committees may wish to limit the evaluation to the partners on those committees.

once you have decided who will be allowed to participate in the evaluation, each partner should complete the evaluation forms.  read more →

building a bridge or welding girders together?

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building a bridge to somewhere…

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

screen shot 2013-08-07 at 3.13.01 pm
buy the report – $165. free shipping.

the more that partners are engaged with the firm’s future the better they perform. so, the picture of the firm’s future has to be compelling. it has to persuade people that they want to play a part in making it a reality.

more on partnership management:  nine rules to creating highly effective partnership teams  |   audacious vision and grand purpose prove essential to cpa success | are you creating a sustainable firm? | the debilitating effects of denial at accounting firms | the five psychological hurdles that cpa firms must confront today

nearly all of the firms we know agree with the sentiment but getting the partners engaged isn’t always easy. so, how do firms go about engaging the partners and making sure they remain that way? read more →

nine rules to creating highly effective partnership teams

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screen shot 2013-08-07 at 3.13.01 pm
buy the report – $165. free shipping.

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

managing partners always ask us what it takes to achieve sustained, consistent partner performance.

more on partnership management:   audacious vision and grand purpose prove essential to cpa success   | are you creating a sustainable firm? | the debilitating effects of denial at accounting firms | the five psychological hurdles that cpa firms must confront today

while the answer is easy, maybe simplistic, the implementation is difficult in most firms. read more →