strategy

as tax season ends, strategic planning season begins

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coffee cup by napkin with words including "action plans."eight key elements to take your firm from good to great.

by domenick j. esposito
8 steps to great

it is often said that leading a cpa firm is like herding cats (everyone going in different directions), because many firms are very good at talking and planning about their future (it’s in their dna), but terrible at execution and implementation.  it’s a little like the shoemaker’s shoes. partners get distracted with client service or low hanging fruit and give up too quickly in creating change within their own firms.

more from domenick j. esposito:   the big eight: harsh realities for firms today   |  the coming battle below the big four  |  seizing the $10 trillion opportunity | learning to ‘run with the big dogs’ | the cpa success formula: ties that bind  |  8 steps to great: the vast new opportunities for smart, aggressive firms | more…

if you are ready to take the first big step of moving from a merely good firm to a mid-market sustainable brand, then a strategic plan, with specific implementation tactics and accountability measures, is the absolute first step.  i would encourage you to begin the process with your partners as soon as possible.

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make accountability a process

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man and woman reviewing a documenteveryone performs better when someone else has oversight.

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

setting up an “accountability and goal process” always sounds much easier than it actually is to implement. so for those who already think this process would be painful, just know that you still are probably underestimating the amount of agony in store.

more on performance management: accountability requires clear expectations | accountability is for everyone | succession plan requirements | base retirement on today’s operations | who decides what? | how retired partners are robbing their own firms | how involved should retired owners be? | firms say what would change retirement pay | 4 ways to create more capacity | how to find a partner’s replacement | action plans for transitioning partners | partner retirement and the war for clients | best practices for mandatory retirement | how retirement issues affect succession planning | succession: the questions to care about 

this leads us to the standard question, “if this is so awful, why would anyone do it?” the answer is both simple and abstract.
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the big eight: harsh realities for firms today

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sorry. this page is no longer available. more from domenick j. esposito:  the coming battle below the big four  |  seizing the $10 trillion opportunity | learning to ‘run with the big dogs’ | the cpa success formula: ties that bind  |  8 steps to … continued

pay varies when performance varies

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closeup shot of a caliper measuring the word "goals"plus ways to measure both objective and subjective performance criteria (yes, it can be done).

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

an important point to keep in mind is that we, as human beings, have good months and bad ones, good years and bad ones.

more on performance management: accountability requires clear expectations | accountability is for everyone | succession plan requirements | base retirement on today’s operations | who decides what? | how retired partners are robbing their own firms | how involved should retired owners be? | firms say what would change retirement pay

what is going on in our personal lives has a lot to do with how we perform in our professional ones. therefore, if someone is going through a difficult time, such as a divorce, death in the family, major conflicts with extended family, etc., we can expect those events to spill over into our work life.
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the coming battle below the big four

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pawn takes king checkmatewhy ‘the next six’ are vulnerable to a new competitor.

by domenick j. esposito
8 steps to great

in the u.s. public accounting profession, there are three tiers of cpa firms. the top ten cpa firms are the sustainable brands.  they are principally serving two different markets.  therefore, i refer to them as tier one and tier two sustainable brands.

more from domenick j. esposito:  seizing the $10 trillion opportunity | learning to ‘run with the big dogs’ | the cpa success formula: ties that bind  |  8 steps to great: the vast new opportunities for smart, aggressive firms | and more…

in tier one, we have the giant four (deloitte, pwc, ey and kpmg), with a principal focus on serving the fortune 500, which have institutional, more sterile relationships with their cpa firms (as opposed to personal relationships with the partners; services provided are generally either compliance or consulting).

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