strategy

private clouds on the rise

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2016-roundtable-outlook-for-rosenberg-map-commentary-vf-240x219security breaches will be a heightened concern.

they say “past results are no indication of future performance.” maybe. maybe not. but if anyone should know, it’s our panel of experts, their comments drawn from the new edition of the rosenberg map survey. these are their bullet points and comments, verbatim, looking back at the last 12 months and looking ahead to 2016. – rick telberg, ceo

by roman kepczyk
the rosenberg map survey

lessons from 2015:

firms overall remained cautiously optimistic, with those that were more specialized/niched seeing solid leaps in growth in both personnel and revenue. these firms brought us in to direct their investments in upgrading their infrastructures, focusing not only on the physical it components, but in optimizing their internal production processes with the applications they had in place.

more from the rosenberg map survey: firms growing, still face talent challenges | outlook 2016: another economic storm coming? | how succession issues are driving desperation mergers | outlook 2016: change catches up with auditors | strategic plans undermined by out-of-control partners | growth, succession plans critical for firms | talent wars go from white gloves to boxing gloves | trend outlook 2016: change agents needed

much of our consulting last year trended toward helping firms implement streamlined workflow tools (xcm, thomson firmflow, cch workstream) and toward adopting “lean tax” production processes, which continues to be the latest buzz. m&a it consulting was another big focus as we helped firms actively build “private cloud” infrastructures so they could

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how retirement issues affect succession planning

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an old-school bronze justice scale with inequal stacks of moneyif you believe your firm will be dysfunctional without you, now is the time to fix it.

by bill reeb, dominic cingoranelli, and tommye barie
the succession institute

when we take our clients through succession planning, eventually the focus turns to implementing the best practices for running a firm – but first we normally have to start with short-term retirement issues.

more on performance management: succession: the questions to care about | how partner ratings factor into equity | the pitfalls of equity allocation and reallocation | cpa firm performance assessments: 15 core competencies, 21 questions | what having your employees’ backs means

why? because typically you won’t get any buy-in for change until the partners have looked at whether the current retirement system is paying at least roughly a fair market value to the near-term retiring partners.

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succession: the questions to care about

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track and field athletes passing relay baton. studio shot over white.bonus checklists: 5 rules to govern a succession plan. 8 keys to an effective compensation system.

by bill reeb and dominic cingoranelli

we’ve seen a lot of frequently shared, misdirected advice on commonly discussed succession issues. we would rather stop focusing on symptoms and start focusing on resolving the root cause issues that a good succession plan should address.

more on performance management: 7 succession questions to ignore for now | hazards of not reallocating equity | develop your employees or suffer the consequences | how to target what skills to develop now | what having your employees’ backs means

our solution: the robust succession framework

first and foremost, good succession management is a function of good business operating practices. over and over, we find successful firms – including many that have even effectively retired partners in the past – that are overlooking some very important best practices.
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firms growing, still face talent challenges

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2016-roundtable-outlook-for-rosenberg-map-commentary-vf-240x219take cues from trends outside the industry, too.

they say “past results are no indication of future performance.” maybe. maybe not. but if anyone should know, it’s our panel of experts, their comments drawn from the new edition of the rosenberg map survey. these are their bullet points and comments, verbatim, looking back at the last 12 months and looking ahead to 2016. – rick telberg, ceo

more from the rosenberg map survey: outlook 2016: another economic storm coming? | how succession issues are driving desperation mergers | strategic plans undermined by out-of-control partners | talent wars go from white gloves to boxing gloves

by angie grissom
the rainmaker companies

lessons from 2015:

accounting firms are feeling the crunch for hiring and developing team members. they are starting to do two things:
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do you want a practice … or a business?

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hand putting coins into blue piggy bank7 decisions accountants may someday regret.

by hitendra patil

you might end up losing a million dollars or more. surprised? here are ways you could be frittering money away without even realizing it.

more on entrepreneurial strategy: new survey results: ‘decisiveness’ rated top trait for success in accounting business | the 5 most common marketing blunders accountants make | 10 things that accountants didn’t worry about 10 years ago | what if accounting firms were ‘apps?’ | six steps for a better tax season

1. doing instead of getting things done

accounting is not a service industry. hotels and package delivery are service professions. they thrive on efficiency, technology, standardization of processes and so on. read more →