Posts by Marc Rosenberg, CPA

People doing different hobbies.

Partners: Get a Hobby!

Marc Rosenberg, CPA / May 3, 2022

Warning: This article may be very difficult for partners over 55 years of age. It could trigger high levels of anxiety and even tears. A journal article I wrote about 15 years ago (yes, before blogs!) was “Partners: Get A Hobby!” I got as many compliments on this article as on any of the 500…

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Exciting News: Rampe Consulting Joins Forces with Rosenberg Associates

Marc Rosenberg, CPA / April 25, 2022

We are excited to announce that Rosenberg Associates and Rampe Consulting have merged! After a long collaboration, we’re formally becoming one team to serve our CPA firm owners even better. Check out our About Us page to learn more and join our email list to hear about the new services coming out later this year!…

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Critical Insights from a Top 100 Firm Managing Partner

Marc Rosenberg, CPA / April 18, 2022

Our Chicago large firm roundtable has brought in premier MPs from across the country for 15 years to share with us their management practices. Our most recent visitor was Steve Wasserman, MP of Los Angeles-based Gursey Schneider. GS ranks as #96 on Accounting Today’s Top 100 list, with revenue of $51M, 7 equity partners, 9…

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Two professionals reviewing a document.

Employment Offer to Seller’s Staff in a Merger

Marc Rosenberg, CPA / March 23, 2022

Two key documents When a CPA firm acquires or merges in a smaller firm, it is common for the seller’s staff to be employed by the buyer. In this situation, there are two important documents (there may be others, but this blog addresses just two) to be executed between the buyer and the seller’s staff:…

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Courtroom scale of justice.

Courtroom Drama: Departing Partner Sues Firm Over His Buyout – Part 2 of 2

Marc Rosenberg, CPA / March 1, 2022

In this two-part series, Darth, a 42-year-old partner sues his former firm, Force CPAs, for a larger buyout payment. The courtroom dialogue will share with you the facts, evidence, and arguments from each side as we explore industry trends related to payments for withdrawing partners. [Read Part 1 of the series here.] We continue below…

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Courtroom gavel.

Courtroom Drama: Departing Partner Sues Firm Over His Buyout – Part 1 of 2

Marc Rosenberg, CPA / February 25, 2022

In this two-part series, Darth, a 42-year-old partner sues his former firm, Force CPAs, for a larger buyout payment. The courtroom dialogue will share with you the facts, evidence, and arguments from each side as we explore industry trends related to payments for withdrawing partners.  Note: The legal issues in this case vary by state law. …

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A person walking on stones across a river.

Income Partner: Permanent Position or Stepping Stone to Equity?

Marc Rosenberg, CPA / February 16, 2022

Question from a CPA firm: Our firm has an annual revenue of $10M. We are considering someone for partnership who will likely always be an income partner. In the past, we have admitted new partners as income partners, knowing that eventually they would become equity partners. This is a first for us, and we need…

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Tug of war between two people.

Should Your CPA Firm Have a Full-Time MP AND COO?

Marc Rosenberg, CPA / February 1, 2022

Question From a $12M Firm: We are setting out our strategy for the next several years and discussing the pros and cons of having a full-time managing partner and a full-time COO versus what we do today, which is to have these positions handled part-time by partners who work a day job serving clients. Part…

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Professional folding hands thinking.

Confessions of a Retired Partner

Marc Rosenberg, CPA / January 19, 2022

In full disclosure, I’ll use one of my favorite words to describe what follows. It’s “apocryphal.” It may not have actually happened, but most certainly it could have – and probably does on a regular basis. The CPA profession has been incredibly good to legions of retired partners. Retirees loved their clients who loved them…

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Crack in a cliff and people on either side.

Internal Buyout vs. External Sale: Why Valuations Differ

Marc Rosenberg, CPA / January 5, 2022

Over the years, we have found that many firms confuse terms for internal partner buyout plans with those commonly seen in external firm sales. Both transactions are vehicles for transferring CPA firm ownership, but there the similarity ends. The biggest problem with lumping the two together is that in designing a buyout plan, firms mistakenly…

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Marc Rosenberg, CPA

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Marc Rosenberg is a nationally known consultant, author and speaker on CPA firm management, strategy and partner issues. President of his own Chicago-based consulting firm, The Rosenberg Associates, he is founder of the most authoritative annual survey of mid-sized CPA firm performance statistics in the country, The Rosenberg Survey. He has consulted with more than 1000 firms throughout his decades-long consulting career.

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