Rosenberg Associates Blog

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Why CPA Firms Often Prefer to Sell to Other CPA Firms Instead of Non-CPA Firms

Avatar photoMarc Rosenberg, CPA / May 31, 2023

For about ten years now, there has been a merger frenzy in the CPA profession, fueled by three interrelated factors: (a) baby boomers are rapidly approaching or reaching retiring age; (b) succession planning is not a strong suit of CPA firms so, they often find themselves with no bench to take over the firm and…

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How 20 Chicago Mid-Size Firms Saw the 2023 Tax Season

Avatar photoMarc Rosenberg, CPA / May 24, 2023

My colleague, Art Kuesel of Kuesel Consulting (art@kueselconsulting.com), and I have been leading three roundtables in the Chicago area for over 20 years. Each group has about 25 partners, mostly MPs. The group that this blog reports on comprises roughly 75% of the largest local firms in Chicago. Revenues range from $7M to $35M. We…

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Time Tracking: A Partner-Candidate Asks If It’s Worth It

Avatar photoKristen Rampe, CPA / May 17, 2023

We previously shared Part 1 of this series. Read it here.  We occasionally receive lengthy replies to our blogs and like to share our readers’ perspectives. A senior manager of a three-partner firm in the Midwest wrote to us, following my April Fool’s blog on raising the minimum retirement age to 85, articulating frustration with…

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Buyout Schmyout: A Partner-Candidate Asks If It’s Worth It

Avatar photoKristen Rampe, CPA / May 10, 2023

We occasionally receive lengthy replies to our blogs and like to share our readers’ perspectives. A senior manager of a three-partner firm in the Midwest wrote to us on the topic of succession and buyouts, following my April Fool’s blog on raising the minimum retirement age to 85. This is Part 1 of a 2-part…

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Poll Results: Retention Effectiveness Strategies for CPA Firms

Amanda LilleyAmanda Lilley, CPA, SHRM-CP, PHR / May 2, 2023

We polled our audience of CPA firms to find out the average turnover percentage in 2022 and what retention strategies firms plan to implement after this latest winter busy season to try to keep staff from joining the mass exodus that is common for public accounting professionals at this time of year.   Based on 63…

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Linking Employee Compensation to Performance

Amanda LilleyAmanda Lilley, CPA, SHRM-CP, PHR / April 18, 2023

Firms use compensation as a standard reward for performance in areas such as meeting billable hours expectations, performing at a high technical level, delivering exceptional client service, taking on additional training or leadership duties, or mentoring staff.    Just as importantly, firms use compensation to give employees something to look forward to. Employees are motivated to…

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From Failing Plans to Successful Change

Avatar photoMatt Rampe / April 12, 2023

Times have changed dramatically for CPA firms: staffing crises, remote workers, technological advances, retiring partners, new expectations about what a work week should look like…. Traditional strategic planning has become less effective. We need a new model that works in our new era. Let me introduce you to it. The Decline of One Person Having…

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A Morning with the MP of Aprio, Richard Kopelman

Avatar photoMarc Rosenberg, CPA / April 5, 2023

Our Chicago large-firm roundtable brings in premier MPs from across the country to share their management practices with us. Our most recent visitor was Richard Kopelman, MP of Atlanta-based Aprio, the twenty-fifth largest CPA firm in the U.S., with revenue of $340M, 80 equity partners, 80 non-equity partners, and 1,500 total personnel.  One would be…

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Firm Retirement Age of 85 Averts Staffing Crisis

Avatar photoKristen Rampe, CPA / April 1, 2023

Struggling with the ongoing talent shortage facing the accounting industry, local CPA firm Watts, Taber and Fiske recently made a change giving them a viable option for staying independent. The firm raised its minimum age for partner retirement from 62 to 85, which gives the firm an extra 23 years to search for the right…

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What To Do When a Partner Doesn’t Want to Retire

Avatar photoMarc Rosenberg, CPA / March 21, 2023

A firm on the East Coast with 11 partners and revenue of $28M asked me this:       QUESTION  A long-time partner, a “nice person,” is 69. She has been a fairly good rainmaker over the years, but during the past five years or so, she has slowed down and transitioned many of her clients. She…

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