Rosenberg Associates Blog
Amanda Lilley, CPA, SHRM-CP, PHRPartner agreements are a key organizational document for any business, including CPA firms. Firms normally don’t find themselves needing to refer to them, but in the event that they do it’s important to have the right provisions included to be able to effectively handle situations as they arise. Many partnership or operating agreements from CPA…
Marc Rosenberg, CPAIn July, President Biden signed an executive order that made it more difficult for non-compete agreements, in general, to be enforceable. In Illinois, a more restrictive version of this change is ahead of the curve, making it more challenging for Illinois employers to enter into non-compete and non-solicitation agreements with employees. I have heard that…
Kristen Rampe, CPAA great deal of the content of this blog was obtained from in-depth discussions with Peter Fontaine, a nationally-known attorney specializing in CPA firm legal issues and business practices. Peter is the founder and managing partner of NewGate Law. He has served as legal counsel for RSM and Arthur Andersen. Fontaine can be reached at…
We recently received this question from a long-time client about income partners and voting: “We can see having several income partners in the next two years and have been discussing what voting rights, if any, they should have. We are currently restating our partnership agreement to include our new Executive Committee and thus we would…
Two-thirds of partner agreements include a mandatory retirement provision. This provision usually requires partners to give up their equity but allows them to continue working in some fashion. A common stipulation is that if a “retired” partner wishes to continue working, either full or part-time, this must be approved annually by the other partners. Here…
I sure am. Why? Imagine you entered into an ownership position in a CPA firm in your mid-30s. Over the next 30 years or so, you’ll be paid your share of millions of dollars. Do you want your share to be based on judgments that are rational and logical, or unfair and lacking in common…
Properly written partner agreements contain more than 200 provisions, all important. We have reviewed hundreds of partner agreements and helped firms create or revise several dozen, and based on this experience, I’ve identified what I consider the 16 most critical provisions in CPA firm partner agreements. The items are not listed in order of importance. …
Questions from a Reader: Our firm is currently working on revising our shareholder agreement. We have 13 shareholders. We are wrestling with a few issues. We plan to create an Executive Committee to work with our MP. What is the best way to seat the EC? Elected by the partners or appointed by the MP?…
When partners retire and begin receiving deferred compensation payments, should they be allowed to work at another accounting firm? Most firms’ partnership agreements stipulate that a retired partner’s joining another firm automatically triggers a loss of all deferred comp payments – even if clients are not taken. Firms invest a great deal of time and…
We recently invited attorney Russell Shapiro, partner with the law firm of Levenfeld Pearlstein, to speak to our roundtable group of 20 of the largest 30 CPA firms in Chicago on CPA partner agreements. In our blog post of August 29, 2012, we listed four key items he identified that are rarely addressed. Here are four more.
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