Posts Tagged ‘cpa_firm_succession_planning’
Firm Retirement Age of 85 Averts Staffing Crisis
A satirical blog post in celebration of April Fool’s Day. 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…
Read MoreConfessions of a Retired Partner
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…
Read MoreWhat a Venerable Retiring Client Taught Me About Succession Planning
This is a true story of a retiring, founding partner of one of the best, most successful firms I have ever had the privilege of working with. His name is Doug Dean of Dean Dorton in Lexington, KY. The firm today has annual revenue exceeding $40M and 260 personnel and has received a continuous stream…
Read MoreSuccession Planning Advice from a Partner Like You
Throughout my 20+ year consulting career, I’ve said this a thousand times: “I’m one firm smarter than the last firm I worked for.” We learn from our clients. It’s that collective accumulation of best practices (and worst practices) and experiences in hundreds of firms that make us valuable consultants to them. We recently worked with…
Read MoreThree Main Stages of Evolution: Where Is Your Firm?
There are some products that are so iconic and popular that it doesn’t seem possible that their success could ever be in jeopardy. Oreos. The New England Patriots. Microsoft Office. It must be wonderful to own and manage businesses like these that seem to run themselves. CPA firms enjoy no such advantaged status. THE THREE…
Read MoreMost CPA Firms Never Make it to the Second Generation – Why?
The short answer is that CPA firms stink at succession planning. Firms’ entire operations are geared to maximizing short-term profits, focusing on today at the expense of tomorrow. Evidence of this is the following: A 60 year-old sole practitioner wants to sell her firm and work eight more years. She has revenue of $1M and…
Read MoreAcquiring Business Development Skills Critical to Succession Planning
CPA firms are in the midst of a succession planning crisis that will continue until the retirement of Baby Boomers joins Y2K and other issues on the ash heap of history. A paltry 20% of first generation CPA firms make it to the second. The primary roadblock: ineffective or non-existent succession planning and leadership development.…
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