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

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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Partner Coaching: Why is it beneficial?

Team of professionals discussing a new business project

I coached a managing partner recently – let’s call him Chad – who was standing on a proverbial burning platform when I met him. Chad had lots of clients who loved his firm, but was short staffed at the lower levels and partner level. He had a succession problem that needed to be handled now.…

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Should You Have Non-Equity Partners?

Two professionals shaking hands at a desk.

As featured in Accounting Today.   Succession planning at CPA firms has never been more difficult. Minting new partners is a struggle, as many potential candidates are leaving the field or are not interested in the job. This leaves more and more “retired” partners (those who have given up their equity) still working because there’s…

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Are Staff’s Poor Writing Skills Causing Problems?

Professional with head down writing at desk.

Why it’s important to write correctly Written communication takes several forms: emails, texts, letters (to clients and the IRS, for example), client reports, performance evaluations, etc. Thoughtful writing of these messages is important because: It shows that the author is thinking clearly. The way you write says as much about you as the way you…

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3 Critical Upgrades for Your Firm’s Management

Upgrade button on keyboard.

It’s no secret that small to mid-sized CPA firms don’t have the same resources to manage their firms that the Top 100 do. Plus, smaller firm owners enjoy the freedom that comes with being able to do what they want and not be subject to corporate policies, red tape, bureaucracy, and other negative aspects of…

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Current Effects of COVID on CPA Firms – Rosenberg’s Analysis

The CPA industry is as steady as an ocean liner in heavy seas… in normal times, which is 90% of the years.  Most established multi-partner firms experience increases in revenues and profits on an annual basis…in normal times. Sure, there are major challenges such as finding staff, retirements, technology’s relentlessly huge impact on how CPA…

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CPA Firm Leadership Tips From a Top MP

Randy Nail is the Managing Partner (MP) of Hogan Taylor, a $50M Oklahoma-based firm in Tulsa and three other locations.  Randy got a unique baptism to managing the firm in several respects. In 2009, Hogan Taylor was created from a merger of two equal $10M firms.  One of the two firms’ MPs initially served as MP,…

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Managing Cash Flow: 10 Tips from MPs

The coronavirus crisis has cast a surreal cloud over every aspect of our lives.  To say that businesses are in uncharted waters would be an epic understatement. No one has all the answers. But as is the case in any crisis, as we work through it, we start to pick up best practices from each…

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