Vol. 2 No. 1, January 2010
In fulfilling our commitment to continuous improvement in CPA firm management, CPA Leadership Institute has created the Leadership Forum, a panel of the most prominent thought leaders in the profession. Each month we ask them to respond to a question dealing with CPA firm management and leadership.
This month's question is: Please select and discuss three areas you think are most important for accountants to improve upon to best prepare themselves for the challenges of the future?
In the first part of this month's question our panelist were given a list of 12 different areas of CPA firm leadership/management and were asked to choose their top three by importance in preparing to meet the challenges of the future. The table below lists these areas and total responses collected from our 15 responding panelists.
| Areas of improvement for accountants to meet the challenges of the future |
Total Panelist Responses |
| Succession Planning |
10 |
| Growth Strategies |
8 |
| Partner Accountability |
8 |
| Leading |
6 |
| Selling |
6 |
| Managing People |
6 |
| Marketing |
1 |
| Performance Feedback |
1 |
| Mentoring |
1 |
| Partner Compensation |
0 |
| Technology |
0 |
| Value Pricing |
0 |
Consultants and Other Prominent Observers
| Larry Bildstein |
The Whestone Group |
larry@thewhetstonegroup.com |
Areas for improvement selected: Marketing, Partner Accountability, Selling, Succession Planning
1) Marketing: The days of waiting for the phone to ring as a strategy to grow the top line are gone....2) Partner Accountability: It is more important than ever that owners “get it done” vs. just talking about it. ...3) Succession Planning: If there is one thing we see over and over again, it's that CPA firms lack a sufficient number of professionals that can take over leadership roles within the firm... More |
| Bob Lewis |
Visionary Marketing |
www.thinkvisionary.com
blewis@thinkvisionary.com |
Areas for improvement selected: Growth Strategies, Partner Accountability, Performance Feedback
...little attention is paid to lead development, partner networking and lead follow-up. In fact most leads that are lost remain a secret because the partner got the lead from the a referral source and never reported it inside the firm. Simple steps such as a lead pipeline report that tracks all proposals and engagement letter sent... More |
| Jay N. Nisberg |
Jay Nisberg and Associates |
jaynisberg@snet.net |
Areas for improvement selected: Growth Strategies, Partner Accountability, Performance Feedback
...Performance feedback must become relevent and honest. We do a terrible job at giving colleagues an honest assesssment of how they are doing. We must learn to be truthful with our partners and fair in our perception of their contribution...More |
| William Pirolli |
Bentley Consulting Group |
www.bentleycg.com
bpirolli@bentleycg.com |
Areas for improvement selected: Growth Strategies, Leading, Managing People, Succession Planning
I picked these three because they are timeless. I think that mentoring and performance feedback fall under managing people. I also chose leadership as being the key to all the others. |
| Richard Rinehart |
Grant Partners, LLC |
rrinehart@grantptrs.com |
Areas for improvement selected: Managing People, Partner Accountability, Succession Planning
This is a people business. Attracting and retaining talent will always be critical to the success of all firms. While all of the topics listed are critically important many of them will fall into their appropriate place if partners are willing to be held accountable...More |
| Marc Rosenberg |
The Rosenberg Associates |
www.rosenbergassoc.com
marc@rosenbergassoc.com |
Areas for improvement selected: Growth Strategies, Leading, Succession Planning
...CPA firms usually fail to survive the first generation because they lack the leadership to focus their partners' attention on the challenges necessary to implement a successful succession plan – management, training, accountability, mentoring and growth. Isn't it funny how a discussion of succession planning takes us back to the start of this vignette – leadership? More |
| Joel Sinkin |
Accounting Transition Advisors |
www.transitionadvisors.com
jsinkin@transitionadvisors.com |
Areas for improvement selected: Managing People, Selling, Succession Planning
...2010 likely will bare more resemblance to 2009 than the prior years so managing your people to keep them efficient and accountable, teaching them and your partners to be good sales people to bring in as much new business as possible to offset the losses from attrition and preparing for succession...More |
| Joseph Tarasco |
Accountants Advisory Group |
www.accountantsadvisory.com
joe@accountantsadvisory.com |
Areas for improvement selected: Leading, Partner Accountability, Selling
Leadership during these times of change and instability, quality leadership more than any other factor can mean the difference between a firm that emerges stronger after the recession ends versus a firm that is weakened or does not progress...More |
| Rick Telberg |
Bay Street Group LLC |
rtelberg@telberg.com |
Areas for improvement selected: Leading, Partner Accountability, Succession Planning
The firm that survives and thrives will be the one that is agile and adaptable. That takes strong leadership and accountability, from the top down and sideways... More |
| Douglas H. Thompson, Jr. |
CPAmerica International |
dthompson@cpamerica.org |
Areas for improvement selected: Growth Strategies, Partner Accountability, Succession Planning
Firms need to stop "dancing around" the delicate issue of succession and develop a plan in 2010. There are only two ways to address succession...plan to be merged or acquired (usually by a larger firm) or internally by planned growth (which may well likely include merger or acquistion of other practices), and by existing and new people. |
| Jennifer Wilson |
ConvergenceCoaching LLC |
www.convergencecoaching.com
jen@convergencecoaching.com |
Areas for improvement selected: Growth Strategies, Managing People, Succession Planning
I chose growth strategies -- which I view as the 5 P's of marketing -- market positioning, product/service mix, pricing, ideal target market ("place"), and promotional strategies because refining these on an ongoing basis is fundamental to running any practice...More |
Firm Leaders
| Anonymous |
|
|
| Areas for improvement selected: Managing People, Partner Accountability, Succession Planning |
| Anonymous |
|
|
Areas for improvement selected: Managing People, Mentoring, Succession Planning
Each of the three areas I chose have to do with people we care about: our clients, our partners, our staff. By serving them, working alongside them, teaching them, helping them, and preparing them for the future, each has the opportunity for their own goals to be met. |
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