Selling an accounting firm may become more difficult in the next few years, so it makes sense to prepare to continue the firm after important partners retire. Here is some advice from Bill Reeb of Austin, Texas.

• Keep retirement plans updated to assure that the benefits for retiring partners do not unfairly reduce the remaining value for the other partners.
• There should be an extension of retirement payments to future years if cash flow doesn't permit current payments.
• There should be a mandatory retirement age:
  • This helps prevent retirement in place
  • Older partners want to avoid risks of growth.
  • Older partners don't want to give up control.
• Retirement benefits should be fixed at the time the partner relinquishes his/her leadership role.
• Develop a plan to transition clients to new partners.
  • Compensation of the partner transitioning out should be based on his/her adherence to the plan
  • The transition process should be three years.
  • The most important clients should be transitioned first.
  • Consider teams for handling larger clients.
  • Create a plan for each client.
  • Reduce benefits by one year's fees if a client is lost within two years after retirement if the retiring partner doesn't follow the plan.