CPA Leadership Journal
As CPAs, we are all looking for ways that we might help our clients through a potential recession. Prepping for one and determining how you might help your clients through one is always a good idea. The best offense is a good defense as they say! As…
I hope you know about John Wooden. If you don’t, John Wooden (1910-2010), the legendary coach of the UCLA Bruins, is considered by some to be the greatest coach of all time. Nicknamed the Wizard of Westwood, Wooden won 10 national championships…
I recently spoke with a young man at a 12-partner CPA firm who was anticipating being offered a partnership in the next couple of years. He wanted some guidance on whether or not to accept the offer, should it be made. It turned out he had quite a…
With the continued challenge of finding talented team members, keeping the ones you have is even more critical. The cost of recruiting, lost work, and time to train used to be monetary. Now, for many small to mid-sized CPA firms, new hires at any…
How do you know when it’s time to think about a transition for your CPA firm? Should your decision be market-driven? A desire to retire? Getting an offer you can’t refuse? The most successful transactions typically happen when partners are…
The 2022 Rosenberg Survey has been released, and, along with it, volumes of data on the CPA industry’s performance over the past year. The survey asks the industry’s top consultants to share their observations from CPA firms. Here are the questions…
You are a 20 th -c entury style CPA and you want to become a 21 st -c entury advisor to your high-net-worth business-owner clients. The question is how to make that transition? We all know that the CPA landscape is rapidly changing – driven by…
Partner compensation is the perfect gauge for firm success, partner achievement, and partner happiness. Many firms have intricate compensation systems while others are less complicated. The common ground is that the system is expected to drive a…
Accounting Landscape Overview For many years, merger and acquisition (M&A) activity in the public accounting industry was primarily driven by succession planning issues. Surely, succession challenges still play a role in a firm’s decision to sell or…
Here are five lessons to put you on the road to succession success: Time is money. The longer the parties take to come to an agreement and paper the deal, the more likely it is that the contemplated terms will change. Depending on which side of the…
Let’s talk about the bear in the room. I think we can all agree that economic conditions aren’t the best right now. With the current circumstances, there will be a lot of change coming down the road. It could be short term, or it could be long term…
Recently, we’ve added the following polling question to our CPE webinars: “Does your firm have a formalized survey process for gathering client feedback?” More than 80% of respondents say they don’t. Client feedback goes beyond electronic…
Common choices are not always the best choices. Eating unhealthy food. Electing political candidates who are the most popular but not the best qualified. Doing work for clients who are unwilling or unable to pay your bills. Another example is the…
The accounting profession has come a long way since the first CPA exam was administered in New York, in 1896. Outside events, such as the creation of the SEC and the tech revolution, have dramatically changed CPA firms’ service portfolios. In the…
Some people wake up one day and decide that it is time to sell their home and move. This, too, can happen to CPAs: one day they decide that it is finally time to sell, merge with, or acquire another firm. It doesn’t have to, nor should it, be up to…
