Is Your Firm's Administrative Team Complete?

Source: Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders

The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from an article by Rita Keller.

In small- to mid-size firms, the managing partner and the firm administrator will wear many hats, including:

• Handling the firm's marketing needs
• Settling human resources (HR) issues
• Resolving technology tasks
• Supervising people

As firms grow, whether it is organically or by merger or acquisition, the need for additional, experienced internal management professionals will increase.

Adding people

Practitioners often ask the following questions:

• When should we add a firm administrator?
• When are we big enough for a full-time marketing director?
• Is it time for us to hire an HR director?

Of course, there is no "right" answer for all firms. However, experience tells us that when a firm reaches a certain number of people or offices, it is time to consider the need for additional management positions to provide leadership and support.

Although it varies from firm to firm, management should consider adding the following internal management positions based on the size of firm:

• 15 or more people -- a full-time professional firm administrator;
• 25 people -- a full-time technology manager (unless the firm is completely in the Cloud);
• 40 to 45 people -- a marketing coordinator or part-time marketing director;
• 60 people -- a full-time marketing director;
• 70 or more people -- a full-time HR professional;
• 100 or more people -- a chief operating officer.

Management team titles

Often, firms add offices as they grow, and this expansion increases the need for a broader professional support team. When this occurs, firms begin to build their "internal management team," which is usually made up of the following:

• CEO/managing partner;
• COO/firm administrator;
• Marketing director;
• IT director/manager;
• HR director/manager;
• Training/learning director/manager;
• Controller/finance manager

The titles for these positions may vary depending on the size and complexity of the firm. In addition, in smaller firms, one person may fill multiple roles.

In the remainder of the article, Keller discusses alignment issues that can arise after a merger, the importance of communication among members of the internal management team, and the need for strong leadership by the managing partner and firm administrator. She also outlines a "connected model" for holding the management team -- and the firm -- together.

For the complete article, read "The CPA Firm Internal Management Team."

From Solutions for CPA Firm Leaders, the newsletter of Rita Keller, November 2012, www.ritakeller.com.