September 2012 Leadership Forum
Vol. 4 No. 9, September 2012
The Leadership Forum is 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: What is your prediction for the make-up of the accounting profession in ten years given the significant number of mergers that are occurring at all levels? Is the future for merger activity pointing towards a buyer's market or a seller's market?
Consultants and Other Prominent Observers
| August Aquila | Aquila Global Advisor Group, LLC | www.aquilaadvisors.com [email protected] |
| I think the make up of the accounting profession will be pretty similar to how it looks today. There will be about 250 large firms (revenue of $10M or more) and about 7500 mid-size firms (revenue between $2M-$10M) ... More | ||
| William Carlino | Transition Advisors | www.transitionadvisors.com [email protected] |
| Currently, there are more buyers than sellers, however that could change in a decade as more firms are faced with retiring partners and do not have a formal succession plan in place, the only alternative other than closing down is to look for merger partners. That could likley swing the pendulum in favor of buyers. | ||
| Bob Lewis | Visionary Marketing | www.thinkvisionary.com [email protected] |
| ... In the end I think the percentages of small firms to large firms will shift a little. The majority of firms will always be smaller firms, but I think you will see an increase in the number of 10 to 50 person firms ... More | ||
| Jay N. Nisberg | Jay Nisberg and Associates | [email protected] |
| ...My guess is that the next several years will see the growth of the "mega firms" and the disappearance of the the sole practitioner. Regional firms will go national and national non big four or ten will go international ... More | ||
| Marc Rosenberg | The Rosenberg Associates | www.rosenbergassoc.com [email protected] |
| ...with the mergers that have taken place over the past 5 years and those that will continue, many large regional CPA firms, while still smaller than the Big 4, are moving closer to them in size nonetheless. This will continue ... More | ||
| Paul Rich | Rothstein, Kass and Company | www.rkco.com [email protected] |
| ...I predict the net result will be an additional ±4 firms that will end up competing with the Big Four, catering to additional clientele due to an overflow of work, a different cultural mindset, being conflicted via independence issues resulting from attestation services, and fee sensitivities ... More | ||
| Joel Sinkin & Terry Putney | Transition Advisors | www.transitionadvisors.com [email protected] |
| ...The market is encouraging the super-regional and national firms to get bigger and provide more reach both geographically and with respect to services in order to serve middle market companies that have more sophisticated needs due to the globalization of our economy ... More | ||
| Jennifer Wilson | ConvergenceCoaching LLC | www.convergencecoaching.com [email protected] |
| ...With 76 million Baby Boomers riding off into the sunset in the next 12-15 years, all industries will see consolidation ... More | ||