What's in Store for 2012?

Source: RedZone, Play of the Month

The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from an article contributed by Accountants Advisory Group.

Here are some predictions and trends that you may wish to consider in your strategic planning for 2012 and beyond:

• Partner compensation will continue to be geared more toward performance and contribution to the future success of the firm.
• Mergers between firms of all sizes will continue at a furious pace, perhaps doubling the number that took place in 2011. The inability of smaller firms to attract and retain talent will make succession planning and growth initiatives almost impossible to implement, forcing them to combine with bigger firms.
• As the partnership structure continues to be replaced by a more corporate-like organization, HR, marketing, and IT directors will have more prominent management roles.
• Career development and leadership training will become increasingly important as the need for quality professional staff at the manager and senior levels reaches a crisis stage.
• Firms will take a hard look at their partner retirement compensation policies and adjust them to prevent younger partners from leaving.
• CPA firms will continue to play a bigger role in personal wealth management and planning for their high-net-worth clients.

For the complete article, read “2012 Predictions and Trends.”

From RedZone, Play of the Month, Accountants Advisory Group, http://www.AccountantsAdvisory.com, December 2011.