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Partners in Top 100 Firms overwhelmingly express a preference for their firms to remain independent. Not surprisingly, there have been very few recent mergers combining Top 100 Firms. This period of calm is highly reminiscent of the climate among the Big Eight firms in the 1980s. Few predicted the upcoming spree of mega-mergers that created…
Business strategists who follow the accounting profession are sending a consistent message: “The work of accountants is going to be heavily automated by further advances in technology. Firms need to move into value added advisory services to maintain growth and profitability.” When we talk to managing partners, we hear this same prediction. Surprisingly, though, the…
As the saying goes: “it’s lonely at the top.” Nowhere is this truer that for the managing partner of a regional accounting & advisory firm. Surrounded by talented partners who have a personal stake in every decision made, the managing partner needs a place to get objective help, understand the competitive landscape and show his…
Getting partners to transition toward retirement as they approach the firm’s retirement age is a problem facing many CPA firms, and its implications are far-reaching. Most firms in the Top 100 have a mandatory retirement age between age 60 and 66. Accordingly, partners within a few years of this age should be expected to begin…
As we were wrapping up a strategic planning discussion with one of our clients—a major accounting and advisory firm—the firm’s managing partner turned to us and asked, “What would really change the way our partners interact with clients? Partners have strong client relationships. They know client executives well personally and professionally. They just find it…
Most Accounting & Advisory firms were founded by managing partners who were great rainmakers, developing a disproportionate part of the firm’s new business. Some of these legends are still in place. Most have been succeeded by future generations of managing partners who are heavily involved in firm management, particularly for firms that have reached a…
Why do larger accounting & advisory firms grow faster organically than mid-size firms? Believe it or not, the main reason is how they develop their managers and their partner admission standards. Back in the 1980s when Big 8 firms first started hiring lateral talent, they applied a new standard: asking lateral senior managers to…
Fifteen years ago Tom, a partner in a national accounting & advisory firm and leader of a specialty practice group, was attending his firm’s annual partners’ meeting. As he listened to the managing partner Steve’s address on firm strategy, he heard the words: “and partners, we may even tinker a bit with our old friend…
Increasingly, accounting and advisory firms are looking at their business strategies with a view to driving higher growth and profitability. Developing an effective strategy requires addressing several important, and often difficult, issues. It also requires crafting a strategic plan that the firm’s partners will buy into and effectuate. Over the next few months, we’ll publish…