Daily Archives: October 8, 2012

Four New Checklists for Succession Planning

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Start with the four goals you need to start working on today.

by August Aquila
Aquila Global Advisors

True succession planning is a really a lifelong process.

Its primary purpose is to ensure the continuity of the practice from one generation of leaders to another. Ultimately it’s the founder admitting and accepting that he or she won’t live forever. That’s a very difficult and emotional fact to come to accept, especially after spending a lifetime building and running a practice.

August Aquila

More August Aquila on CPA Trendlines:  Partner Accountability: Seven Signs Your Firm May Be in Trouble | 12 Steps to a Foolproof Merger |  Seven Steps to Building a Great Partnership  |  5 Success Tips for Tax Season  |  Managing Partner Job #1: How to Get Buy-In  |  The 10 Basic Ways to Boost Profits at an Accounting Firm  |  The War for Clients: Aquila’s Top Three Strategies   |  Can You Really Change a Partner?  |  11 Weekly Self-Assessment Questions for Professionals  Seven Keys to a Successful Merger  – Click here for the Pre-Merger Data Gathering Checklist for an Accounting Practice (PDF, 4 pages)  |  Seven Steps to Enforcing Accountability among Your Firm’s Partners  |  Five Steps to Achieving Partner Unity  |  Eight Essentials for Measuring Client Service  |  Partner Accountability: Seven Signs Your Firm May Be in Trouble  |  Integration: Seven Keys to a Successful Merger  |  12 Things that Should NOT Be on Your Partner Retreat Agenda  |  Five Ways How NOT to Implement a System of Partner Accountability  |  Seven Reasons Why It’s Time to Start Holding the Partners Accountable  |  25 Ways to Grow Your Practice  |  Are Bad Clients Driving You Crazy?  |  Herding Cats: Change Management for CPA Firms

In this article, we’ll address four stages, each with a checklist:

  1. For the managing partner who is thinking about succession, there are four primary goals that he or she should be working on during the next few years.
  2. The next area to address is whether the current managing partner plans to remain with the firm.
  3. Once you get some answers to these questions, then it’s time to start focusing on the successor and his/her goals for the future of the firm.
  4. While there are many other areas that need to be covered, let me just end by mentioning a 10-step process that you may want to consider. READ MORE →

Six New Indicators that Show Accounting Firms Are Rebounding Strongly

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Latest data show accounting industry entering 19th straight month of annual growth.

By Rick Telberg
Exclusive to CPA Trendlines

The accounting and bookkeeping sector is showing more signs of strength in a recovering economy, with positive indicators in hiring, wages, and hours worked, according to the latest CPA Trendlines analysis.

To be sure, expanding staffs and rising wages also set the stage for a new battle for top talent and tighter margins. But for now, most accountants seem happy enough that business is growing.

Current key indicators include:

  1. Steady to rising headcounts for all of the accounting and bookkeeping sector for almost two years so far.
  2. In particular and more recently, new hiring at CPA firms.
  3. Eight months of wage increases for supervisory staffers, after almost three years of wage increases for non-supervisory staffers.
  4. A sharp and sudden increase in billing rates.
  5. Across-the-board increases in starting salaries.
  6. Re-accelerating revenue growth for mid-sized, multi-partner CPA firms.

In this report, CPA Trendlines focuses on employment trends at CPA firms and the accounting sector in general.

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