Checklist: How the Best Managing Partners and Firm Admins Work in Concert

In a 43-item checklist based on surveys of the best-run firms in the nation, Marc Rosenberg, author of “CPA Firm Management and Governance: The Managing Partner’s Guide to Running a CPA Firm Like a Business,” details the allocation of duties and responsibilities that distinguish the separate roles of the managing partner as CEO and firm administrator as COO.

It’s easy to see why the managing partner should be the executive most responsible for holding partners accountable. But other questions are not so clear: Who manages the banking relationships? Who works with partners to set goals? Who’s responsible for profitability?

The answers may surprise you. If they don’t, then you’re already doing everything right.

Here’s the checklist: