It’s Time to Prepare the Next Generation

Group of four young professionals

They’ll learn from someone. Shouldn’t it be you?

By Martin Bissett
Business Development On a Budget

If you are a partner in your firm, you may already have asked yourself the all-important question: how can I successfully retire and have someone else take over the firm?

MORE: Walk the Commitment Walk | Don’t Let Recurring Fees Kill Your Practice | Rate Your Personal Purpose | Six Keys to Getting a Proposal Accepted | Tell the World Your Worth | Four Surprising Keys to Communication | 10 Can’t-Skip Steps for Business Development | Attract Clients, Don’t Chase Them | Success in Business Comes Second | Business Won’t Come to You | Forged in Fire: The Pains of Leadership | 10 Questions for Reconsidering Your Prices
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The partner who has a satisfactory answer to that question is the one who is committed not only to developing business and building the firm on a regular basis, but also to developing and preparing the next generation of professionals in the firm.
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Walk the Commitment Walk

Five ways to show it.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

There’s no doubt that consistent commitment is not as widely practiced as current partners of accounting firms might like to think.

MORE: Don’t Let Recurring Fees Kill Your Practice | Who Are You More Committed to, Your Firm or Your Clients? | Nine Checkpoints Before Every Prospect Meeting | Three Questions about Conversion | Six Keys to Turning Prospects into Clients | Don’t Overlook Internal Communication | Four Reasons People Struggle with Communication | Why Firm Culture Matters for Partners
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Business success is built on a dedicated team with a shared vision giving their all for the realization of that vision and the development of the next one.
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Fifteen Strategies for First-Time Supervisors

Partners should set staff up for success.

By Ed Mendlowitz
202 Questions and Answers: Managing an Accounting Practice

Question: My boss asked me to call you. I am a staff accountant with five years’ experience. I am having a lot of stress trying to manage everything I have to do. I am juggling supervising people I don’t know how to supervise, being managed less by those above me and having to figure out more for myself – including things I never did before or in industries I never worked on previously, keeping current with changes in accounting rules and taxes (because I am more like a generalist and clients ask me everything), never seem to have any free time, juggling my schedule because most of my clients are never ready when they say they will be and being accountable to my boss for everything I do plus what the staff working under me does.

MORE: No One Listens to You? Change How You Talk | Free Consultation? Not Always | Referral Fee? Forget It | How Much Is Your Tax Practice Worth? | Merge in Lower-Priced Work without Losing Out
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So how do I do it all? How can I prioritize all my responsibilities?

Response: Wow! Deep question! It seems there is very little written for “entry-level” supervisors. But plenty for people already doing it.
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Who Are You More Committed to, Your Firm or Your Clients?

Sometimes silence is the best approach.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

Ask yourself and answer these questions when considering the current and future “commitment” behaviors that you’ll employ.

MORE: Two Steps Toward Mastering Selling | Rate Your Personal Purpose | Five Ways to Make Selling Easier | Six Keys to Getting a Proposal Accepted | Tell the World Your Worth | Four Surprising Keys to Communication | Culture Can’t Be Ignored | Three Questions About Your Competence | 10 Can’t-Skip Steps for Business Development | Attract Clients, Don’t Chase Them
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1 – What is my first reaction to being asked to work outside of my normal hours?
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Measure Knowledge Gaps (Then Close Them)

four people on lower stairs, one on upper stairs, gap between

Six questions to ask, plus a real-world example.

By Ed Mendlowitz
202 Questions and Answers: Managing an Accounting Practice

QUESTION: I suspect that my partner has “maxed out” and cannot grow further, which will retard our growth. What can I do or how can I deal with this?

MORE: 47 Types of Business Valuation to Provide | Referral Fee? Forget It | How Much Is Your Tax Practice Worth? | Merge in Lower-Priced Work without Losing Out
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RESPONSE: This is a frequent question, and sometimes it is the person asking it who has “maxed out.” But sometimes it is the partner or a key staff who wants to be made a partner.
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Empower Staff to Make Mistakes (Safely)

Older man and younger man having meeting at desk

Think of it as teaching judgment.

By Ed Mendlowitz
202 Questions and Answers: Managing an Accounting Practice

QUESTION: Recently a colleague asked me: “How do you teach judgment?” and before I could respond, he answered it himself with “You can’t teach judgment!”

MORE: 47 Types of Business Valuation to Provide | Referral Fee? Forget It | How Much Is Your Tax Practice Worth? | Merge in Lower-Priced Work without Losing Out
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RESPONSE: Everyone working for you has and uses judgment – they have homes, families, organizations they belong to and they manage their career. Each of these requires their exercising judgment many times a day. They all have judgment.
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