Who Wants to Be Partner? Not Enough

Anybody? Anybody? Bueller? Please?

By CPA Trendlines Research

As if the general and long-term shortage of accountants isn’t bad enough, now we’re seeing a widespread reluctance to take the final step in an accounting career, the step into partnership.

MORE: OUTLOOK 2023: Compensation Gets Creative | What New Leaders Want in Ownership | Getting Partners to Accept a New Pricing Philosophy | Survey Results: Partners Rejoice on Surging Fee Growth | Headcounts Grow 5%; Pay Rates Surge at 7% Pace | Fourteen Rules for Lateral Partner Hires

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This is serious. According to the 2022 Rosenberg Survey, a quarter of all partners are over the age of 60 and either near or past many mandatory retirement ages. Many have sold their equity yet continue to work just to help their own firms grapple with personnel shortages.

But nobody works forever.

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Comp: What New Partners Don’t Know

Businessman sitting on scales with stack of coins in other trayBest Practices: Top firms use these seven systems for allocating income.

By Marc Rosenberg
The Rosenberg Practice Management Library

It would take a book much longer than this post to properly explain the finer points of partner compensation, especially how each of the major compensation systems works.

(Oh, did I forget? We wrote such a book, CPA Firm Partner Compensation: The Art and Science.)

MORE: Making Partner: 15 Steps to the Buy-In | Making Partner: Do the Math | A Crash Course in the Business of Public Accounting | Making Partner: What Managers Need to Know | Nine Reasons People Are Promoted to Partner
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As is the case with all of my lists, no one firm incorporates all of these practices in its partner compensation policy.

But I have observed all of the practices below in one or more of the best firms I’ve worked with over 20 years.
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Making Partner: Today’s 15 Essential Skills and Traits

Do you have what it takes? Bonus: Six boxes to check off, and seven tough questions.

By Marc Rosenberg

What is the right stuff to earn a promotion to partner? This is one of several questions that if asked of ten partners from different firms, you may get ten different answers.

MORE: Why You Might Want an Executive Committee | How to Specify Managing Partner Duties | When Votes Must Be Taken, What Are the Options? | Ownership Percentage and Capital Accounts | 5 Key Reasons to Have a Partner Agreement

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I have worked the following script dozens of times at partner retreats: I ask the group what it means to be a partner and write their responses on a flipchart. When we’re done, one of the partners yells out “Oh no. None of us qualifies!” And because the truth is often said in jest, this retort is no joke.

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Why Non-Compete and Non-Solicitation Covenants Matter

Businessman sitting in office and reading documentsBONUS: A sample agreement.

By Marc Rosenberg

“Non-compete” and “non-solicitation” are two terms often used interchangeably. Though they are similar, there are important differences.

MORE: Why You Might Want an Executive Committee | How to Specify Managing Partner Duties | When Votes Must Be Taken, What Are the Options? | Ownership Percentage and Capital Accounts | 5 Key Reasons to Have a Partner Agreement
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For the sake of brevity, we use the term “non-competes” to refer to both covenants.
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Why You Might Want an Executive Committee

Business people having meeting10 specific duties.

By Marc Rosenberg

As firms evolve in size, many things need to change.

MORE: How to Specify Managing Partner Duties | Handling Pay During the Disability of a Partner | Why Voting Isn’t Such a Big Deal | What’s in a (Firm) Name? | Protect Your Business with a Solid Partner Agreement
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One of the biggest changes over time is how the firm is managed.
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