Let’s review some best practices as to how the managing partner is elected, what is expected, for what term and how he or she is protected if removed from that role.
The job differs whether it is being filled under the Eat What You Kill (EWYK) or Building a Village (BAV) models. For example, under the EWYK model, the managing partner is likely the largest equity partner, or if not, then the default would be that the role of the managing partner would be that of administrative partner. Because the EWYK model is usually a silo model built around superstars, the managing partner’s role is to handle all of the matters that the other partners don’t want to do. It is not uncommon in these scenarios that the managing partner earns a stipend to fill that position, and that the stipend is not very much (maybe $25,000 to $75,000 a year).
NextGen participants spend 12 months developing skills and one major project.
By CPA Trendlines Staff
Developing leaders from within the ranks of his firm is by far the top practice management issue for Lee Beall, chief executive officer of Rea & Associates, a central Ohio area accounting and consulting firm that generates more than $35 million a year.
Beall and his leadership team first became aware of the need to internally cultivate leaders a few years ago, when, he recalls, “We looked at our employee base at the time and didn’t have a clear picture of who would be the next generation of leaders in our firm. This was a sobering reality.”
Today, Rea has a set goal of selecting Beall’s replacement as CEO from an internal pool of candidates and committed to not looking outside for new leadership positions.
“If firms simply ignore the responsibility to identify and develop leaders within, the success, future and sustainability of these firms will be at risk,” Beall says. He adds that leadership impacts most all of the other key practice management issues, including mergers and acquisitions, finding and retaining good workers, and meeting clients’ changing expectations. READ MORE →
Evaluation of performance and goal achievement is something done that should be performed multiple times during the year. Unfortunately, many CPAs tend to think of management as a waste of time, and evaluations as purely a human resources requirement created by the government to protect employees to the disadvantage of the organization.
The Passport to Partnership study collated a number of responses in a conversational style. Two brief but succinct examples that really stood out on the realities of how a firm assesses an individual’s “competence” to lead are showcased below.
Following is an example of this process, providing more detail to show how it might look in actual practice. Let’s assume that one of the goals of a partner is to increase the Most Trusted Business Advisor Activity for his or her top clients. In the initial goal sheet, for this one goal from the managing partner, that might look like this: READ MORE →
The skill in producing financial reports is limited by the quality of the information presented to the CPA by the client. Motivation of the client to influence that financial information comes in many forms, some intentional and some unintentional. Competence comes first in being able to resist pressure and present a true and accurate position of the client’s organization.
Bonus: 3 outlooks from our exclusive expert council.
