OUTLOOK 2023: Private Equity Pumps Up Paychecks

Private equity is affecting even non-PE deals.

By Terry Putney
The Rosenberg MAP Survey: National Study of CPA Firm Statistics

The profession as a whole has a significant problem attracting college graduates. The 150-hour requirement coupled with non-competitive compensation compared to finance degrees, as an example, is causing enrollment in accounting programs to drop and graduates to choose alternative careers.

MORE: OUTLOOK 2023: Tech Automation Takes Hold | IRS Hires Will Add Pressures | Look Who’s Making Money Now | Capacity Strategies Drive Change | Top Five Trends | Compensation Gets Creative | The Office Is Over | Accounting Firms Face Up to Private Equity
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Until the profession addresses these issues, firms are going to find it hard to recruit enough talent. We predict the use of alternative sources of talent, such as offshore, will continue to grow in response to this challenge.

Posted on December 14, 2022

Terence Putney

About the Author

Terrence E. Putney, CPA, is CEO of Transition Advisors, a mergers-and-and-acquisitions broker for CPA firms. Terry has more than 35 years’ experience in the CPA profession. For six years, he served as Managing Director - Mergers & Acquisitions for RSM McGladrey, the country’s fifth-largest accounting firm and held several executive posts with its corporate parent, H&R Block. At RSM, he structured and negotiated numerous deals resulting in the acquisition of accounting and consulting firms ranging in size from sole proprietors to multi-state firms with hundreds of staff and professionals. Prior to joining McGladrey, he served as Managing Partner of Donnelly Meiners Jordan Kline, a 60-person CPA firm in Kansas City.

Terry believes it’s imperative that practitioners have a clear understanding of their objectives when pursuing a sale of their practice or the merger with, or acquisition of, another practice. “I've seen deals not work or not materialize because one of the parties to the succession plan had not thought through what they really wanted to accomplish. Transition Advisors will make sure the approach to executing your plan will meet your objectives. Because we are consultants and not brokers, we can be much more flexible in helping a firm succeed with its transition plan.”

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