Succession Institute, Author at CPA Trendlines

Succession Institute’s Fall and Winter Webcasts

The Succession Institute, an affiliate of CPA Trendlines, is offering a new series of webcasts for CPA firm leaders.

Save the dates: Oct. 16, Oct. 17, Dec. 11 and Dec.12.

The schedule:

Enhancing Your Trusted Business Advisor Role: What, Why and How-New and Revised

Oct 16, 11:30 am ET (2 hrs)

What, why, how, and the difference between MTBA and consulting packages
Our answers to typical objections to taking on the role of MTBA
How and why you need to be able to switch hats, make it clear you are switching hats, from being an expert, to being an advisor
How you can approach finding solutions your clients will support
The use of the General Contractor Model to facilitate your MTBA roles

About Us

Bill Reeb, CPA Trendlines Expert Author, Elected AICPA Vice Chair

Slated to step up to top post in 2019.

Bill Reeb, chief executive of the management consulting firm Succession Institute LLC, was voted in as vice chair of the American Institute of CPAs, the world’s largest member organization representing the CPA profession.

Eric Hansen, chief operating officer of BKD CPAs & Advisors, will be the next chair. Both men will assume their duties on Feb. 1, 2018, and serve until May 20, 2019.

Hansen, 56, was elected to the volunteer post by the AICPA governing Council. In his acceptance speech, Hansen – an Eagle Scout – extolled the virtues of preparation and anticipation. “The future is uncertain, and change is accelerating,” he said. “But if we’re early – if we have the courage to be bold and a bias for action – we’ll be prepared. As Harry Truman said, ‘Progress occurs when courageous, skillful leaders seize the opportunity to change things for the better.’”

INNOVATION & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

When the Inmates Are Running the Asylum

Crazy doesn’t get better by adding more crazy.

By Dom Cingoranelli
CPA Trendlines / Succession Institute

“We can’t really enforce this because we don’t want to risk having him (or her) quit.”

I can’t tell you how many times we hear something to this effect when we talk with CPAs. We hear this at small firms and we hear it at large firms. We hear it from partners, from directors, and from managers. It doesn’t matter what size firm they’re in, nor does it matter what level or position they hold.

It’s always the same line. It reminds me of the old adage, “the inmates are running the asylum.” And, it raises the question of who actually is running the firm. Who’s in charge?

INNOVATION & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

The Two Most Common Management Styles

Do CPA firms need management or leadership?

By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli
CPA Trendlines / Succession Institute

Let’s start out with a straightforward question. What is the difference between management and leadership?

MORE ON PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: 8 Ways to Manage Clients | The Limitations of Rainmakers | Firms Only Grow When Partners Play Their Roles | The Four Basic Parts of CPA Firm Partner Agreements | Younger Partners See Succession Differently | How to Compensate Your Managing Partner | The Job of Managing Partner: Empowered or Emasculated? | How the Best Managing Partners Turn Ideas into Reality
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

From one point of view, leadership is far different than management.
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INNOVATION & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

8 Ways to Manage Clients

This is Job 1 for the practice owner.

By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli
CPA Trendlines / Succession Institute

Whether you simply desire to improve your firm’s operations or identify and implement a new long-term strategy, you need to be clear about the role that the owners, partners or shareholders should be playing in your firm.

MORE ON PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: The Limitations of Rainmakers | Different Roles for Different Partners | How Big ‘Books’ Hurt Firms | Developing a Three-Year Vision [VIDEO] | More Merger Questions Than You Imagined | MPs: How to Elect Them … and Fire Them | Partners as Role Models: The Good, Bad & Ugly | Managing the Managing Partner
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

To be sure, the roles and responsibilities of a CPA firm owner or owners will vary from firm to firm, based on that firm’s needs and circumstances, and you need to adapt any recommendations to fit your firm’s situation.
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INNOVATION & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

The Limitations of Rainmakers

Why marketing has to permeate the firm and the process.

By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli
CPA Trendlines / Succession Institute

For most firms, new business comes in through referral. Therefore, the bigger a partner’s client base, the more likely that partner will bring in new business – which simply means that the more clients a partner knows, the more referrals that partner is likely to receive (not in percentage, but in raw numbers).

MORE ON PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: Different Roles for Different Partners | Dealing With A-D Clients (You Know Who We Mean) | How Small ‘Books’ Hurt Firms | Why the Partner Agreement Matters | Merging for the Wrong Reasons | How to Implement Strategy, Step by Step | Accountability Requires Clear Expectations | How Retirement Issues Affect Succession Planning | How Partner Ratings Factor Into Equity
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Other drivers of referral success are long-standing service (seniority) and position in the firm (such being one of the named or senior partners). In these cases, there is an extended opportunity for referral simply because:
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LEADERSHIP

Different Roles for Different Partners

Some people should stick to technical roles, but there's an impact on profitability.

By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli
The Succession Institute

When you are a client relationship partner, regardless of your technical specialty, you take on the role of being that client’s general contractor for professional services – that is, his or her most trusted business advisor.

MORE ON PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: Dealing With A-D Clients (You Know Who We Mean) | Firms Only Grow When Partners Play Their Roles | The Four Basic Parts of CPA Firm Partner Agreements | Younger Partners See Succession Differently | How to Compensate Your Managing Partner | The Job of Managing Partner: Empowered or Emasculated? | How the Best Managing Partners Turn Ideas into Reality
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

If you are unwilling to fulfill this role, then you shouldn’t be a client relationship manager; you should be a technical partner. We define these two roles broadly as follows:
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CLIENT SERVICE OPPORTUNITIES

Dealing With D Clients (You Know Who We Mean)

All A's isn't necessarily the goal.

By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli
CPA Trendlines / Succession Institute

Partners, and in some firms, managers, need to take their responsibility for client relationship management seriously.

MORE ON PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: Developing a Three-Year Vision [VIDEO] | Younger Partners See Succession Differently | Partners as Role Models: The Good, Bad & Ugly | 4 Ways to Create More Capacity | CPA Firm Performance Assessments: 15 Core Competencies, 21 Questions | What Having Your Employees’ Backs Means | 5 Harmful Management Attitudes (and How to Fix Them)
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

In order to more fully explain these roles and responsibilities, we need to define for you what we mean when we refer to A, B, C and D clients.
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INNOVATION & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

Firms Only Grow When Partners Play Their Roles

How often are you seeing your clients?

By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli
CPA Trendlines / Succession Institute

Whether you simply desire to improve your firm’s operations, or identify and implement a new long-term strategy, you need to be clear about the role that the owner(s), partners or shareholders should be playing in your firm.

MORE ON PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: How Big ‘Books’ Hurt Firms | How Small ‘Books’ Hurt Firms | Why the Partner Agreement Matters | Merging for the Wrong Reasons | Accountability Includes Partners | 7 Succession Questions to Ignore for Now | Develop Your Employees or Suffer the Consequences
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

The roles and responsibilities we’ve suggested are based on the best practices we’ve had the opportunity to observe and be involved with in our work with CPA firms throughout North America.
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INNOVATION & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

How Big ‘Books’ Hurt Firms

The invisible hazards of book of business.

By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli
CPA Trendlines / Succession Institute

As we stated in our last column, balancing “book of business” is one of the largest stumbling blocks for CPA firms.

MORE ON PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: How Small ‘Books’ Hurt Firms | The Four Basic Parts of CPA Firm Partner Agreements | Younger Partners See Succession Differently | How to Compensate Your Managing Partner | The Job of Managing Partner: Empowered or Emasculated? | How the Best Managing Partners Turn Ideas into Reality | Make Accountability a Process | Accountability Requires Clear Expectations | Base Retirement on Today’s Operations | How Involved Should Retired Owners Be? | How to Find a Partner’s Replacement
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

It is difficult to resolve because it is symptomatic, for most firms, of some real trouble brewing.
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INNOVATION & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

How Small ‘Books’ Hurt Firms

Leverage, capacity and overservice are just some of the issues.

By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli
CPA Trendlines / Succession Institute

Balancing “book of business” is one of the largest stumbling blocks for CPA firms. It is difficult to resolve because it is symptomatic, for most firms, of some real trouble brewing.

MORE ON PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: The Four Basic Parts of CPA Firm Partner Agreements | Developing a Three-Year Vision [VIDEO] | MPs: How to Elect Them … and Fire Them | Managing the Managing Partner | Accountability Is for Everyone | Firms Say What Would Change Retirement Pay | How Retirement Issues Affect Succession Planning | Develop Your Employees or Suffer the Consequences | Job 1 for The Practice Owner: Client Management
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Optimal Book Size

The optimum condition for firms to flourish is for books of business to be balanced throughout the firm. From the largest book to the smallest, the percentage gap between them should be fairly small (about 20-25 percent or less than a couple hundred thousand in fees).
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INNOVATION & CHANGE MANAGEMENT

When Partners Leave: What to Do Today, to Be Prepared for Tomorrow

Set policies now based on business, not emotion.

By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli
CPA Trendlines / Succession Institute

Let's review departure/termination policies.

MORE ON PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: The Four Basic Parts of CPA Firm Partner Agreements | Developing a Three-Year Vision [VIDEO] | MPs: How to Elect Them … and Fire Them | Firms Say What Would Change Retirement Pay | Action Plans for Transitioning Partners | How Retirement Issues Affect Succession Planning
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

These may include:
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FEATURED

The Four Basic Parts of CPA Firm Partner Agreements

It's complicated. But proper policies ease buyouts and transitions.

By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli
CPA Trendlines / Succession Institute

Here is a list of common policies regarding partner/shareholder agreements that we cover with our firms, as well as some common issues that are important to address in the policies.

MORE ON PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT: Developing a Three-Year Vision [VIDEO] | Why the Partner Agreement Matters | Younger Partners See Succession Differently | How to Compensate Your Managing Partner | The Job of Managing Partner: Empowered or Emasculated? | How the Best Managing Partners Turn Ideas into Reality | How Retired Partners Are Robbing their Own Firms | Action Plans for Transitioning Partners | How Retirement Issues Affect Succession Planning | Develop Your Employees or Suffer the Consequences
Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

The SOP (standard operating policy) categories are:
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The schedule: