SUCCESSION & RETIREMENT

Why Solos Need Practice Continuation Agreements

By

Woman and man shaking hands across a desk
It’s a favor, so negotiate generously.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide

A Practice Continuation Agreement (PCA) is a written contract between a sole practitioner and another firm for the latter to take over the solo’s practice, either permanently or temporarily, in the event of a sudden, unexpected event that prevents the solo from working, most commonly a health issue.

MORE by Marc Rosenberg
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

Logically, it would make total sense for every one of the 30,000 sole practitioners in the U.S. to have a PCA in place. After all, the solo has no other partners to take her place and in the vast majority of cases, the solo’s staff doesn’t have the skill level or the certifications needed to run the practice in the absence of the owner.
READ MORE →

It’s Time to Think about Your Exit Strategy

By

businessman thinking with hand on his chin

It’s never too early to consider your legacy.

By Jackie Meyer
The Balanced Millionaire: Advisor Edition

Building a successful advisory practice is a significant achievement. But have you considered what happens next once you’ve reached your current goals? It’s easy to get caught up in the day-to-day operations and growth of your firm without thinking long-term. However, true freedom and peace of mind come from knowing you have a plan for the future of your business and the impact you’ll leave behind.

MORE by Jackie Meyer
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

This article delves into the critical topics of exit strategy and legacy. We’ll explore why it’s essential to plan for the future even in the early stages of building your firm, discuss various options for eventually selling or transitioning your business, and get you thinking deeply about the legacy you want to create. Planning your exit isn’t about wanting to quit – it’s about building a business that’s a valuable asset and ensuring your hard work carries on according to your wishes.
READ MORE →

Daiber: Use Succession as a Growth Strategy | The Disruptors

By

Firms that wait until a partner is ready to retire have already waited too long, plus 19 more key takeaways.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
Sponsored by The Balanced Millionaire: The Advisor Edition by Dr. Jackie Meyer | See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS.
Build a 7-figure firm in just 4 hours a week!

The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

Erin Daiber, founder and CEO of Well Balanced Accountants, keeps seeing the same issue in firm after firm. A partner announces their intention to retire within a year or two, and the firm suddenly realizes no one is ready to take over.  “Firms are not starting that conversation soon enough,” Daiber says.

MORE STREAMING:MORE STREAMING: Cannon: Busy Season is Self-Inflicted | Carroll: When One Person Can Break the Firm |  Rampe: Build a Roadmap Even When the Road’s Not There | Chang: Killing SALY, One Agent at a Time | Vanover: 5-Star Firms Don’t Bill by the Hour | Kless: Profit Is a Result. Flourishing Is the Purpose | Whitman: Build Culture on ‘Progress,’ Not Change | Shein: No PE? No M&A? No Problem | Hood and Weber: Time to RISE | Proctor: Turn Dumb Ideas into Brilliant Solutions | Carter-Gray: How 1 Poor Review Strengthened the Firm | Hartman: Upwork to “40 Under 40” in 3 Years |

GoProCPA.com Exclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

“They’re not thinking about succession planning as a strategy,” she explains. Instead of treating succession as an ongoing process, firms see it as simply the point in time when a partner exits the firm. According to Daiber, succession planning should ideally begin with hiring decisions and culture building so that firms can be confident that they won’t lose clients or staff due to uncertainty about what might happen as partners get older.  

When succession planning fails, firms lose key employees before they even reach partnership consideration. “We’re losing them much sooner than that, which creates a big hole in the pipeline,” Daiber notes. She identifies an inability to have difficult conversations as the root cause, particularly when dealing with founders who view the firm as their legacy. 

READ MORE →

Whitman: New Firm Deals: Flexibility, Culture, and the Rise of “31 Flavors” | Holistic Guide to Wealth Management

By

Firms that prioritize, listen, and align position themselves for better long-term outcomes.  

Sponsored by CPA Trendlines Go PRO – Get More! Go PRO!  See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS

 

Get free gits, exclusive access, and more! Get more! Go PRO! 

By Rory Henry CFP®, BFA™
For CPA Trendlines

Phil Whitman, President and CEO of Whitman Advisory, works with hundreds of CPA firms and more than 230 strategic investors across private equity, family offices, wealth management aggregators, and publicly traded consolidators. He sees a profession undergoing unprecedented transformation, and Whitman has a front-row seat.

In this episode of Holistic Guide to Wealth Management, Whitman shares his observations with me from his unique vantage point.  

MORE Rory Henry and The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management

BUY the Holistic Guide to Wealth Management

Whitman points to 2021 as the inflection point for the profession’s transition. That’s when EisnerAmper became the first major CPA firm to accept private equity (PE) investment, followed shortly by Citrin and Cherry Bekaert. Those deals opened the gates for capital providers and ignited a wave of consolidation across firms of all sizes. The profession hasn’t looked back since. 

Transaction activity has since accelerated, creating unprecedented competition for deals and pushing accounting firm valuations into territory the profession has never seen before.

READ MORE →

Haylett: Redefine Success in Retirement | Holistic Guide to Wealth Management

By

The most dangerous day of retirement is a psychological challenge more than a financial one.

Sponsored by Tax Season Readiness: Practical Steps for a Smoother Busy Season  | See Today’s Special Offer

Subscribe to CPA Trendlines podcasts anywhere: Apple, Google/YouTube, Spotify, iHeart, Deezer, Amazon Music, Audible, Player FM, Audacy, RSS
Is your firm truly ready for tax season—or just hoping to survive it? Join this 90-minute webinar featuring an Accounting ARC Live panel with thought leaders who know what it takes to optimize performance under pressure.

By Rory Henry CFP®, BFA™
For CPA Trendlines

When most people think about retirement planning, they picture spreadsheets and savings targets. But as Dan Haylett, author of The Retirement You Didn’t See Coming and host of the Humans vs. Retirement podcast, explains, the real challenge of retirement is not mathematical—it’s psychological. 

MORE Rory Henry and The Holistic Guide to Wealth Management

BUY the Holistic Guide to Wealth Management

“People focus on the numbers because they think that will solve all their challenges,” Haylett says. “But retirement is a complex human problem. Spreadsheets will not tell us who we are without a business card or what gets us out of bed in the morning.” 

READ MORE →