SUCCESSION & RETIREMENT

Pirolli: You Can’t “Declare” Independence — You Have to Earn It | Gear Up For Growth

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Firms that want to stay independent must transform how they operate, lead, and plan for succession.

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Gear Up for Growth
With Jean Caragher
For CPA Trendlines

“The problem that a lot of firms have is they just don’t pay attention to what succession really is until they get to the last few years,” explains William “Bill” Pirolli, executive vice president of firm services at Succession Institute, LLC, on Gear Up for Growth, hosted by Jean Caragher of Capstone Marketing. “It has to happen all throughout the lifetime of the firm in order to be properly established at the end.” 

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Pirolli, a former AICPA Chair and longtime CPA firm partner, emphasizes that succession planning must begin on day one, not five years before retirement. He cautions that too many firms wait until it’s too late to build future leaders or transfer client relationships effectively. 

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Jeremy Vokt: Why Bland & Associates Said “No” to Private Equity and “Yes” to ESOPs | MOVE Like This

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Employee ownership gave the firm a growth path on its own terms.

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MOVE Like This
With Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk
For CPA Trendlines

In this episode of MOVE Like This, Jeremy Vokt, managing partner at Bland & Associates, discusses the firm’s journey to becoming Nebraska’s first ESOP-owned CPA firm. Vokt shares how Bland evolved from a small 17-person firm in 2006 to a thriving 130-person business today, thanks in part to its unique blend of traditional CPA services and specialized government consulting work focused on Medicare and Medicaid compliance. 

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Vokt walks through the fundamentals of an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), explaining that it’s similar to a 401(k) but without employee contributions. Instead, employees are allocated shares annually based on their compensation, which grow in value over time through third-party valuations. This approach creates an ownership culture from day one for every employee – from the front desk to the managing partner – without the typical 15- to 20-year wait to buy into ownership. 
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Succession Takes the Driver’s Seat in Private Equity Boom

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PE Specialists: Top row: Fligel, Pellen, Onefater. Bottom: Whitman, Wurtzbacher, O’Donnell

As Wall Street turns its eyes on mid-sized firms.

By CPA Trendlines

Succession is fast emerging as the defining force behind the private-equity-fueled M&A surge, transforming the accounting profession.

Partners in their late 50s, 60s, and 70s — many of whom never documented a transition plan — stare at retirement without successors. That urgency is pushing small and mid-sized CPA firms into the arms of private equity buyers and national consolidators at unprecedented rates.

GET MORE: Ask CPA Trendlines about the private equity boom

ALSO: Private Equity in Accounting | Private Equity Update: 53 Deals, $29 Billion | Deal or No Deal? The P.E. Dilemma for CPAs | Johnston: Private Equity, Shady Vendors, and Broken Software | Brannon Poe: PE Drives Prices–And Change | Behind Sorren’s Roll-Up: $170 Million, 1,000 Employees, 85 Partners | Kopelman: Culture & Capital Fuel Aprio’s Rise | Gear Up For Growth | Ira Rosenbloom: M&A Money’s Easy – Culture Fit’s Hard | Gary Shamis: The Private Equity Hazards for Young Partners | Alex Drost: Firms Get Scrappy Against PE-Backed Competitors | Tim Brackney: Don’t Blame Private Equity. Blame the Accountants |

“It’s no longer a question of whether you need a plan — it’s whether you have the right one,” says James S. Pellen, managing partner at Hertz Herson CPA LLP, speaking at a New York CPA society event. “Succession isn’t just about retiring; it’s about ensuring the firm survives and thrives after you’re gone.”

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