Loyalty Tax: Accounting’s Lose-Lose Incentive System | Big 4 Transparency
Employees lose stability and firms lose money. So why do we do it?
Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines
Compensation
Use Smart Compensation to Drive Partner Performance
Five management objectives to address.
By Domenick J. Esposito
8 Steps to Great
“Show me your compensation plan and I’ll show you your strategy.” – Dom Esposito
As you strive to become a mid-market sustainable brand, your firm needs to become a performance-driven organization if you want to take advantage of future opportunities and drive growth and profitability. An effective performance management and compensation plan (PMCP) is critical to making your firm’s strategic plan a reality.
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The basic premise is that compensation rewards first look to:
- how successful the entire firm is,
Jim Metzler: Why the Profession’s Best Are Walking Away from Partnership | Gear Up for Growth
Firms, not candidates, are to blame for a generation of superstars declining the summons.
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Gear Up for Growth
with Jean Caragher
for CPA Trendlines
Few voices carry more weight on the question of who becomes a partner, and why, than Jim Metzler’s.
So when the former AICPA vice president and longtime mentor to emerging firm leaders says the profession’s top performers are hesitating at the threshold of partnership, firm owners would do well to listen.
MORE Jean Caragher here | Get her best-selling handbook, The 90-Day Marketing Plan for CPA Firms, here | MORE Gear Up for Growth here |
In the new episode of “Gear Up for Growth,” hosted by Jean Caragher of Capstone Marketing, Metzler lays out why – and what separates the firms that keep their stars from the ones that lose them.
“The bigger the superstar in the firm, the more they say, ‘I’m really not sure if I want to be a partner,’” says Jim Metzler, founder of Metzler Advisory Group and author of “The Emerging Partner Playbook: A Complete Guide for Emerging Partners in CPA Firms,” this edition of “Gear Up for Growth,” powered by CPA Trendlines and hosted by Jean Caragher, president of Capstone Marketing. READ MORE →
Art Werner: Trump Accounts Offer Employee Fringe Benefits Opportunities | Quick Tax Tip
Trump Accounts’ potential for employer contributions has so far gone unnoticed.
Sponsored by True Advisor: The Definitive Success Guide for Client Advisory Services by Hitendra Patil | See Today’s Special Offer
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Quick Tax Tip
With Art Werner
CPE Today
One particular feature of the new Trump Accounts has received very little attention so far, notes tax expert Art Werner: the account’s potential use as an employer-provided fringe benefit.
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“What I’m about to talk about as a fringe benefit might be extremely new to a client,” Werner says. “They might say, I never heard of that. I didn’t know I could do that.”
Seven Things Your Compensation Model Must Accomplish
Take a hard look at your partners.
By Domenick J. Esposito
8 Steps to Great
Let’s take a deep dive into both a firm’s partner mix and its compensation model.
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In a “Good to Great” research study on high-performing organizations performed by Jim Collins, it was concluded that the method of compensation, as a causal factor for high and sustained performance, is largely irrelevant. The study concluded that whatever system is in use, it simply must be rational and equitably managed and that high sustained performance is largely the result of doing many things well.
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How to Price, Measure and Fund a Firm Built to Last
There are four numbers worth calculating before you decide anything.
By Hitendra Patil
There is a version of the independence story in which the independent firm is the more affordable alternative to the larger private equity-backed firm. That story is worth examining carefully because, in my experience, it rarely ends the way the firm owner hoped.
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Competing on price against firms with institutional capital is a long game you cannot win. PE-backed platforms can subsidize below-market pricing during a growth phase in ways that an independent firm’s income statement cannot absorb. If your primary competitive argument is that you cost less, the positioning battle is already lost.
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Unlock Accelerated Growth with 21 Questions
Don’t stay attached to traditional models that no longer suit you.
By Domenick J. Esposito
8 Steps to Great
When it comes to growth, two of my core beliefs are:
- size matters, and
- service line diversification (the professional services model) is better than the traditional accounting firm model.
MORE by Domenick J. Esposito
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The proof is in the pudding.
Dominic Piscopo: Crowdsourced Salary Data Sparks Accounting Change | Accounting Conversations
Unpack how market gaps and transparency revise the recruiting game.
Sponsored by True Advisor: The Definitive Success Guide for Client Advisory Services by Hitendra Patil |
See Today’s Special Offer
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Accounting Conversations
With Chayton Farlee
Center for Accounting Transformation
In the latest episode of Accounting Conversations, host Chayton Farlee sits down with Dominic Piscopo, CPA, founder of The Big Four Transparency, to unpack compensation transparency and the accounting pipeline — two stubborn bottlenecks many firms still struggle to fix. The conversation centers on how accessible salary data and real-world experiences can illuminate a path toward fairer pay and clearer career ladders for accountants at all levels.
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Piscopo, a Canadian CPA now leading The Big Four Transparency, describes a career that reveals both the promise and the pain points of the industry. He starts in a Big Four firm in tax and quickly encounters a supportive leadership dynamic and a stellar coach, experiences that underscore what’s possible in a healthy culture. Yet even with that backdrop, he confronts a truth many early-career professionals feel but few talk about openly: compensation does not always align with effort or market realities, especially for younger staff trying to break in and prove their value.
Retention Isn’t About Perks or Paychecks Anymore | MOVE Like This
Adapt to changing workforce expectations without losing performance or accountability.
This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members | Go PRO here
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MOVE Like This
With Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk
For CPA Trendlines Research
In this episode of MOVE Like This, host Bonnie Buol Ruszczyk talks with Kristi Epp, tax partner, and Amber Schrock, advisory partner and Las Vegas market leader at Frazier & Deeter, about one of the profession’s most urgent challenges: retention. Their message is clear — firms that still believe compensation alone drives loyalty may already be falling behind.
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The conversation explores how accounting has changed dramatically over the last several years. Remote work, automation, talent shortages, mergers, acquisitions, and increasing regulatory complexity have reshaped both firm operations and employee expectations. Epp and Schrock explain that younger professionals are not rejecting hard work; they are rejecting environments that fail to provide meaning, transparency, mentorship, and sustainability.
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Remove Rocks in the Path to Firm Growth
Six types and how to move them.
By Domenick J. Esposito
8 Steps to Great
“Tiger Woods did not always win majors with ease; after his narrow victory in the 1999 PGA, he slumped and sighed as if he’d been carrying rocks uphill all afternoon.” – John Updike
MORE by Domenick J. Esposito
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A CPA firm must move many rocks that are on the path to growth. If a firm doesn’t effectively address these rocks, it will not be able to grow at a satisfactory rate.
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