succession

Shift Thinking from ‘We’ to ‘You’

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Portrait of a cheerful businessman smiling at the cameraBusinesses place value on expertise.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

Please start understanding, valuing and respecting your own value in the marketplace with clients who could not reach their goals without you.

MORE ON THE PASSPORT TO PARTNERSHIP: When to Ignore a White Lie: A Cautionary Tale | RFPs: 7 Things NOT to Do | 5 Ways to Evaluate Your Communication | 7 Levels of Communication Management | 5 Ways to Get Buy-In for Firm Culture | Partnership: Competence Is Just the Foot in the Door | Are You Partner Material? Maybe Not
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Businesses are in need – sometimes desperate need – of your technical expertise and caring approach.
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Firms Only Grow When Partners Play Their Roles

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Money tree growing in the middle of green meadowHow often are you seeing your clients?

By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli

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
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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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When to Ignore a White Lie: A Cautionary Tale

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Businessman covering face with handsHow well do you represent your firm?

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

The Passport to Partnership study collated a number of responses in a conversational style.

MORE ON THE PASSPORT TO PARTNERSHIP: RFPs: 7 Things NOT to Do | 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Going After New Work | Why Communication Matters So Much | 3 Questions to Evaluate Your Firm Culture | Competence: More Than Technical Skills
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The main example that really stood out as the major indicator of a need for each future leader to be able to “convert” new business is showcased below and was repeated many times in various different ways.
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How Big ‘Books’ Hurt Firms

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Young businessman with forehead resting on handsThe invisible hazards of book of business.

By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli

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
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It is difficult to resolve because it is symptomatic, for most firms, of some real trouble brewing.
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RFPs: 7 Things NOT to Do

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7NotAllowedPlus 6 keys to the perfect proposal.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

What makes a written proposal become accepted by the potential client – every time?

MORE ON THE PASSPORT TO PARTNERSHIP: 7 Mistakes to Avoid When Going After New Work | Communicate Your Worth and Value | Best Practices for One-on-One Communication | Learn to Read Your Firm’s Culture | Experts Advise What Partnership Takes
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Proposal writing is a micro-science in its own right but here are the proven principles that it takes to get proposals accepted.
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How Small ‘Books’ Hurt Firms

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Businessman sitting at desk, looking forward and smilingLeverage, capacity and overservice are just some of the issues.

By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli

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
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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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7 Mistakes to Avoid When Going After New Work

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Error stampedPlus 9 business development metrics you should be measuring when checking your conversion rates.

By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership

Like it or not, the 21st-century accountant is in the relationship-building business. When a qualified accountant learns the art of developing those relationships in such a way as they empower the practice to be able to forecast its new fee income each year, the accountant becomes a profit center and their value to the firm increases tenfold.

MORE ON THE PASSPORT TO PARTNERSHIP: Communicate Your Worth and Value | 5 Ways to Evaluate Your Communication | 7 Levels of Communication Management | 5 Ways to Get Buy-In for Firm Culture | Partnership: Competence Is Just the Foot in the Door | Are You Partner Material? Maybe Not
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Our fourth “C,” Conversion, has flirted with being the top answer from respondents in the Passport to Partnership study and has featured in over 80 percent of all firms interviewed as to what makes a senior manager stand out as a potential partner.
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When Partners Leave: What to Do Today, to Be Prepared for Tomorrow

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Man taking medication from caretakerSet policies now based on business, not emotion.

By Bill Reeb and Dominic Cingoranelli

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
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These may include:
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