Trend Outlook 2016: Change Agents Needed
Firm results are again on the rise.
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What Communication Really Means for Partners
BONUS CHART: Seven levels of communication management.
By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership
Ultimately, when we have to interact with clients, subordinates, superiors or peers, the questions are always the same: Who do I need to deliver this information to and what approach would they respond most favorably to?
In arriving at “Communication” we come to the most intangible of all the components to obtain a “passport to partnership.”
MORE ON THE PASSPORT TO PARTNERSHIP: How to Read Your Firm’s Cultural Blueprint | Gauge Firm Culture to Move Toward Partner | What Culture Really Means for Partners | Firm Culture Is Inevitable; Make It Work for You | 12 Ways to Determine Your Competence | What Competence Really Means for Partners | Sailing Through the Seven C’s to Partnership | Passport to Partnership: New Research Shows Wide Gap between Partners and Partners-To-Be
In the research, which is ongoing and evolving, communication is the term given in the study to where partners look for senior managers to demonstrate that they can do two things with existing client relationships:
The Four Ways ‘Non-Competes’ #FAIL in the Social Media Age
How friending, liking, connecting or Tweeting can come back to haunt you.
By R. Peter Fontaine
NewGate Law
It is axiomatic that the only true assets of any accounting firm are its clients and its people. These relationships are typically protected through a legal agreement between the firm and its people. Known as restrictive covenants (or, colloquially, as “non-competes”), under these contracts former partners and employees are prohibited from soliciting or serving firm clients, and soliciting or hiring firm employees.
Restrictive covenants are becoming increasingly more significant in the accounting industry because of the growing mobility of and competition for a scarce workforce and partner and employee “fallout” following a merger. The ever expanding popularity of social media only contributes to the uncertainty surrounding the enforceability and effectiveness of post-employment restrictions.
How to Read Your Firm’s Cultural Blueprint
BONUS CHECKLIST: Five-part analysis to measure partner material.
By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership
What conclusions can you draw from your knowledge of how the promotion system works in your firm that you need to keep in mind?
MORE ON THE PASSPORT TO PARTNERSHIP: Gauge Firm Culture to Move Toward Partner | What Culture Really Means for Partners | Firm Culture Is Inevitable; Make It Work for You | 12 Ways to Determine Your Competence | What Competence Really Means for Partners | Sailing Through the Seven C’s to Partnership | Passport to Partnership: New Research Shows Wide Gap between Partners and Partners-To-Be
In terms of firm culture, you need to understand the four navigational points of the compass:
- Who do I need to stay on the right side of?
- What are the unwritten rules in my firm?
- Whose opinions can be trusted?
- What really impresses the partners?
And here’s a five-part analysis to see how you measure up:
Gauge Firm Culture to Move Toward Partner
Bonus Partnership Pointers checklist: 3 questions to evaluate the culture at your own firm.
By Martin Bissett
Passport to Partnership
This second C is a stormy and choppy one, often fraught with political icebergs but navigated diplomatically and with maturity, will lead you through.
MORE ON THE PASSPORT TO PARTNERSHIP: What Culture Really Means for Partners | Firm Culture Is Inevitable; Make It Work for You | 12 Ways to Determine Your Competence | What Competence Really Means for Partners | Sailing Through the Seven C’s to Partnership | Passport to Partnership: New Research Shows Wide Gap between Partners and Partners-To-Be
Case study on culture
Deborah had done well. She was bridging the firm’s culture gap and fulfilling its desire to be seen as an equal opportunities employer by becoming the practice’s standout rising star.
How to Combine Two Firms after Merger: Carefully
When the deal is done: A 24-point checklist for the morning after.
By August Aquila
Creating the Effective Partnership
Congratulations! After years of planning and months of tough negotiations, you’ve finally closed the deal on merger of your CPA firm.
You might be thinking the most difficult work is behind you. Think again! You now have to move your eye from the financial to the human side of the merger.
MORE for PRO Members: Mirror, Mirror on the Wall | 6 Steps to Handle Staffing Problems in a Merger | New Times Call for New CPA Firm Metrics | 6 Reasons Why CPA Firms Fail in Innovation | 7 Signs Your Firm Is Headed for an Implosion | Why Is It Always about Partner Compensation? | Why Merge and What to Watch Out For | 13 Steps to Fool-Proof Mergers and Acquisitions | 13 Questions To Ask Yourself for Personal Growth | Partner Problem? First, Ask Yourself These 21 Questions | 12 Reasons CPA Firm Staff Meetings Are a Waste of Time | The Managing Partner’s Secret Weapon in Change Management | The 10 Basic Ways to Boost Profits at an Accounting Firm | 12 Must-Do Items for Your Partner Retreat Agenda
Your work in this area has just begun and may last for 12 months or more. The so-called soft side of doing a merger is just as important, if not more important, than the financial side. Just like with an iceberg you don’t know what lies beneath the surface. Just ask the captain of the unsinkable Titanic. Don’t let this same danger destroy your practice
In order to make sure your merger has a better than average chance of succeeding, here are 24 key items to be addressed: READ MORE →
Four Major Misconceptions about Millennials
And six management strategies to unleash their potential for your firm.
By Wesley Middleton
Middleton Raines LLP
From the sound of it, Millennials are ruining everything. At least that’s how they’ve been made to feel. Supposed experts focus on how different the Millennials are, how hard they are to understand, to attract and to retain.
After reading the experts, I decided to offer my perspective as a managing partner of a 72-person firm where the average age of our firm is 34.65 and 49 of our people are the age 35 or below. This experience – along with a 20-year-old daughter and a 17-year-old son – has given me a different perspective.
In fact, the differences between the generations are exaggerated. It’s funny to see how the older generation always looks at the generation behind them and says they are so different and won’t achieve what we have or that they have some “hard to understand” ideas. They said that about me when I was 25.
I love this generation coming up and here is why: READ MORE →
Check Yourself: How to Reality-Test Client Satisfaction Levels
To keep both your staffers and clients happy, tax and accounting firms need to gain a thorough understanding of their perceptions and perspectives — and to make they align.
Customer service guru Arnold Sanow suggests 15 questions to ask yourself, your staff, and, above all, your customers. serviceThe biggest opportunities will surface when you compare and contrast their responses.
Be prepared for an eye-opening, sometimes gut-wrenching, exercise in hard truth: READ MORE →