Succession planning

Stakeholders in mature architecture and engineering firms nearing retirement are bombarded with ideas from many advisors for the “best” exit option.

CPA firms have been thrust into a new and different complex business dynamic that requires them to think out of the box and respond.

One thing that all successful companies have in common, no matter the industry, is strong leadership, and that’s also true of accounting firms.

Treat the next generation of leadership at your practice as you would a prospective client.

Without an effective MP, a firm runs the risk of not reaching the next level of success.

According to Doug Sleeter, taking steps to ramp up your tech know-how is good for your firm’s current business and for the value of your firm in the future.

Chris Geier, the newly installed CEO of the Top 100 Firm, shares the details of its leadership planning process, as well as its roadmap to future growth.

Many practice owners have quietly decided that they’re simply going to wind down their practices and walk away -- but it's not as simple as that.

Create a well-thought-out succession plan for your wealth management division that will benefit your family, staff, clients and suppliers.

Only 23 percent of family companies have a robust succession plan in place, according to a new report from PricewaterhouseCoopers, with 46 percent saying they are reluctant to pass the business to the next generation.

In a changing industry, adaptation is key.

Many firms are offering estate planning or wealth management services, but ironically, a lot of CPAs aren’t necessarily ready for their own retirement.

As we reflect on the upcoming year, leaders in mid-market CPA firms need to address five practice challenges as they approach 2017.

If your firm is like many small and midsize CPA firms, you don’t have a formal strategic plan and you don’t set goals or hold your partners accountable for converting a strategy into real live actions that drive growth and per partner bottom line improvements.

The word passion comes up frequently in the context of business strategy for accounting and advisory firms.

It’s the milestone you’ve worked toward for your entire career—promotion to partnership. After the announcement’s been made, you revel in the excitement and recognition of what you’ve achieved.

CPA firms are challenged today by an unprecedented pace of change and intense margin pressure, with no reason to believe the end is in sight.

This past April, I stepped onstage to deliver the keynote address to one of my firm’s largest client conferences for tax. I addressed a group of 1,200 or more professionals almost evenly balanced between men and women. In fact, in EY’s own tax practice, women represent 52 percent of the professionals.

A talent war is taking place as competition intensifies for quality high-level positions.

Many CPA firms have been expanding rapidly, both organically and through mergers and acquisitions. This has included significant geographic expansion beyond the firms’ core locations. It has also included expanding into new areas such as IT-related advisory services.