Hiring Experienced Candidates
An excerpt from Accounting Today’s article by Richard Stanger and Carolyn Carlson, Winning the War for Talent.There are two components to hiring great experienced partners and staff: sourcing and...
View ArticleBuilding Talent from the Bottom-up, Starting with Entry-level Hires
An excerpt from Accounting Today’s article by Richard Stanger and Carolyn Carlson, Winning the War for Talent.Great firms acquire and develop talent from the bottom up, starting with entry-level hires....
View ArticleSummer Internship Programs Make a Difference
An excerpt from Accounting Today’s article by Richard Stanger and Carolyn Carlson, Winning the War for Talent.It’s a win-win for both your firm and candidates: firms that offer summer internships get...
View ArticleStrong Business Strategies Embrace the Right Operating Model – Part 3
This is the third in of a series of blogs on the subject of accounting firms and their operating models: Centralized Model , Locally Integrated Model, Regionally Integrated Model, Nationally...
View ArticleTeach Emotional Intelligence to Future Partners
About once a month, we get a similar comment from clients: “one of our partner candidates is lacking in emotional intelligence, are you available to coach him on this issue over the next six months?”...
View ArticleStrong Business Strategies Embrace the Right Operating Model – Part 4
This is the fourth in of a series of blogs on the subject of accounting firms and their operating models: Centralized Model – Locally Integrated Model – Regionally Integrated Model – Nationally...
View ArticleStrong Business Strategies Embrace the Right Operating Model – Part 5
This is the fifth in a series of blogs on the subject of accounting firms and their operating models: Centralized Model – Locally Integrated Model – Regionally Integrated Model – Nationally...
View ArticleHow to Increase Productivity at CPA Firms
Measuring productivity at accounting and advisory firms is different from doing so for other industries. This concept was brought home to me recently in a conversation with a former colleague who is...
View ArticleWhen Acquisitions Alone Can Become a Key Growth Strategy
We used to think that copying others or repeating the same actions because they are institutionally easy or have worked in the past was very non-strategic behavior. Experience has shown us that in some...
View ArticleThe Importance of Knowing Your Firm’s Signature Strength
Every CPA firm has a signature strength that provides a competitive advantage and can be leveraged for growth. Often, when we ask partners to identify that strength, they are not aware of it. Let’s...
View ArticleThe Importance of Knowing Your Firm’s Signature Strength
Every CPA firm has a signature strength that provides a competitive advantage and can be leveraged for growth. Often, when we ask partners to identify that strength, they are not aware of it. Let’s...
View ArticleHow to Improve Partner Behavior
As we were wrapping up a strategic planning discussion with one of our clients—a major accounting and advisory firm—the firm’s managing partner turned to us and asked, “What would really change the way...
View ArticlePlanning Partner Retirements
Getting partners to transition toward retirement as they approach the firm’s retirement age is a problem facing many CPA firms, and its implications are far-reaching. Most firms in the Top 100 have a...
View ArticleCoaching Can Really Help Managing Partners of Accounting & Advisory Firms
As the saying goes: “it’s lonely at the top.” Nowhere is this truer that for the managing partner of a regional accounting & advisory firm. Surrounded by talented partners who have a personal stake...
View ArticleGreat Firms Have Passionate People
The word passion comes up frequently in the context of business strategy for accounting and advisory firms. I still remember when Jim Schiro was first elected chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers in the...
View ArticleGreat Experiential Learning Is Key to Growing Top Talent
Many accounting firms have robust formal learning programs for their staff early in their careers. Over time, the amount of formal training declines to some ad hoc programs plus required CPE training,...
View ArticleWinning the War for Talent
The most critical issue facing the accounting industry today is the war for talent at all levels. In fact, the first sign that a CPA firm is in trouble is when the firm is not able to recruit, develop...
View ArticleYour Firm’s Business Model Deserves Careful Thought
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...
View ArticleBuilding an Advisory Business
Business strategists who follow the accounting profession are sending a consistent message: “The work of accountants is going to be heavily automated by further advances in technology. Firms need to...
View ArticleThe upcoming age of mega-mergers
Partners in Top 100 Firms overwhelmingly express a preference for their firms to remain independent. Not surprisingly, there have been very few recent mergers combining Top 100 Firms. This period of...
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