Ringing Out 2016

Whether it will be on the receiving end of cheers or jeers, this is my last post for 2016.

Over the past year, this space has addressed a wide range of succession-related topics and a few that were shall we say, a bit off the primary topic – i.e. this week’s rant against one particular air carrier.

After 16 years either covering the profession in my former life, or, consulting to it, I’ve learned that despite quantum advancements in such areas as technology the basic landscape of the profession can probably be graphed via a single unwavering straight line.

Predictably, the last 365 days have seen – more mergers among CPA firms (no surprise there); a mountain of succession procrastination (picture my E*TRADE baby shocked face!); and, despite our repeated cautions to the contrary, far too many owners and partners expecting a white knight in the form of a young CPA to walk through their door and lead them to the promised land of growth over the next decade.

I’ve already given you unsolicited advice about taking a holistic view of your respective practices to determine what needs to be done in the coming year in order to remain competitive.

Several of my columns have also recommended gauging your internal “bench” to see if there’s anyone capable of one day assuming the reins of a firm badly in need of a succession plan.

Whether you listen or ignore all of the above is of course your choice. We tell our clients that they are in the enviable position of ignoring everything we tell them and doing what they want. And of course many of them followed those instructions to the letter.

This inaction to what is often painfully obvious reminds me of when I was about 17 and convinced I was light years smarter than my parents. When I was 24 or so, I was busy attempting to figure out how they became so much smarter in such a relatively short span.

We’ve been at this 26 years now, so I’m fairly confident our approaches work.

In 2017 we have our customary line up of webinars with the first one debuting on January 12 and hosted by yours truly as I take a look back at this year and what we can expect in the coming months. We’ll also be contributing a number of articles to the national accounting press, so stay tuned.

So from all us at Transition Advisors, best wishes for a healthy and happy holiday season.

I’ll return in January.