Statistics for the Ages - Literally

Ever been in a bar or perhaps a family gathering and observe a group (or pair) of stat-crazy sports fans passionately argue baseball averages or football passing yardages totals?

I refer to them as the stat geeks – those rabid folks who can recite Stan Musial’s phenomenal on-base percentage or prove why Ted Williams was the greatest hitter of all time. Was Washington’s Redskins Hall of Famer Sonny Jurgensen really the best passing quarterback of the past six decades? I’m sure there’s someone out there who can spew out the numbers to back that claim up.

How about some statistics that have nothing to do with sports? I’m talking about uncomfortable succession planning figures that should make even the most stubborn procrastinator sit up and take notice.

How about the following?

• The Beatles broke up 50 years ago.
• Vanna White, statuesque letter turner on the Wheel of Fortune is 62 years old.
• Rolling Stones legendary front man Mick Jagger is a great, great, grandfather.

How about some non-show business stats?

• One person turns 65 every 8 seconds in this country.
• 75 percent of the 420,000 plus members of the American Institute of CPAs will be eligible to retire in 2020.
• Less than half of the CPA firms in the U.S. have a formal succession plan in place.

Okay that’s enough shock therapy for today although that last one should give any and everyone reason to pause.

Back to the Future

More years ago than I want to remember (hint, the Oval Office was occupied by someone with the initials R.R.) I interviewed for an associate editor’s position at a publishing company in midtown Manhattan. The offices were in a newly completed spiraling glass structure – one of many high-rise projects on the construction docket that year in New York City.

After the perfunctory Q&A, the interviewer showed me around the space which included a “relaxation room” replete with couches soft music and EZ chairs, and a state-of-the-art gymnasium on premise. Smoking which was still allowed at the time in many companies was strictly forbidden. Those with an insatiable nicotine habit were forced to light up outside – no matter the weather.

The HR executive explained the amenities were a way of differentiating themselves from their competitors and a reason why the turnover rate at the company lingered in the low single digits.

For those keeping score at home I didn’t get the job, but always remembered how the company viewed its employees and the importance of standing out in a competitive field.

Which brings me to today’s missive.

Today’s Succession Market – A Harsh Reality

Two months ago, my neighbor of more than 20 years hung out a “For Sale” in front of his house. He told me it was time. His children were grown and out of the house and he was closing in on retirement from his job with the county. His wife had retired just months before. He had set his sights on North Carolina and showed me the blueprints for his retirement home.

He was one of those true do-it-yourselfers, he mowed his own lawn, repaved his own driveway and installed a new front door. His home was always immaculate, and I assumed it would sell immediately.

Nope.

The sign is still out and despite a few nibbles no one has made a concrete offer. I asked him what the problem was, and he said the realtor told him that it was truly a buyer’s market and home shoppers could be a lot more selective than even as recently as five years ago.

So, he waits and waits and waits for an offer that hopefully will come before the New Year.

Which in a roundabout way sort of brings me to the accounting marketplace – particularly regarding succession and M&A.

This week I had to have a painful heart to heart with a practitioner in his mid-70s – a sole owner with no succession plan. When I asked him our $64,000 question about how many more years he wanted to work full time – he simply replied “forever.”

It Must Be the Altitude

More years ago, than I care to remember I attended the University of Denver and graduated without fanfare. I think my sole accomplishment during my tenure there was being listed in the Metro phone book.

I had always heard about how being 5,280 feet above sea level affects you both physically and mentally – a fact hammered home convincingly after participating in a touch football game the second day on campus. After six or seven plays, I was wheezing like a 40-year chain smoker and had to sit on the sidelines for a while.

But I believe it does funny things to your cognitive processes as well, another Denver-centric fact that became blatantly obvious last week during my CPE sessions there at a major vendor conference.

Okay to be fair the annual event was primarily focused on tax and technology and the attendance at my dual 100-minute sessions for lack of a better term “reflected” those major segments – as succession planning was obviously far down the list in terms of interest.

So, with over 1,300 attendees crammed into one venue, only 40 or so of them (and that included the audio-visual guys) felt succession planning was important enough for them to attend.

And that was unfortunate because if I may be shamelessly immodest for a moment, I felt they were two of the best sessions I’ve ever facilitated in nearly 15 years of teaching CPE. Seriously. Although standing for that long resulted in a rather painful plane ride home the following day.

But back to the topic de jour.