Sole Practitioner Seeks Partner
Author:
Judy Fay
[Full text] No one can argue but that the environment in which practising CAs operate has become more complex. Volumes of technical, legal and regulatory requirements have issued. Technology has replaced many of our traditional tasks. Firms actively compete with each other, and with other professions for work. Clients' expectations have risen dramatically. Staff are harder to get, harder to keep.
To deal with these changes, practitioners are increasingly turning to partnerships. Partners with particular specialisms are replacing the traditional jack of all trades. But partners cannot rely solely on technical skills. They must develop and use a broad range of competencies in managing modern firms to their full potential.
Clients take for granted that a partner is technically competent, but increasingly, it is becoming impossible for one person to have all the knowledge and expertise that their clients may require. One of the more important skills of the future will be the management of knowledge. A partner will need to understand the specialities of his colleagues, and where their areas of expertise interact. Knowing when to advise, and when to bring in the expert will become an art in itself. Firms will also increasingly need to have the means of seeking out and finding the appropriate information quickly and reliably.
Daunted by the prospect of keeping pace with chang,e practices often hire in the knowledge they require. This is commonly happening in the tax, IT and compliance areas. Buying it is one thing, keeping it quite another. Often practitioners don't really want partners but believe that partnership is the only way of retaining good people. Future firms may consider instead alliances with other organisations, contracting or sharing of resources.
Today's partnerships are often made up of auditors, corporate financiers, corporate recovery experts, tax people, computer specialists, and so on. The theory is good. To survive a firm needs to be able to provide clients with a broad range of services. Clientsâ?? affairs have become more complex too. If you cannot meet them, they'll go elsewhere. Loyalty is earned.
To successfully manage the practices of the new millennium, partners need to redefine their roles. It starts with a vision of where the firm is going, and where it wants to be. Many firms have targets and budgets, goals measured purely in financial or numeric terms, few have a plan. Fewer still map the individual paths of partners in the context of achieving the overall aims of the firm.
Think of an orchestra trying to play a symphony. Each player has his or her part, each part is important. There is a score that all the players (partners) are following, it shows each of their parts, and how they interact with each other (the plan). There is a conductor, who can see the whole orchestra, and brings them together in harmony (the managing partner). Like the musical score, the plan is just that. It is not the reality. To bring it about takes each person playing their part and someone to keep an eye on how it's coming together.
Even small firms can benefit from a managing partner. The choice is an important one, and should be based on a partner's management, leadership and other skills, rather than on seniority, or profit share. The managing partner should also be given the time and resources to manage, it is not something that will be done in spare time!
As specialisation within firms becomes the norm, teams are increasingly used to handle projects. A partner needs to manage team members by achieving a balance between allowing individuals to bring flair and imagination to the task, and controlling the outcome by review and focus.
The ability to generate new work is often cited as the single most important factor in separating partners from staff. While some people are better at bringing in clients than others, all partners should share this task. Each partner's individual goals should include some element of business development, tailored to his circumstances. These goals, agreed among all partners, should be subject to review and appraisal on a regular basis. This review might be used as part of a performance based reward system, but care should be taken to ensure that both quantitative and qualitative measures are used to take account of people's contribution to the firm as a whole. Chargeable hours and recovery rates may not be sufficiently sensitive criteria to measure the role of the partner who manages the firm.
Partner wanted. Must be able to lead and motivate staff, meet deadlines, be decisive but flexible, positive in outlook, and aspire to high standards. Ability to attract and retain good clients, sell the firm's services for a profitable fee, which is promptly collected is a prerequisite. Must be able to communicate clearly and effectively with clients and staff, deal with problems as they arise, and anticipate and prevent crises. Participation in the development and future of the firm will also be required. A professional qualification and a sense of humour would be an advantage.
Accountancy Ireland Vol 31 No 5 October 1999