Succession Planning

Planning for the Future

Succession planning has been identified as one of the top five issues facing independent public accounting firms. In fact, failure to plan for succession is the greatest threat to the future of accounting firms. Those that do not address this key issue will have, at best, a tenuous future.

Because succession planning should take place over a long period of time, we highly recommend that firms begin thinking about transition at least five years prior to a managing partner’s retirement. We have found it takes approximately three years to transition client relationships and even longer to find a managing partner’s successor and train him/her.

TGP can assist in laying the groundwork by:

Facilitating the development of a strategic plan for the practice
Helping to create personal retirement plans
Determining if an outside board of directors or advisory board is necessary
Identifying potential successor candidates
Developing a successor development program
Creating career paths for other key members of the firm
Ensuring the retention of existing clients
Helping you cope with the transition
Developing a transition plan and helping you communicate it to other members of the firm

For more information on our succession planning services, please contact Jeff Pawlow, CEO and Managing Shareholder, at jpawlow@thegrowthpartnership.com.

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