Opportunities Galore for Would Be Partners’ Elect within the Accounting Profession

Opportunities Galore for Would Be Partners’ Elect within the Accounting Profession
One of the most frequently asked questions we get here is whether there are young people still interested in being partners within practice.

If we review the status quo, as the profession continues to age and the baby boomer practitioners amongst us weigh up their timeframes to move on; one of the factors also critical in their decision is the ability to find someone who is willing to buy their equity. More often than not the current partners won’t be interested in more equity.

So, five years ago when we were asked this question, generally the answer was no. There seemed few, if any, senior personnel that were interested in becoming partners. The usual factors of risk, money and the like were the main reasons.

However, this has changed over the last couple of years. We are certainly hearing from more personnel who are interested in becoming equity holders and partners within firms. We are assisting some firms in finding these senior personnel to step up to partnership through our Equity Opportunity Service. To date, our results have been encouraging. Of course, some want to go it alone, but others are interested in considering the traditional partnership model.

Searching for these senior personnel requires planning and quite often a couple of attempts to find the right person. Time is also a consideration with a three to five year timeframe recommended for firms. Yes, risk and money do remain the hurdles. It’s important to realise that not everyone is suited to owning a business, this is an important criteria to initially confirm.

For those guys and girls out there currently employed with aspirations of being an equity holder and partner in your firm or a different practice, opportunities are, and will continue to be plentiful. City, suburban and regional firms will be in search of future partners, so fine-tune your CV and get out there.