Brave New Accounting World

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

The Competitive Landscape is Changing Rapidly

Consolidation Retiring CPAs Quality CPAs

Crisis

Gender Increased

Competition Leadership

Unfunded Retirements

The “Perfect Storm” is Forcing Mergers

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

The Changing Landscape will Determine: • Positioning in the marketplace for types and size of

clients • The types of staff and partners to be recruited and

how to compete effectively for quality new hires • Types of niches and specialty services • Staff training and development • Compensation methods and techniques • Growth through mergers

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Driving Value & Profitability

PRIMARY ACTIVITIES

Growth Driven Leadership

HR & Management Comprehensive Succession Planning

State of The Art Technology

Target Marketing, PR & Practice Development SUPP

ORT

ACT

IVIT

IES

Practice & Engagement Management

Training, Career

Development, Succession Planning, Partner & Staff

Performance Management

Leading

edge services, industry

specialization and niches

Efficient

and timely delivery

of service

Recruiting the

best talent possible at all levels either directly or

through M&A

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Trends and Predictions in the CPA Profession

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Predictions—More Mergers as a Competitive Strategy

• Marketing/Lead Generation and HR resources (recruiting, training, retention development)

• Additional technical and advisory resources • Expand geographic reach • Leadership & governance • Administrative resources • Defensive—competing against future consolidation

and larger firms with more resources in the local marketplace

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Predictions

• The need for continued growth and competitive pressures will drive greater client specialization and expert niche services which will accelerate niche M&A transactions.

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Positioning to Compete with Larger Firms

To Remain Competitive and Increase Growth, Firms Need to Develop Marketing and Selling Techniques Leading to New & Innovative Services

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

The Past—Inside Out

Firm Skill Set

Staff

Clients

Marketplace

Services

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

The New Order of Business—Outside In

Market Demand

Staff

Marketing

Services

Partners

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Profitability Formula

Profitability

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Outside-In

• What the firm did in the past may not make it successful in the future

• Build the services, staff and partners around the needs of the marketplace

• Train partners and staff in areas that the market demands

• Hire for in-demand services • Design outside-in targeted marketing and lead

generation programs • Use mergers to accomplish the outside in - strategy

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Outside - In Services Thru M&A

Firm Newly Created Service Armanino Acquired Rose Business Solutions Carr, Riggs & Ingram Acquired an audit consulting firm—

”Auditeverx” and a Texas based wealth management firm

CliftonLarsonAllen Acquired MA based Bankers Advisory Inc.

Cohn Reznick Acquired real estate consultants—NOI Strategies

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Diversifying Services Thru M&A

Firm Newly Created Service MountJoy Chilton Medely Acquired KY based HR consulting firm

Personnel Profiling, Inc. Prager Metis Merged in NYC based family office

services boutique Polakoff & Michelson

Wipfli Acquired Chicago based Regulatory Compliance Associates

Sikich Merged in Illinois based supply chain consulting firm, Achieve Consulting.

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Diversifying Services Thru M&A

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Firm Newly Created Service or Business Eide Bailey Acquired a NetSuite Solutions provider.

Glass Jacobson Merged in One Source Financial BKD Acquired Kacinsky & Associates, which provides loan

review services to Texas financial institutions.

Big 4—% of Firm Revenues

Deloitte PWC E&Y KPMG Revenue ($Billions)

$13.9 $11.0 $9.1 $6.1

Consulting 51% 31% 36% 22% A&A 31% 41% 37% 42% Tax 18% 28% 27% 36%

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Top 100 Firms—Large % of Consulting Revenue

($Millions) % of Revenues

Consulting A&A Tax Crowe $665 50 28 22 Plante Moran $411 33 41 26 WIPLFLI $163 37 34 29 Armanino $113 53 21 26 Sikich $97 55 30 15 Horne $67 45 34 11 SC&H $58 40 17 43 WathensMeegan $49 56 22 22 Raffa $37 32 53 15 KLR $35 35 30 35 *28 Firms in the Top 100 have 25% or more Consulting Revenue

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Firm of the Future

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Top 10 Implementation Challenges

• Challenges in replacing the skills of departing owners (50%)

• Transitioning clients from retiring partners/ principals (41%)

• Partners’ reluctance to relinquish work relationships (41%)

• Challenges in training/mentoring internal staff for partner/principal roles (40%)

• Reluctance of partners/principals to retire (42%)

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Top 10 Implementation Challenges

• Challenges on funding payments to exiting partners/ principals (20%)

• Loss of leadership (17%) • Remaining owners’ lack of shared vision on business

goals/governance/direction (15%) • Ownership conflict—partners taking large

compensation packages with less workload (14%) • Dealing with the unexpected (14%)

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

The Right Balance of Services

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Firm of the Future—Revenues

40%

20%

40%

Integrated Solutions

Investment in Non-PABusiness

Audit and TaxCompliance

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Inability to Retain Women in the Profession

• Adding to succession planning problems • Very few firms have been successful in designing and

implementing flexible and part-time career paths.

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Predictions

• More partners will work beyond the normal retirement age due to lack of sufficient partner level talent and unfunded buy-outs. The new 65 is becoming 70.

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Predictions

Larger firms will begin to incorporate more cash buy-outs in their merger deals to attract quality merger candidates

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Predictions—Market Reversal

• In 5+ years, there will be a shift from a seller’s market to a buyer’s market as larger firms get more selective in M&A transactions and there are more baby boomer partner firms coming on the market with no succession plan.

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Predictions

• Firms will outsource more work overseas (India, China & the Philippines) through outsourcing companies and international affiliations as fees become more competitive. Quality accountants will be used for more valued services

• Firms in high labor and rent areas will acquire firms in depressed and lower cost areas and shift compliance work to them to maintain fee competitiveness and increase profitability.

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Predictions

More small firms will split-up due to a lack of a consensus on succession planning and the future direction of the firm

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Predictions

50% of the firms below the Top 200 will merge upward, laterally merge, or split-up in the next 15 years due to succession planning problems and a lack of partner consensus on the vision of the future of the firm.

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Partnership Structure “Franchise / Corporate-Type” Structure

Predictions—Partnership Structure

The partnership structure will fade away and be replaced by a “franchise / corporate-type” structure in the top 300 firms in the country.

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Franchise

Chairman & Executive Committee

HR & Succession Planning

Managing Partner

Recruiting & HR Public Relations

Career Development & Tech Training

Benefits

IT & Workflow Optimization

Work Flow Management

Communications

Hardware / Software

Professional Marketing & Strategic Planning

Client Retention, Cross-selling,

Innovative Service

Practice Development & Sales

Advertising, Public Relations & Branding

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Phases of CPA Profession Consolidation

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Local

Regional

Mega-Regional

Small National

Large National

Consolidation of the CPA Profession

• Phase 8– (will accelerate in 2016) Mergers of 2nd and 3rd tier firms

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Firm Classification

LARGE NATIONAL FIRM OFFICES REVENUE $M

McGladrey & Pullen (U.S.) 75 1,471

Grant Thornton 57 1,383

BDO (U.S.) 52 833

Crowe Horwath 29 687

CBIZ 103 600

Clifton Larson Allen 29 598

CohnReznick 26 575

SMALL NATIONAL FIRM OFFICES REVENUE $M

Baker Tilly Virchow Krause 29 475

BKD 34 446

Marcum 17 385

UHY Advisors 15 204

Novogradac & Co. 18 103

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Firm Classification

MEGA REGIONAL FIRM OFFICES REVENUE $M

Plante Moran 20 433

Moss Adams 20 429

Dixon Hughes Goodman 29 338

EIDE Bailly 22 195

Wipfli 22 181

Carr, Riggs & Ingram 21 171

Rehmann 20 109

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Firm Classification

LARGE REGIONAL FIRM OFFICES REVENUE $M

EisnerAmper 6 283

WeiserMazars 8 157

Cherry Bekaert & Holland 12 131

Citrin Cooperman 6 115

Warren Averett 14 114

Elliott Davis Decosimo 18 110

O’Connor Davies 8 108

Withum Smith & Brown 12 106

Sikich 11 106

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Why Aren’t There More Same Size Mergers?

• Egos, leadership, management and control • Name • Culture • Leases • Location • Unreasonable expectations • Compensation, retirement benefits, and equity • Excessive time in negotiating the Term Sheet • Insurance • Previously undisclosed risks and liabilities

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

The Future is Now

Fastest Growing Firms in the IPA Survey

• On average derived 26% of total revenue in non-traditional services and these services increased by 22%

• Firms range in size from $5 million to $100 million in revenue (average size $35 million)

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

The Future is Now

Fastest Growing Firms in the IPA Survey

• Half of the firms have a business development (sales) professional

• Two-thirds have a niche strategy generating a minimum of 20% of all firm business

• Two-thirds have a strategic plan for each main revenue service

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Firm Business Model

Business Segments

• Business Segment defined—a component of a business that generates revenues and costs related to operations

• Examples of segments in Public Accounting:

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Assurance areas • Audit • Review • Compilations

Tax • Business • Individual

Niches • Family Office • Alternative Investments • Outsourced Accounting

Segment Leader Responsibility

• A strong and effective manager and leader, capable of attracting, mentoring, retaining and developing talented and productive staff

• A true team player and collaborator, translating knowledge and experience into strong and productive relationships internally and externally

• Goal minded and able to motivate staff to accomplish segment objectives

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Segment Leader Responsibility

• Effectively and constructively lead change • Work with the MP & Marketing Director to

determine activities and actions needed to implement business development programs that generate leads and increase segment revenue

• Collaborate with segment partners and managers to increase realization rates by enhancing efficiencies, work flow optimization, scheduling techniques, timely billing of out of scope work, etc.

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Partner Leadership Teams

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

COO

Managing Partner

Goals & Objectives Oversight

Practice Growth

Strategist &

Visionary

Succession Planning & Talent

Management

Mergers & Acquisitions

Budgeting Personnel Costs

• % of compensation to revenues at all time highs • Budgeting the firms personnel costs will force

partners to make better business decisions as to the use of professional resources

• Will force firms to: • Cull low profitable clients • Make greater use of efficiencies and work flow

optimization • Delegate work to the lowest level possible • Terminate career comfort zoners and underachievers

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Using Talent and Leverage to Build a Firm of the Future

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Delegation

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Managers

Staff

Partners

Supervisors

Historical Pyramid Structure

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Profitability Formula

Profitability

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Partner & Staff Structure

• Are partners being held accountable for delegating work and increasing profitability on their engagements?

• Do we have enough “quality” staff in the appropriate positions to have a successful delegation process?

• Are we properly developing and coaching our staff? • Is the firm’s scheduling process taking into account

the proper matching of work and talent and career development?

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Aligning Business Strategy With Performance Management

Plan

Acquire

Engage

Develop

Deploy

Lead

Retain

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Measure & Align

Business Strategy

Human Capital Strategy

Talent Results

Business Results

Interaction Between Marketing & HR

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Recruiting Promoting the Firm

Training & Development Niche Talent

Projected Growth

Niche Development

New Services Public Relations

The Time to Change is NOW

“It is not the strongest of the species that survive, not the most intelligent, but the ones most responsive to change.” —Charles Darwin

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Comparative Statistics—IPA Survey

Description IPA Average

IPA Best of the Best

Net Revenue Growth Rate (Organic only) 5.7% 8.5%

Net Revenue per Charge per Hour $154.20 $190.50

Net Revenue per Partner $1,054,933 $2,549,660

Net Revenue per Professional $217,026 $262,405

Net Revenue per Employee $174,234 $217,455

Net Revenue per Square foot $564 $732

Firm-wide Utilization (All Prof. staff incl. equity partners) 65.4% 66.2%

Charge Hours per Prof. (Excl. equity partners) 1,410 1,406

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC

Comparative Statistics—IPA Survey

Operations IPA

Average IPA Best of

the Best Firm wide Utilization (All Prof. staff excl. equity partners) 69.2% 67.1%

Percentage of all charge hours by Prof. Staff 83.3% 89.8%

Personnel Costs as Percentage of Revenue 45.8% 43.8%

Professional Staff: Administrative Staff Ratio 5.0 5.4

Professional Staff: Equity Partner Ratio 7.6 9.8

A/R Management: Days of Production Locked Up 55.0 45.0

WIP Management: Days of Production Locked Up 25.2 24.1

© 2015 Accountants Advisory Group, LLC