Last week’s blog post provided you with a very simple job description for the managing partner of an accounting firm. However, I am sure many of you find it quite a bit more complex. I must admit, sometimes it seems like the role continually expands.
Gary Boomer of Boomer Consulting has written much about the various aspects of the role of the managing partner. In his Boomer’s Blueprint column in the December issue of Accounting today, Boomer gives us “the more important requirements of the job”.
Here’s Boomer’s list:
- Grow the firm
- Build a unique ability management team
- Provide and develop leadership at all levels of the firm
- Stay connected with peers and the profession’s leaders
- Attract, retain and develop quality people
- Make timely decisions
- Develop a strategic vision
- Build consensus and commitment to the vision and core values
- Teach and learn
- Allocate and manage limited resources to strategic (priority) initiatives
- Counsel partners and staff — accountability
Be sure to read his article. He also provides 13 initiatives that should be on the managing partner checklist. This checklist can be very valuable to the many new managing partners that are beginning to take the role from a long-time, retiring MP.
Here’s one I think is very important: Focus on improving revenue per full-time equivalent – Charge hours are not a measure of value. Benchmark the past two years by taking total revenue and dividing by the number of FTEs (total hours divided by 2,080). Just like in golf, improvement should be your focus. This one metric summarizes utilization, realization and pricing.