Why Don’t Young Professionals Want to Be CPA Firm Partners?

I’ve noticed a trend brewing in the accounting profession: Too few young accountants aspire to become CPA firm partners. While this may seem far from a crisis to some, it’s an issue that should sound off many alarms for those of us in public accounting. A diminishing desire to pursue partnership means that a considerable number of CPA firms (both large and small) won’t be able to survive the next generation of retirements and will need to merge upstream, pursue another succession solution, or simply dissolve. The dearth of aspiring partners, plus the other talent challenges reshaping the profession’s landscape, could fundamentally change the experience of working in public accounting.

But is it really any surprise that young professionals aren’t interested in stepping onto the path to partner like they used to be? It’s been my observation that the negatives of being a partner are often on display in a bright spotlight, while the positives and privileges that come with such a prominent position are hidden backstage or seldom touted. It’s worth emphasizing that many parallel professions enjoy the spotlight in pop culture (think attorneys, doctors, software engineers, and Wall Street types), while accountants rarely make an appearance on the big screen or, when they do, typically play the part of the stereotypes we wish to escape. We desperately need to change the perception of accountants and what it means to be a partner in a firm.

What if we told a different narrative? That the path to partner offers opportunities to make a positive difference for the individuals, businesses, nonprofits, and more that we serve; partners earn notable compensation; they’re entrepreneurial and work competitive hours compared to peers in other professions; they enjoy the flexibility of not being tied to a single, physical location; they work in a profession that values lifelong learning; and the profession affords a stable income in any economy. Unfortunately, these perks aren’t what most students and young professionals are being told or shown about the accounting profession!

It’s up to us, those that know the partner role well, to counter the stereotypical negatives and shine a brighter spotlight on the positives being a partner in a successful firm provides.

Here are three negatives, and three positives, we can craft better stories around.

THE VISIBLE NEGATIVES

1. Partners work too many hours, especially during busy season. Make no mistake, busy season is a considerable obstacle to us positively promoting the profession and the partner role. However, when you compare total work hours versus other parallel professions, like legal and finance, CPA firm partners generally work fewer total hours than most and often have more flexibility.
2. Partners don’t enjoy a lavish lifestyle. Accountants are generally modest in their projection of wealth. But with equity partners earning an average of $650,000 per year (based upon recent survey data), rest assured their bank accounts are full. For many CPA firm partners, college is funded for the kids, there’s a vacation home in their portfolio, and their international travel plans are confirmed. Interestingly, $650,000 is more than most physicians earn! With starting compensation such a contentious topic in the profession right now, it’s important to help prospective accountants and aspiring partners understand their real earning potential.
3. Partners are beholden to their clients. It can seem that when clients yell “Jump,” the partner asks, “How high?” In some cases, this is true. But in most cases, the partner-client relationship is balanced. Even more so, the immeasurable value brought to the client and their show of appreciation is the real star of the show. And of course, let’s not forget the personal satisfaction derived from solving complex financial and business challenges. We need to do a better job of spotlighting how meaningful client relationships make a career in public accounting so rewarding.

THE HIDDEN POSITIVES

1. Partners enjoy the flexibility to work anytime, anywhere. Many of our peers in the professional world have several guardrails dictating when and where they work. In public accounting today, there’s more freedom than ever to build your schedule around your life—especially for partners. As long as you take care of your clients, and train and mentor your staff, your geography and schedule can flex.
2. Partners can set their own schedules to accommodate personal commitments. A point of pride for so many partners today is their ability to make it to every one of their child’s softball games (or insert other family activity here). Having the freedom to set your own schedule is a priceless benefit that isn’t available to many of our peers in parallel professions.
3. Partners are business owners in one of the most profitable, yet low-risk sectors of our economy. A typical local CPA firm produces margins of 30% or more! How many of your clients can brag about that kind of margin? What’s more, public accounting is one of the most resilient professions when economic headwinds strike. That’s because whether the economy is good or bad, you need to have accurate financial statements, file your taxes, and get an audit.

While I hope these few positives about being a CPA firm partner are compelling to the next generation of accounting professionals, this illustration is far from complete. It’s up to all current and up-and-coming partners to fill in the blanks and help the profession tell a better partner story. We all look at the partner role through a different lens, which means we all have unique stories to tell that can help attract the next generation of CPA firm partners to the table.

If you’re someone who’s long discounted the partner position, I hope you begin to look beyond the negatives about being a partner that have become so visible—take some time to learn about and explore the positives that aren’t talked about enough. In fact, I’d encourage any young accounting professional to ask a CPA firm partner a series of questions: What’s it like to be a partner, how did you make partner, what are the best and worst things about being a partner, and what would it take for me to become a partner? With a little research and curiosity, I suspect a brighter narrative about what it means to be a CPA firm partner would emerge.

Given the current talent landscape and pipeline challenges the profession faces ahead, it’s imperative that we finally flip the script about becoming a partner and tell a better story to every aspiring accounting professional.