Historically, the conversation most certified public accounting (CPA) firm partners have when their retirement planning begins revolves around partnership agreements or buyouts and how their clients will be treated after they’re gone.
Over the course of their careers, they’ve been the primary advisor to their clients, guiding business owners through challenging times, celebrating milestones, and offering advice that went well beyond tax returns and financial statements. So, when they retire, firms aren’t just replacing technical expertise, they’re asking clients to hand that same confidence to someone new.
“It’s not really an ownership issue—it’s a trust transition issue,” says Jeff Livesay, CPA, CGMA, CEO of MH CPA PLLC.
More emphasis is being placed on that distinction as CPA firms— especially small and mid-sized firms—continue to face the pressures growing out of industry consolidation and an ongoing talent shortage. These converging forces are pushing firms to take a hard look at how they’re developing the next generation of trusted advisors well before a partner’s retirement date is set.
Jessica Freiburg, CPA, PFS, managing partner of Sassetti LLC, has helped lead her firm through multiple partner retirements over the past decade. In her experience, the ownership transition is often the easy part: “That process is documented. There’s a valuation multiplier involved, and we know how to calculate that as CPAs.”
It’s the relationships that are harder to account for. As Freiburg explains, many retiring partners have spent 20 to 40 years serving the same clients, and those bonds often turn into genuine friendships, making them more difficult to hand off than an ownership stake.
Livesay suggests firms need to start rethinking how they view client relationships altogether. “You need to start moving relationship dependency from one individual to a team of advisors that clients can trust,” he suggests.
He compares it to how patients experience a medical practice. Nobody expects one physician to handle every part of their care. They interact with receptionists, nurses, and specialists, each contributing to one consistent experience.
Livesay stresses that CPA firms should aim for that same teambased approach, as clients are more likely to stay with a firm when they already know and trust more than one advisor: “As long as you can build that multilevel relationship that’s earned over time, they’ll come back.”
He emphasizes that the team mindset changes how firms think about who actually “owns” a client: “Our job as partners isn’t to make ourselves indispensable, it’s to make the firm indispensable. When clients trust the team instead of one individual, succession becomes a natural transition instead of a disruption.”
Most firms know succession planning matters, but many still wait too long to act on it, and Livesay says that’s one of the most common mistakes he sees: “The challenge is to identify the right individuals for the right clients and then get them involved early—that’s something most firm leaders don’t do.”
Freiburg has seen another extreme play out. A retiring partner talked about leaving for so many years that one client assumed he’d already left the firm. The client subsequently left because they believed no one had taken over the relationship.
She’s also seen partners wait until a month before retirement to say anything at all.
Neither of these approaches build confidence, she notes. Instead, she believes successful transitions happen gradually, giving clients time to build trust with their future advisors before the retiring partner steps away.
While there’s no perfect timetable for a partner transition, Freiburg has observed that roughly two years works well. This schedule lets clients experience multiple engagement cycles with both advisors involved. In year one, the retiring partner and successor work closely together. By year two, the successor becomes the primary contact while the retiring partner shifts into a supporting role.
“If done well, it doesn’t feel like a handoff,” Freiburg says. “It feels like the relationship evolved on its own.”
Even with a solid plan in place, firms still need a backup plan. Freiburg has had carefully chosen successors leave the firm mid-transition, forcing leadership to start over.
“Involving multiple people in key client relationships early on reduces that risk and gives firms more flexibility when plans change, which they inevitably do,” she says.
Preparing the next generation is one of the most important, and often overlooked, parts of an effective succession plan. Many young professionals know the technical side of the work well— what they need to develop are their relationship-building and communication skills.
As Livesay puts it, technical skills earn a client’s respect, but they aren’t what build lasting relationships: “Technical competence earns you a seat at the table. But business judgment, curiosity, communication, and follow-through are what keep you there.”
He adds that young professionals often believe their value at the firm comes down to having the right answers, but he stresses it’s about much more than that: “Real value comes from asking the right questions, understanding the client’s business, and helping solve problems.”
Freiburg sees that same dynamic among younger professionals at her firm. Even after 23 years in public accounting, she doesn’t pretend to know everything. Rather than feeling pressured to have every answer immediately, she encourages younger professionals to become comfortable listening carefully, researching issues, and following through.
“Clients don’t expect you to be an encyclopedia of information,” she says. “They want to know you understand what they’re asking and that you’ll get back to them with the right answer.”
Additionally, both Livesay and Freiburg believe relationship skills will become even more valuable as artificial intelligence (AI) takes over more routine compliance work. Firms that thrive won’t simply have strong technical talent, they’ll intentionally prepare and develop the next generation to become trusted advisors.
According to Livesay, that development should start much earlier than many firms realize. He suggests bringing younger staff into client meetings and advisory discussions well before they’re expected to manage relationships on their own. By watching experienced advisors interact with clients, they begin learning not only what to say but how trust is built over time.
“Today’s young professionals are among the most technically capable I’ve seen,” he adds. “I don’t think firms should wait to help their young professionals intentionally build their advisory skills. I’ve seen them rise to the challenge, not shy away from it. Now’s the time instead of waiting until someone’s on the partnership track.”
Similarly, Freiburg says younger professionals don’t typically need motivation to want to take on more client-facing roles. Instead, they need confidence and support to do so. “Our managers who are faced with taking on client relationships for the first time see opportunity. They’re excited to say, ‘These are my clients,’” she says.
To help foster the development of next-generation leaders at Sassetti, younger team members are paired with experienced partners who keep themselves available for guidance while letting the younger professionals serve as the client’s primary contact, but this also means experienced partners have to change how they operate.
Livesay notes the hardest adjustment for a firm leader can be resisting the urge to always be the one with the answer. Instead, he encourages partners to let younger professionals respond to clients directly and work through problems, with coaching happening behind the scenes rather than out front: “Refrain from being the hero. It’ll not only gain the confidence and trust of your staff but also your clients.”
Freiburg thinks firm leaders also need to change how they talk about the profession itself to help the next generation envision their own future in it. She recalls a leadership dinner where another CPA introduced himself by listing the long hours he’d put in: “That just wasn’t the right message.” Instead of glorifying the grind, she believes partners should focus on what actually makes the work appealing and rewarding: helping solve problems, building relationships, and making a real difference for clients.
“Everything we do is about relationships and people,” she says. “That’s what these young professionals should hear. When they understand the impact of their work, they start seeing themselves as future advisors rather than as compliance specialists.”
Freiburg also sees succession planning as a chance to strengthen client relationships rather than just preserve them.
“This is a chance to reset relationships,” Freiburg notes. “Introducing the next generation of advisors gives a firm permission to revisit client conversations, many of which probably haven’t happened in years, which could also unearth opportunities that might otherwise go unnoticed. The incoming advisor gets a fresh read on the client’s evolving business and could introduce services the client didn’t realize the firm offers.”
As Sassetti worked through its most recent wave of partner retirements, Freiburg shares firm leaders also used the process to rethink workflows and define what the firm’s next chapter should look like: “We’ve changed a lot through these processes, discovering new services and different solutions that benefit our clients. As you’re thinking about transitions, ask: ‘What do we want the firm to look like on the other side?’”
For firms facing upcoming retirements, Livesay and Freiburg say the time to start preparing is now.
“There’s no time to wait. The best time to start transferring relationships and transitioning client trust is when you don’t think you need to be worrying about a succession plan,” Livesay says. “In fact, once there’s a succession plan needed, you’re already behind.”
He encourages firms to identify future relationship managers early, get them in front of clients, and treat relationship succession as part of every partner’s job, not a special project.
Freiburg recommends starting with the firm’s most important relationships: “Make a list of your top 20, 30, or even 50 clients, and make sure there’s a plan in place for each one. The more people you can get involved in the relationship without overwhelming them, the better.” She also encourages firms to make sure more than one person understands each key client so there’s continuity if someone unexpectedly leaves.
Ultimately, succession planning isn’t just about replacing retiring partners. Leaders need to actively prepare the next generation of leaders to earn the same confidence clients place in their advisors today. Firms that start early are the ones most likely to keep clients and come out of a partner succession stronger than before.
As Freiburg sees it, “Succession is an opportunity to shape the firm that comes next.”
