Art of Accounting: Qualities that make someone a partner
Staff continually are being promoted to partners. There are many qualities that make a partner and many times it is not one big thing but many small things. Here are some qualities of some people that became partners at Withum. Each incident is not an aha moment, but these are the type of qualities that are inherent in people promoted to partner.
Partner A: One Friday evening in the summer he and I were the last two people leaving the office when the phone rang at the reception desk. We were chatting while waiting for the elevator and he excused himself to answer the phone. I waited and when he was finished, I asked him why he did not let the service take a message. He responded that it might have been a client and he wanted to help her if he could. Client-centric thinking is essential. At that time he was a manager.
Partner B: One day I ran into him in front of a sub shop at lunchtime and suggested we have a sandwich together. I asked him where he was coming from and he said he delivered the journal entries from our audit to the controller and wanted to go over them with him. At the time he had two years of experience with us. Wow, client-centric and also building his networking list!
Partner C: When she was stepping up to becoming a supervisor, she asked me if I could point her in the direction of a book she could read on entry-level managers. Earlier that year she attended with her mother a financial planning speech I gave to the public. And another time she read a book she thought I would enjoy and bought me a copy. The book was “Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi. Alert, eager to learn, not afraid to ask for help, on the ball!
Partner D: This is a different type of situation. I’ve had only a few interactions with him, but every time I asked for something from a client he was in charge of, he had someone under him get it to me and it arrived instantly fast. What impressed me was his ability to delegate and have his staff be responsive to his requests. Being a good manager and mentor are necessary qualities.
Partner E: She and I became friends almost immediately when I joined Withum. Her specialty was systems and controls, and I introduced her to a client who needed some big-time assistance in this area. She prepared a proposal and it went over very well with the client, who approved it as soon as she finished her presentation and was anxious for us to get started. She then assembled a team, and her final report with her recommendations was very successful in having the client implement the recommended changes. She also delivered the report a week earlier than the promised date. She was an experienced specialist able to identify solutions to weaknesses and get buy-in from the client. She maintained a time schedule and everything she did was focused on the client understanding the need, importance and value of her engagement.
Partner F: She was an experienced professional brought in to establish a financial planning department to serve clients’ needs. I met her early on and got to know her capabilities, which were extensive and impressive. One day I had a meeting with a client who asked me a question about something new, and I figured I would call her to see if she was familiar with that area. When I called her, she said it was fairly new, but she saw an article about it in a tax journal that she received the day before and would read it over and send it to me. What impressed me was that she immediately read, or looked over, the journals she subscribed to and “remembered” what she had seen. That first professional encounter created lasting admiration for her ability.
There are dozens more and they are illustrations of the qualities of the people that make it to the top of accounting firms, and likely any professional practice or business organization. These stood out when they occurred and are attitudinal. Some of these features and qualities cannot be taught, but if I could figure out how to bottle them, I could make a fortune with it.
For more advice, see this earlier article, Art of Accounting: New partner responsibilities. Do not hesitate to contact me at emendlowitz@withum.com with your practice management questions or about engagements you might not be able to perform.
Edward Mendlowitz, CPA, is partner at WithumSmith+Brown, PC, CPAs. He is on the Accounting Today Top 100 Influential People list. He is the author of 24 books, including “How to Review Tax Returns,” co-written with Andrew D. Mendlowitz, and “Managing Your Tax Season, Third Edition.” He also writes a twice-a-week blog addressing issues that clients have at www.partners-network.com along with the Pay-Less-Tax Man blog for Bottom Line. He is an adjunct professor in the MBA program at Fairleigh Dickinson University teaching end user applications of financial statements. Art of Accounting is a continuing series where he shares autobiographical experiences with tips that he hopes can be adopted by his colleagues. He welcomes practice management questions and can be reached at (732) 743-4582 or emendlowitz@withum.com.
