THE AICPA AT 125 P. 6
Institute celebrates a major milestone
at its Spring Council meeting
FIRM OF THE FUTURE P. 25
Our in-depth special report on what
tomorrow’s accounting practice will look like

accountingtoday.com

SOFTWARE SURVEY P. 34
We look at the intersection of document
management and work;ow applications

Summer shopping season

Tax software vendors rolling out demos, deals and tryouts

BY ROGER RUSSELL

With the end of busy season for most tax preparers, the summer months are open to try something new. Accordingly, most tax preparation software manufacturers o;er tryouts, early renewals and promotional pricing.

;e number of software manufacturers has declined in recent years, as a result of the acquisition of smaller companies by the dominant manufacturers. Tax

See SHOPPING on 44

OUR ANNUAL RANKING OF THE TOP RESELLERS IN NORTH AMERICA Special report begins on page 27

An end to the debate?

Keeping them on the long and winding road

Future ;rm leaders need a mix of personal guidance and outside support to keep them on track.

Partner development can be a hollow proposition at some accounting firms. Often, paths to partnership either run parallel to the ;rm’s succession plans — and can be just as muddled — or are

Ensuring that prospective partners ful;ll their potential requires following through yourself

BY DANIELLE LEE

FAF votes for Private Company Council, gains AICPA support

In what many hope will be the end of over three decades of debate, the trustees of the Financial Accounting Foundation’s board of trustees voted in late May to establish a new Private Company Council that will determine whether exceptions or modi;cations to U.S. GAAP for privately held companies are necessary — and gathered crucial support from various professional bodies, most notably the American Institute of CPAs.

;e new council will replace the Private Company Financial Reporting Committee and will have the ability to identify, deliberate and vote on any proposed chang-

BY MICHAEL COHN

See PCC on 42

similarly nonexistent.

Current partners create early
roadblocks by not taking lead-
ership development seriously,
according to Troy Waugh, chief
executive of the Rainmaker Com-
panies, a Nashville, Tenn.-based
alliance, consulting and training
provider for the profession. “;ey
see it as not something that has to
be solved immediately,” he elabo-
rated. “Since it’s not immediate,
they put it o;, and one day they
turn around and they have no
one left ... . And who leaves ;rst?
;e best ones. You’re left with the
average employees if you’re not
careful. I’ve seen a number of sit-
uations where there’s no partner
development in place. ;en there
are two or three managers who
look up, and don’t see the possi-
bility of advancement at the ;rm.
;ey go down the street and open
their own shop and then they’re
bigger than the old ;rm.”
Waugh personally witnessed
this at one firm a month ago. “I
looked around, and ;ve ;rms in
this city — all of their partners
came out of this ;rm. [;at ;rm]
created ;ve competitors.”
Firms that want to hang on to
these potential trailblazers can
start small, on a personal scale.
Waugh advises partners to take a
training course or “just get a sim-
ple book on coaching and men-
toring.” (See page 45 for reader
suggestions.) From here, a men-
toring program can develop — but
it must be a committed one.