Acknowledgments
Although for the last three years, my life has been consumed with researching, interviewing, and writing this book, it would not be possible without the many contributions of other people. First, I’d like to thank my wife, Sheryl, for her patience with my travel and writing schedule. She learned to read and understand that absent look in my face, and she would say, “Go write, and come back when you can be present. It’s okay.”
This work would have been impossible without the contributions of approximately 100 leaders of our profession, over 40 of whom gave me extensive interviews and are listed in the preface to this book. These leaders shared their education, experience, and wisdom with me freely during several hours of interviews. They also read and corrected drafts of chapters as I would complete them. I owe a special debt of gratitude to several leaders who, because of their overall knowledge of our business, directed me to these terrific interviewees. Mike and Kelly Platt who publish the INSIDE Public Accounting newsletter and make an annual selection of the best accounting firms in the United States were particularly helpful. Bill Carlino, managing editor of Accounting Today magazine is a keen observer in our profession, and he directed me to several people.
Several leaders in associations gave me insights and were particularly helpful because they had worked with these leaders. Jim Metzler, vice president of Small Firm Interests at the AICPA; Terry Snyder, president of PKF North America; Deb Lockwood, former CEO of the RSM McGladrey Alliance; Jim Flynn, president of CPA Associates; and Kevin Meade, president of IGAF Worldwide all shared insights and wisdom with me and directed me to some of the great leaders in our industry, most of whom agreed to be interviewed for this book. Karen Kehl-Rose, president of Leading Edge Alliance directed me to several of her leaders who have been instrumental in conceiving and growing this amazing alliance of accounting firms.
I owe a special “shout out” to the leadership of my clients and the leaders on my team. For 20 years, I have been working as a consultant in the accounting profession after my public accounting, real estate investment, and magazine publishing experiences. Many of the clients that I’ve worked with have had excellent leaders. A consultant can have a significant impact with an accounting firm only if that firm has great leadership. Although a consultant can bring perspective, fresh eyes, and other experiences to the table, the quality of the implementation lies directly under the role of the leaders of the firms. I have learned a great deal from these leaders and have featured several of them in this book. Sometimes, I’m almost ashamed to say that I’ve learned more from them than they have from me.
My teammates at The Rainmaker Companies, LLC have provided me the space to write this book while they have been carrying forward the day-to-day consulting, training, and alliance services that we provide our clients. Patrick Pruett, president of the Alliance of Professional Associations and Angie Grissom, executive vice president of FiveStar3, LLC gave me their full blessings and support while I was writing this book. In particular, I’d like to thank Cindy Luna, relationship manager with The Rainmaker Academy, who carefully read every word I wrote and gave me many substantive changes and improvements. Bob Fitts, controller, and Alice Waugh (my sister and our director of lasting impressions) proofread every word and provided me with many corrections and improvements to the text. Bryan Shelton, senior consultant, was very helpful in assisting me with the writing of chapter 8, “Accountability: Trust but Verify.” His deep knowledge and work with our clients on this topic proved valuable.
Finally, I’d like to thank my editorial team. Whitney Woody and Erin Valentine at the AICPA have scoured every word and made many improvements in the text and really brought to life the meaning that I wanted to convey. Dr. Richard Crandall and Laura Creekmore assisted me with research and the early drafting of each chapter. The hardest part of writing a book is the first draft. Often, I’d sit for one hour and couldn’t get anything written, and either Rick or Laura would help me through the writer’s block, and I can’t thank them enough.
Although this book is the first that has been written on the subject of leading an accounting firm, I hope that others will come along to add to the discourse for our profession. Many firms are very well managed but underled. I believe that principled leadership will keep the CPA as the most respected business professional for decades to come.
Troy A. Waugh