ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

No book is written solely by its authors. When many practitioners and consultants add to the body of knowledge about compensation systems on a regular basis, a book couldn’t, nor shouldn’t, be written solely by its authors.

The writings of Dr. Stephen R. Covey have had a profound influence on our thinking about principle-centered leadership and the concepts of both win-win thinking and win-win systems, especially compensation systems. We also acknowledge Stephen M.R. Covey, Keith Gulledge, and many others from the FranklinCovey Company.

Consultants learn by helping clients become successful, and in that process, we often find we learn as much, if not more, than we teach our clients. So, to all of the clients with which we have worked over many years, we say, “Thank You!” A special thanks to Bruce Malott and Tom Burrage at Meyners + Company who were up for a challenge and allowed Coral to learn a lot about what to do and what not to do to help firms design better compensation systems.

We could not have written this book without the help of many people: accounting practitioners, members of the legal profession, fellow consultants, and our spouses and children. Each contributed something that challenged or enlarged our thinking—sometimes even causing us to change our points of view. Their comments, suggestions, and critiques have improved the final product.

The list of contributors is long, and those not listed here are not for lack of appreciation, but for lack of time and space. Among those who have influenced us over the years are, Patrick McKenna, Edge International, one of the most creative consultants to professional services firms and Bruce Marcus, a long-time friend and mentor to August as well as an early pioneer in the field of professional services firm marketing and the author of The Marcus Letter (www.marcusletter.com). Thanks to Jane S. Roesti, the Director of Excellence for the Missouri Department of Conservation, who taught Coral many things about adult learning, but more importantly, about life. And not enough can be said about Howard Rosen at Conner Ash P.C. who is a trusted client, colleague, and friend.

Thanks to Richard Rinehart for sharing with us his views on absolute and relative compensation; to Marc Rosenberg, a longtime colleague whose annual Rosenberg Survey contributes valuable statistical information to the accounting profession; and to Chris Frederiksen, who is always openly willing to share his knowledge. We also want to thank Richard Caturano, managing partner of Vitale, Caturano & Company and Bill Herman, Managing Partner of Plante & Moran, PLLC for sharing their thoughts on partner compensation with us.

We wish to thank Altman Weil, Inc., for sharing with us their compensation survey of the legal profession as well as James Cotterman, a principal at Altman Weil, Inc. and leading compensation consultant to the legal profession, whose writings and thoughts are scattered throughout this book.

We thank the following individuals for their contributions by allowing us to work with them and their firms and sharing their knowledge and tools:

▮ Michael Epstein, Managing Partner of Fuller Landau and Partner-in-charge of Corporate Finance Advisory Services

▮ Ray Roberts, Managing Partner of Accounting & Consulting Group, LLP

▮ Howard Rosen, Principal and President of Conner Ash P.C.

We are grateful to Monica Tapp, Human Resources and Organizational Development Consultant at The Growth Partnership, who provided significant contribution in the compensation survey design and compilation. Without her assistance and analysis, we still would be going through more than 400 responses. Thanks also go to Jeffrey S. Pawlow, Charles Hylan, and Lisa Benson at The Growth Partnership.

A vast measure of gratitude goes to our editor, Laura Inge, for her help in managing this project, the members of the PCPS Executive Committee Task Force who provided direction for and reviews of this book and to Jim Metzler, American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, Vice-President, Small Firm Division and the PCPS Division, for sponsoring the 2006 Compensation Survey.

Readers of Client at the Core: Marketing and Managing Today’s Professional Services Firm (Wiley 2004) by August Aquila and Bruce W. Marcus will recognize a number of ideas in this book, especially those in Chapters 5 and 10.

Finally, we want to thank our spouses for putting up with two busy consultants who still found time to write this book and keep their marriages intact.

August J. Aquila and Coral L. Rice

April 1, 2007

The following are members of the Private Companies Practice Section Executive Committee Task Force who provided direction for and reviews of this book.

Richard J. Caturano, CPA
Vitale, Caturano & Co. PC
Boston, Massachusetts

Frederick R. Kostecki, CPA
RubinBrown, LLP
Saint Louis, Missouri

Ronald Thompkins, CPA
Watson Rice, LLP
Miami, Florida

AICPA Staff:

Acquisitions          Laura Inge

Editors                  Karen M. Coutinho, Margot Faivush, and Michelle Partridge-Doerr

Production            Lainie Burke Rosenthal