The Partner Bootcamp process... Partner Bootcamps start in the Greater Toronto Area in the Summer of 2008. If you're going to invest in an interest in a public accounting firm, if you're going to be made Partner in 2008 or later, or if you're going to hang a shingle and start your own practice, you need Partner Bootcamp! This is an eye-opening, life-changing experience that anyone about to take the leap into a partnership should have to take. Give yourself an unfair advantage over your competition and your peers, sign up today!

An introduction to the Bootcamp concept - why go through this process with us?

The 'Bootcamp' concept has been with the accounting world for many years now - indeed the word was first introduced to the public accounting world by Paul Dunn and Ric Payne when they created Results Accounting Systems in the early 1990's.

Since then it has become synonymous with 'radical change', 'business focus', 'practice improvement', 'profit enhancement' and similar phrases.

However, this is a bootcamp with a twist.

'Many of today's partners set a bad example to their staff. Indeed, their behavior is sometimes directly responsible for the exodus of new CAs into industry.'

Here's the problem; when we get to the stage on our career when we feel ready to step up to Partnership, we're often ready in many areas - professional training, technical abilities, managing client relationships and so on - but 99% of all new partners have little, if any, coaching on the role that they are moving into.

Indeed, many existing partners arrive early, leave late, work weekends, spend little time with their families, feel tremendous amounts of stress, maybe have some health issues like high blood pressure or heart attacks, and some are on their second or third marriage directly as a result of the huge burden they carry as a partner.

Then they say to their star employees 'one day, all of this could be yours!' As a result, many of today's partners set a bad example to their staff. Indeed, their behavior is sometimes directly responsible for the exodus of new CAs into industry.

But it's not their fault.

During the early stages of our career in public accounting, we tend to focus on the technical aspects of doing the job; accounting principles, audit techniques, taxation issues and the like.

We go through a series of professional examinations that ensure only those who meet the demanding technical standards required move forward and become a Chartered Accountant, and then, suddenly, we find ourselves a few short years later, looking at a partnership opportunity, or wanting to open our own practice, with little, if any, real preparation for what that change will mean to us.

"We want to teach people... what it really means to be a partner."

We want to teach people who want to become a partner in a public accounting firm, either with the one they're with right now, or the one they're about to start, what it really means to be a partner.

We aim to teach you how to walk like a partner, talk like a partner and how to act like a partner. We want to instill good habits from the get-go to give you a jump start in your new role, with a genuine appreciation for the subtle changes required to make a successful transition from 'Employee' to 'Partner'.

We'll teach you the essentials of life as a partner - the role, the responsibilities, the expectations and the key skills you'll have to master.

We'll discuss leadership, people management, mentoring, workflow management, how best to price your services, time and billing practices, cash collection secrets, client expectations and client service, amongst other things!

If you're intending to make it to Partner level, this course could give you a real jump-start in your new role.

If you have already been a Partner for some time, this could be just the thing you need to put a fresh perspective on things help clarify some key issues for you and put that spring back into your step.

Partner Bootcamps start in the Greater Toronto Area in 2008.

For more details, prices and an information pack, please call our Partner Bootcamp Leader, Steve McIntyre-Smith, at 905-842-2284.