So You Don't Need To Think About Succession Planning? The Cold Hard Numbers Offer Skeptics A...

Consider the following facts uncovered from a recent survey of 500 accounting firms by the AICPA Private Companies Practice Section:

* 81% of the firms surveyed didn't have a written succession plan, and of those, 22% said they don't need one. (In /PA's 2005 Annual Analysis of Firms, 65% of

* 30% of the firms didn't answer the question asking when the senior partner(s) of the firms would retire.

* 56% of the firms said at least one partner would retire in the next five years, and 18% said more than one partner would retire. (In /PA's 2005 Annual Analysis of Firms, 32% of non-national firms report having at least one partner retiring in the last year, and 32% expect at least one partner to retire in the next year.)

* 27% of responding firms have partners age 63 or older owning 30% or more of the firm.

* A mere 10% or so of the firms have fully funded retirement.

* 14% plan to look for a merger candidate to fund the retirement of senior partners.

* 11% plan to look for a merger candidate to gain access to the leadership skills needed for the firm to prosper.

* 16% say they'll most likely sell their firms so senior owners can maximize the value of their investment.

* 12% will run their firm until they can't work anymore and then turn off the lights.