About the Authors

August J. Aquila, an internationally known consultant, speaker, and author, has held leading positions in the accounting profession for more than 25 years. He currently heads AQUILA Global Advisors, LLC, a full-service consulting firm to accounting and other professional services firms. August focuses his practice on working with firm leaders, resolving management and owner issues, helping firms develop and implement strategic and transition plans, and designing compensation plans. August is also one of the top consultants in the area of mergers and acquisitions, having been involved in more than 150 transactions.

Before starting AQUILA Global Advisors, August held several executive leadership positions with American Express Tax and Business Services. He also was a partner in a top-50 firm. In 2003, he was elected into the Association for Accounting Marketing’s Hall of Fame, and in 2004, 2007, and 2009–11, he was selected as one of the Top 100 Most Influential People in the Accounting Profession by Accounting Today magazine.

August is the author of hundreds of articles and several books on practice management, mergers and acquisitions, and marketing. He is the coauthor, most recently, of Compensation as a Strategic Asset: The New Paradigm and Client at the Core: Marketing and Managing Today’s Professional Services Firm.

August lives in Minnetonka, MN, with his wife, Emily. For more information about August, visit www.AquilaAdvisors.com or contact him at [email protected].

Coral L. Rice is one of the accounting profession’s top consultants and executive coaches in the areas of organizational development, compensation, and learning. She has helped many firms clarify mission, vision, values, and strategic direction. More importantly, she helps them accomplish their strategic goals. She possesses unique expertise in diagnosing and designing firms’ people systems and processes (for example, recruitment, retention, and succession) to support these goals. Specifically, she has provided direction to accounting firms in the redesign of their partner and staff performance management and pay-for-performance compensation systems. She is the coauthor, most recently, of Compensation as a Strategic Asset: The New Paradigm.

Coral developed the workshop, The Reluctant Salesperson™: A Realistic Approach to Practice Development for the CPA, as well as a comprehensive partner development program. She also facilitates group workshops and provides executive coaching to partners in a variety of areas.

Coral serves as a global senior consultant in FranklinCovey’s 4 Disciplines of Execution Practice and has served both Fortune 100 and smaller clients in a variety of consulting roles.

Coral and her husband, Dave, enjoy golf, volunteering, and sharing time with their son and daughter-in-law, as well as other family members and friends. Contact Coral at Coral. [email protected].