Progression in an accountancy career is rarely linear. Some years bring acceleration, others feel static. For many accountants — especially Directors and Salaried Partners — the most difficult question is not “Am I progressing?” but “Am I progressing at the right pace, and will this firm ever give me the future I’m aiming for?”
Here is a clear, practical way to assess whether your development is on track, whether you’ve outgrown your environment, and whether your path to equity is realistic or simply being prolonged.
You’re Building Skills That Matter for the Future — Not Just Filling Today’s Gaps
Healthy progression means gaining the commercial, strategic and leadership experience that strengthens your long-term value.
Ask yourself:
- Are you being exposed to complex clients or higher-fee portfolios?
- Are you being trusted with strategic decisions, not just delivery?
- Are you gaining experience in business development, succession planning or firm-wide leadership?
- Are you learning from the firm’s equity partners, or simply supporting them?
For Directors and Salaried Partners, this is crucial. If you’re consistently delivering high-level work without being brought into meaningful decision-making, you’re progressing in competence — but not in influence.
And equity requires influence.
You Know Exactly What’s Required for Your Next Step — Including What It Really Takes to Become an Equity Partner
Clarity is one of the strongest indicators of a healthy pathway.
You should have absolute visibility on:
- the competencies required for promotion
- the commercial expectations at each level
- the track record the firm is looking for
- the timeframe you’re working toward
- the criteria for being considered for equity
- whether equity is possible for you — and when
If conversations about equity are vague, postponed, or dependent on circumstances that never seem to materialise, you’re not on a pathway — you’re in a holding pattern.
Partners who genuinely want to develop future owners don’t keep the criteria opaque.
Your Responsibilities, Remuneration and Influence Grow Together
Your trajectory should show alignment between:
- rising responsibility
- rising recognition
- rising visibility
- rising strategic input
- rising financial reward
If you’re leading teams, managing major clients, generating fees and supporting firm-wide initiatives — yet your title, package or influence haven’t moved — your progression is being used, but not invested in.
This applies especially to those sitting just below partnership level.
Your responsibility shouldn’t grow faster than your recognition.
You’re Being Challenged in Ways That Reflect Your Ambition — Not Just the Firm’s Needs
Challenge isn’t about being overloaded; it’s about being stretched in the right direction.
A genuinely progressive role provides:
- exposure to commercial conversations
- opportunities to win work
- involvement in succession planning
- visibility with decision-makers
- leadership responsibilities beyond team management
If you’re only being challenged operationally — and not commercially — your development is being capped.
Directors and Salaried Partners should be challenged in ways that prepare them for ownership, not simply for continuity.
Senior Leadership Actively Sponsors Your Development
Support is different from sponsorship.
Support is guidance.
Sponsorship is advocacy.
Ask yourself:
- Do equity partners champion you internally?
- Do they give you opportunities that raise your profile?
- Do they include you in critical conversations?
- Do they ask for your views on major decisions?
If your contributions are relied upon but your future isn’t being actively shaped, the firm may value your work — but not see you as part of its long-term leadership.
That distinction matters.
You Can See a Long-Term Future at the Firm — And That Future Aligns With Your Ambitions
Your progression is only healthy if the destination is meaningful to you.
Consider:
- Does the firm offer the type of partnership you aspire to?
- Is there genuine succession opportunity, or is the partnership table full?
- Are your ambitions aligned with the firm’s growth trajectory?
- Would you be able to build the career you want here — or only maintain the one you already have?
If you can picture yourself as an equity partner in the profession but not in your current firm, the issue is structural, not personal.
And no amount of loyalty can fix a blocked pathway.
You Are Proud of the Last 12 Months of Progress — Not Just the Last 12 Years
Progression should be current.
Ask yourself honestly:
- Has your role changed meaningfully in the last year?
- Has your influence grown?
- Has your development accelerated?
- Are you closer to equity now than you were this time last year?
If your title has stayed the same for multiple years, if your responsibilities plateaued long ago, or if equity conversations are always “something to revisit later,” your pace is no longer matching your potential.
Directors and Salaried Partners don’t stagnate because they lack ability.
They stagnate because their firm does.
A Final Reflection: The Right Pace Isn’t Fast or Slow — It’s Aligned
A fulfilling accountancy career moves at a pace that matches your ambition, your capability and your goals. If several of these signs resonate, it may be time to explore firms that will genuinely support your progression — including your path to partnership or equity.
Standing still is a choice.
So is moving forward.
If you want clarity on your progression, your route to partnership, or whether equity is truly within reach at your current firm, we can help.
Contact Public Practice Recruitment Ltd
We support Senior Managers, Directors, Salaried Partners and aspiring Equity Partners in securing roles that unlock real progression and long-term opportunity.
Get in touch contact Public Practice Recruitment Ltd today
