I'm an experienced consultant working within one of the big-four consultancies as a senior manager. I'm reaching the stage in my career where the next logical objective is making partner.I can't find any clear information on exactly what that means, and was hoping that someone could shed some light onto it for me. Obviously I understand the role that a partner fulfills in a firm, but I'm less clear on the mechanism by which one becomes a partner.For instance, how does one "buy into" a partnership -- what's the average buy-in and are the funds normally lent (and clawed back) by the partnership, or do you have to raise the funding externally. Or are new partners normally non-equity partners (in which case, how is their share of the profits allocated?)

Well, this goes some way towards answering my own question (and I thought it might be of benefit to others here, so I'll post it):Re-Engineering Partner Selection------------------------------------------------Succession, the staffing crunch, business development, non-CPAs, special expertise, and the need for client firm allegiance are altering partner selectionhttp://www.webcpa.com/article.cfm?articleid=20001&pg=pracaccStill interested in answers to whether consulting partnerships are primarily equity or non-equity, and the mechanisms/loans etc for buying into an equity partnership.

Thanks for that, but I would have thought the process would have been very specific to an individual organisation. This is probably something you should raise at your next appraisal with your line manager, rather than relying on the web.Which organisation and location is it for?

You are clearly someone in need of a mentor in your own organization. Take initiative and seek one out.

Good article! Thanks