The Rising Star

For ambitious career orientated young accounting professionals

The Rising Star course is a progression from Martin’s original ‘Passport to Partnership’ curriculum which was developed in conjunction with the Pennsylvania Institute of Public Accountants back in 2014-15 and indeed ran as a regular elite programme in the PICPA schedule through to 2018.

Taking that content and building a community structure around it, The Rising Star Roundtable was designed to provide a speakeasy or a confidential environment for Rising Stars to get peer-level support, expert-level support and even let off a bit of steam about frustrations they may be facing in their employment, which is a much stronger option than issues remaining under the radar and risking a resignation.

In the Passport to Partnership Programme, we created 17 partners out of our intake of 45 when it was last measured. However, we are aware that the partnership model is not necessarily the future of 21st-century accountancy and therefore it is ‘leadership development’ we are focusing on in the USP community.

Whether the ambition of the individual is to become a partner, an owner, a director, an associate, a departmental head or whatever their ambition is, our design is to have a vehicle to accelerate that process for you and the firm you are part of.

For the young accounting professional who is ambitious and serious about their future career progression, and with the full support of the firms they work for, I am pleased to be able to offer Rising Star access to the resources made available to our participants in The Rising Star Roundtable. 

1. It's a Win for The Rising Star

Win number one is for the participating Rising Star. This demonstrates you, as the firm, are investing in The Rising Star's future, that you, the firm, are willing for them to put time into this project and that you see them as leadership material.


2. It's a Win for The Accounting Firm

The second win, therefore, is obviously for the firm, especially considering how difficult it is to recruit in the profession at this time. Most firms report they find it easy to recruit people but very hard to recruit quality people and given that these are quality people nominated to access The Rising Star resources or The Rising Star Roundtable programme, we are obviously bringing a benefit to the firm to avoid any unnecessary attrition from the headcount.


3. It's a Win for The Clients You Serve

Thirdly, it’s a win for the clients you serve. Much of the Rising Star content focuses its gaze on commercial awareness. (Having technically trained professionals act like business owners, deal creators and value creators.) We are looking to turn what are sometimes cost centres into profit centres.

This, of course, improves the perception in the marketplace of your firm and your people and therefore creates opportunities for a greater level of value to be delivered to those clients over time.

So it’s a 3-way win we are offering to all involved in The Rising Star.


Meet Martin Bissett


Martin Bissett is the founder of the Upward Spiral Partnership (USP), the international consulting firm that specialises in enabling the accounting profession to win higher-end clients, create leaders from their ranks and save lives.

His professional purpose is to alert the accounting profession to the profound outcomes that their advisory expertise can create in the lives of their clients.

At the same time, he also alerts the accounting profession to the profound difficulties that can arise in the lives of their clients when they choose not to educate their clients about the impact that their advisory expertise can have.

The Upward Spiral Partnership is the 4th business Martin has played a key role in building and the first of his own. 

In the first 5 years of USP, Martin has: 

  • Been engaged/retained by 4 of the World's Top 10 Accounting associations and 6 of the Top 10 in the UK. 
  • Authored 9 books including Passport to Partnership, content from which has been adopted into the curriculum of AAT Level 3 courses, and taught in selected UK colleges and US CPA Societies.  
  • Been retained by Accountingweb as a judge of their prestigious practice excellence awards for three years in a row. 
  • Been highlighted as ‘one to watch’ in AccountingToday’s Top 100 Most Influential countdown for 2 years running. 
  • Spoken on 4 continents. 
  • Created several trademarked items of intellectual property including the ACCOUNTS™ system and ‘Martin’s Relationship Pricing™’ Model. 
  • Written for several professional publications including AccountingToday, AccountingWeb, CPA Practice Advisor and Chartered One. 
  • Sat on many international expert panels and guested on professional podcasts in the US, UK, and Australia. 
  • Sits on a parliamentary steering committee tasked with bringing advisory services to the fore in the accounting profession. 

The outcome of Martin’s work is profitable new business for the practices he is engaged by, alongside the fine-tuning of teams of partners and emerging leaders who can develop new business by increasing their commercial awareness for themselves, without significant ongoing third party assistance. 

Previously, Martin served 10 years as a director (appointed at age 26) on the board of a marketing consultancy firm serving the accounting profession. There, he held the responsibility for the growth of the client base including six of the U.K.’s top 30 accountancy firms. 

He now coaches, mentors, speaks, trains and consults with accounting firms worldwide.

In total, he has worked with over 1800 firms of accountants and found it unnecessary to keep track of his contributions to the new business growth of those firms once it surpassed £500m collectively. 

What Rising Stars Say

Future Leader Outcomes

  • Brian Kuczinski, CPA, GCMA
    Audit Partner

    "I have participated in a leadership program led by Martin. The program bridges the expectations gap between those who strive to be in a leadership position and those who already are. His program has helped me to develop a roadmap to achieve my career goals and he has been a great sounding board with his ability to take challenging topics and break them down in a way to implement them in a clear and concise manner. I strongly believe he wants me to personally succeed."

  • Chad Tyrrell
    Ryans Tax Manager

    "I have had the pleasure of attending a 10 month Seminar with Martin through the PICPA, as well as a recent CPE conference. As accountants, we talk about assets and liabilities all of the time. Martin is an asset not just for the PICPA but for our profession as a whole. He gives guidance on ways to think outside the box as well as how to understand our firms on an internal basis. I am extremely grateful that our paths have crossed."

  • AJ Granito
    CPA for Medium-Sized Entities

    "I met Martin through his "Passport to Partnership" program. Martin managed to significantly alter the way I looked at the value we can provide to clients. He also provided insights as to how the CPA profession may need to evolve to better serve our customers given the changing technological environment and perceived commoditization of some of our services. I would recommend Martin's program to any CPA considering partnership or firm ownership opportunities in the future."

What's Included?

Propel Your Ambition

  • 1

    The Rising Star: Part 1

    • Passport to Partnership Episode 1: Success

    • Partnership Principle: What Do You Want to Be Remembered For?

    • Rising Star Report: What Do You Want to Be Remembered For?

    • Rising Star Refresher: Cash is Not The Issue
  • 2

    The Rising Star: Part 2

    • Passport to Partnership Episode 2: An Introduction

    • Passport to Partnership: Competence

    • Partnership Principle: The Seven Cs - Competence

    • Rising Star Report: The Seven Cs - Competence
  • 3

    The Rising Star: Part 3

    • Partnership Principle: Do You Want to Survive or Thrive in 2021?

    • Partnership Principle: Do You Want to Survive or Thrive in 2021?

The Rising Star

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