@cazzie Here, the status rules are determined on a state-by-state basis. Most accounting and legal firms are some form of partnership (general, limited, limited liability company, limited liability partnerships, etc.), although some are incorporated. In general, an incorporated firm will have the special designation of Professional Corporation.
I worked for an incorporated CPA firm in Maryland. Under state law, at least one of the names in a Professional Corporation’s name has to be actively working for the company (the same rule isn’t true for a partnership; Messrs. Ernst and Young are long deceased, but the names live on).
The firm was owned by idiots who weren’t aware of this requirement until I told them. The last I heard, the firm was still paying a full salary to an elderly man with severe dementia, simply because he’s the last surviving person in the firm’s name, and it doesn’t want to change a name that it’s had for many decades.