Thinking about growing your practice?
There’s more than one way to build up your fee base, and it’s worth thinking through which suits you before you commit to a path.
Have a browse through our ARTICLES page for a fuller look at the options.
- Passive Role: register free and we’ll flag suitable opportunities as they arise — no cost to you.
- Active Role: commission us to actively search and approach on your behalf, for a modest marketing investment.
- Either way, you’ll know your exposure and options from the outset.
How do I grow my fees to £200,000?
You can grow organically, client by client, or you can buy fees outright. Organic growth works, but it’s slow, and it can put real strain on you and your family in the early years. Buying a practice or a block of fees is faster, but it takes courage, flexibility and a fair amount of luck: it remains a seller’s market, so go in with realistic expectations. Not everyone does, and that’s usually where things go wrong.
Two ways to buy fees
There are two routes open to you as a buyer.
The Passive Role
If you don’t have a network to grow your client base through, register your interest with us and with other reputable brokers, then keep an eye out for opportunities as they arise. We add you to our email newsletter free of charge; we simply ask that you check each issue for anything suitable. It’s also worth connecting with us on LinkedIn and checking our Current Opportunities page regularly.
The Active Role
This is the only real alternative to waiting, and it’s the one we believe in. You commission us to run an active market development exercise on your behalf — not only finding firms that are already looking to sell but acting as a catalyst for principals who haven’t quite got round to it, or don’t know how to start.
If you’re willing to be flexible in the way we recommend, we can improve your odds considerably. You’ll know your exposure from the outset, and the reward for a proactive buyer can be significant. Firms are often more forthcoming with an independent third party than they would be with a direct approach, particularly given the confidentiality and guidance we offer them.
We’ve specialised in accountancy practice broking for more than 50 years, and our success rate for finding ‘hidden’ fees is strong. It isn’t guaranteed, but we believe it’s well worth the modest investment in direct marketing costs. Email us to find out how it works in practice.
“Lucinda’s approach was very professional, transparent & methodical throughout our purchase. We really valued her balanced insight & wise counsel.”
— Rohit Maini, Director (purchaser)
The market for buying fees
Buying fees isn’t like buying something off a shelf. You’ll usually be competing with other buyers who are just as keen to expand by acquisition, and if there’s strong interest in an opportunity — which there usually is — that’s worth bearing in mind before you commit time and energy to it. But of course you’ve got to be in it to win it!
Can I fund an acquisition?
If you’re already running your own practice, raising the finance should be reasonably straightforward. Specialist lenders in this market understand how accountancy practices work, sometimes better than the high street banks do, and can offer preferential rates on unsecured lending. Get in touch if you’d like an introduction.
How is goodwill valued?
Goodwill valuation for accounting practices has been debated for years; you’ll find our take in The Valuation of the Goodwill of Commercial Businesses on the Articles page.
Unlike most commercial valuations, which are based on underlying profitability, smaller accounting practices are conventionally valued using a multiple of sustainable turnover: gross recurring fees from annual compliance work, plus any non-recurring fees that can genuinely be shown to be normal.
What level of profitability is realistic?
With £200,000 of fees per partner and payroll costs kept below a third of turnover, a practice should be capable of a 50% net profit before tax.
Has it always been a seller’s market?
Not quite. Back in 1973, a firm then known as Hacker Young asked our founder, Jeremy Kitchin, to help them identify a fee base of general practice clients to bolt on to their Nottingham office, which at the time only had audit clients. Jeremy wrote to every East Midlands accountant he could find, inviting them to sell their goodwill; 72 replied, and Hacker Young bought two of those practices. What was left became the business we still run today, through several evolutions — including a spell as JobTel with the late Julian Hamilton — as A.P.M.A. (Accountancy Practice Mergers & Acquisitions).
No cost, no obligation — just a conversation about what’s possible.
A.P.M.A. We get it right first time.