Essential Guide to Selling a Practice

Everything to think through before, during and after a sale — selling process, mergers, succession planning and clawback — updated for 2026

Selling an accountancy practice touches several distinct decisions at once: how to prepare, whether to sell outright or merge, how to plan succession years in advance, and how the mechanics of a sale agreement actually protects both sides. This guide brings all four together in one place, drawing on more than five decades of A.P.M.A. handling exactly this process for practice owners across the UK.

Getting the price right before you go to market

Before anything else, look honestly at what would make your practice more attractive: are your charge-out rates competitive, so a new owner isn’t forced to raise them and risk losing clients? Is your client spread reasonably diversified, rather than concentrated in one sector vulnerable to a downturn? Is your client base refreshing itself with new clients, rather than skewing older with no natural succession? Is your staffing lean and well-matched to your workload, rather than carrying dead wood a buyer would have to deal with? And are your books genuinely up to date?

We’ve written a fuller, dedicated piece — Things You Can Do to Ensure You Get the Best Price When Selling Your Practice — that goes through this in more depth; it’s worth reading alongside this guide.

Is now a good time to sell?

There’s no single right answer to this, but the market context in 2026 is worth understanding on its own terms. A growing share of the largest UK firms — around a third of the top 60 — are now backed by private equity, and consolidation has been the dominant story in the profession for several years. But 2026 has also brought a reality check to that story: Xeinadin’s own attempted £1bn-plus sale stalled in February 2026 (Accountancy Today, 2 Feb 2026), and commentators have since described a broader correction at the top of the market, with private equity now prioritising integration and the quality of the growth partners it’s acquiring over simply adding scale (Accountancy Age, 3 Feb 2026).

For an independent seller, that shift is mostly good news: consolidators are, if anything, becoming more selective about acquisitions that need heavy integration work, while continuing to compete for well-run, profitable practices with a clean client base and modern systems. Making Tax Digital, mandatory from April 2026 for the majority of sole traders and landlords, has also crystallised a prediction we’ve been making for a while: digitisation is no longer a future consideration for buyers, it’s a current one, and a practice that’s already MTD-ready is a materially easier sell than one that isn’t. Against a backdrop of a modestly growing economy — Bank Rate at 3.75% and inflation at 2.8% as of mid-2026 — our honest answer remains what it usually is: so long as the rest of your life is in the right place for it, there’s rarely a bad time to sell a well-run, profitable practice. The bigger question is not when, but how you approach it.

What’s my practice actually worth?

Accountancy practices are unusual in that there’s a widely recognised going rate, and buyers are rarely prepared to pay meaningfully above it. In our experience across more than five decades of live transactions, that going rate currently sits between 1.0x and 1.2x annual recurring fees — with strong competition among buyers, or a particularly profitable and well-run practice, able to achieve noticeably more than that. Where you land depends heavily on how many serious purchasers you can bring to the table at once, and on the underlying quality of the practice itself; a good broker’s job is largely about generating that competition on your behalf.

DIY or call in an expert?

Once you know roughly what your practice is worth, it can feel straightforward to find a buyer yourself and save on broker fees. In our experience, that’s usually a false economy. Selling the goodwill of an accounting firm is very often the single largest financial transaction a practice owner will ever undertake, and the process itself is where the value — or the risk — really lies.

As a seller, you’ll be understandably concerned that a purchaser might not retain your clients, which could trigger a costly clawback claim. You’ll also want your anonymity protected — from staff, clients and competitors alike — until you’re ready to introduce a new owner in a controlled way, on your own terms. And you’ll want genuinely independent advice when shortlisting buyers: moving forward with a single preferred buyer, only to have them drop out with no fallback in place, can cost you months. Choose the wrong buyer, and you may achieve a strong headline price while suffering significant clawback claims a year later — the two aren’t the same thing, and a good broker’s job is to help you avoid confusing them.

A brief word on where this advice comes from: A.P.M.A. was founded in 1973 by Lucinda’s father, Jeremy Kitchin, who was the first to establish accountancy practice brokerage as a distinct specialism in the UK — most of what now looks like an established sector was, at the time, something he built from nothing. Jeremy passed away in December 2024, and Lucinda continues to run A.P.M.A. as the family business it has always been, carrying forward the same approach he built it on.

Getting ready to sell — the checklist

Get your own books in order: confirm your AML compliance is current (bearing in mind AML supervision is itself moving to the FCA as sole supervisor over the next few years), and make sure senior staff have properly worded restrictive covenants preventing them setting up in competition with a new owner.
Be realistic about price: a multiple of 1.0x to 1.2x is the standard achievable range, with more possible for an exceptional practice.
Decide what kind of exit you actually want: a clean sell-up and departure, staying on with the purchaser for an agreed period, or retaining a small block of clients to service yourself. Different buyers are attracted to different structures, so it helps to know your own preference before you start talking to them.

The selling process, step by step

Here’s an overview of how the process typically runs with A.P.M.A.:

We take full details of your practice — years trading, client numbers, charge-out rates, and any unique selling points — usually visiting you in person, particularly where premises are part of the sale, to properly understand the business and what you want from the sale.
You sign a contract setting out the firms to be targeted, a valuation, and cost — this governs the service we provide to you as vendor throughout.
We check our existing database and put out feelers for suitable buyers, screening interested parties and drawing up a shortlist.
You’ll be asked for more detailed information about your clients, so shortlisted buyers can make an informed decision — while your anonymity is maintained throughout.
You choose which of the suitable buyers you’d like to meet.
From that first meeting, you narrow to two or three firms for a second round, usually outside business hours, allowing proper due diligence on your client files.
Once you’ve chosen a buyer, we help draw up the draft sale agreement and other legal documentation — either providing standard templates directly or connecting you with legal specialists if you’d prefer.

When a merger makes more sense than a sale

For a range of reasons, a merger can be a better fit than an outright sale or acquisition — there are as many reasons to merge as there are types and sizes of accountancy practice. Common drivers include achieving economies of scale to increase overall profit; building enough critical mass to support a more structured workforce and specialist, value-added departments; spreading the administrative load across more partners or handing it to a new one entirely; letting partners focus on their individual strengths; or simply combining offices. A merger is also often the most logical answer to a succession problem that a straight sale doesn’t solve as neatly.

Selecting the right buyer matters enormously in a sale — selecting the right merger partner matters even more, because you’re both going to be living with the outcome day to day. Many practices reach the conclusion that merging is the right move, then get stuck on how to actually find a suitable partner. Word of mouth through your own network is one route, but as with a sale, registering with a broker who already has practices on their books looking to merge tends to widen the field considerably — and practitioners are generally more comfortable responding to an independent third party than to a direct approach from another practice owner. A more proactive approach is to have a broker go out and canvass firms directly on your behalf, describing your requirements and inviting interest; they can then help assess strategic fit, relative value, and the legal and administrative process. We don’t charge a fee for this beyond agreed marketing costs, until a partner is actually found and a merger agreed.

A word of warning: there’s a fine line between a genuine merger and what ends up feeling like a takeover, which tends to happen when one party is particularly strong-willed and the other hasn’t done their homework going in. Careful planning, ideally with an experienced, unbiased outside adviser, is essential — and it’s worth being explicit early on about whether the merged entity will have equal equity and profit share, because unequal splits also mean unequal responsibility for losses, and that’s much easier to agree before completion than after. Treat all staff and partners, new and existing, equally through the transition, and don’t underestimate the emotional and psychological weight a merger carries for the people involved. Talk to each person individually about what it means for them; if redundancies are necessary, handle them before the merger completes rather than after, so people are dealing with facts rather than uncertainty; and set up transition teams to cover the practical areas — benefits, salary structure, systems, scheduling. The quality of your internal communication is, more than anything else, what determines how smoothly the post-merger period goes.

Merger checklist

Identify the reason behind the merger — it will help you find a partner looking in the same direction.
Define your target: the type and size of firm, geography, and your own future plans.
When you find a match, be sure you can actually work with these people, and that your goals and work ethic align.
Agree upfront whether equity will be equal, or weighted.
Plan every detail of how the merged practice will function, ideally with an unbiased outside adviser.
Don’t leave staff in the dark — involve them, and treat everyone equally once the merger completes.

Succession planning: the next generation

Whether you plan to sell now or in ten years, succession planning deserves your attention now, not later. Every accountancy practice should have a plan in place for what happens when the owner steps back — many simply don’t, and that’s rarely a decision worth putting off, given how much of your working life is tied up in the outcome.

The first step is deciding what you actually want for the firm — see the succession options below. If you’re planning to hand the practice to existing senior partners, make sure they’re genuinely on board and that the transition is handled with minimal disruption to the business. Whatever route you take, you’ll need to tell clients about your plans and how it affects them and start stepping back from the client-facing role in good time. It’s worth being honest with yourself here: giving up something you’ve spent a working life building is genuinely difficult, and succession planning is as much an emotional process as a financial one. Using a neutral outside adviser is a good way to keep the emotional side in check while the practical transition gets worked through properly. And at minimum, every sole practitioner should have a continuation plan in place with a local firm, protecting family and spouse in the event of sudden illness or death.

Your succession options

The buy-out: existing partners inside the business may want to buy in, though an external buyer will typically pay more, since insiders often feel they’ve already helped build the value. Review the buy-out formula every few years to keep it realistic and be clear upfront about how the practice’s value is calculated and what happens if the firm can’t meet its commitments in a difficult year. An internal buy-out can be phased over several years with minimal disruption to clients.

The merger: as covered above, this can enhance the practice’s value while letting the owner retain talented staff and potential successors — worth thinking through carefully using the guidance in the merger section.

The consolidation: a growing number of consolidators, increasingly private-equity backed, are actively inviting independent practices to join them. Advantages typically include access to funds for upgrading IT and systems, centralised administration freeing up partner time, and the ability to offer clients a broader range of value-added services than a smaller practice could sustain alone; staff also often see better career opportunities across a wider group.

Transference on death: alongside a proper estate plan and life insurance, there needs to be a plan for transferring the trust and goodwill of the practice itself. Start introducing clients to younger associates well ahead of time, giving them real responsibility for those accounts, so clients are already comfortable with the next generation of ownership before any transition actually happens.

Whichever route you’re considering, pay attention to your employees throughout — a team that feels appreciated and supported through a transition is far more likely to stay, which protects the value of exactly what you’re trying to pass on.

Seven steps to succession planning

Once the practice is past its start-up phase, succession planning belongs on the agenda.
Be genuinely committed to the idea that the business should continue creating opportunities for those who come after you, and communicate that commitment clearly and often.
Good people are the foundation of any succession plan, so recruiting well always pays dividends.
Invest time in developing key people — family members, employees, potential successors — and give them real authority as they grow into the role.
With a transition plan and the right people in place, choosing your actual successor becomes far more straightforward.
Once the plan is set, communicate it clearly — it gives everyone involved a real sense of the path ahead and their part in it.
Be genuinely ready to step aside and let your successor take over, and be prepared for your own next chapter, knowing your financial future is secure.

Understanding clawback

Clawback is a risk-sharing mechanism written into almost every sale agreement, protecting the buyer if clients leave during a specified period — usually the first year. Typically, around half the price is paid on completion, with the remainder a year later (or, on larger deals, spread across two further anniversaries). If fees retained at the first anniversary fall short of what was sold, the shortfall — multiplied by the sale multiple — is deducted from the next instalment, though the vendor has a right of discovery to check any claimed shortfall is genuine before agreeing to it. A vendor can limit their exposure by capping how much the new owner can raise fees during the warranty period, and it’s worth taking legal advice before signing anything that includes a clawback clause.

We’ve written a fuller, dedicated explainer — What Is Claw Back? — if you want the full mechanics.

Frequently asked questions

How much can I sell my practice for? The going rate sits between 1.0x and 1.2x annual recurring fees, with genuinely strong buyer competition, or an exceptional practice, able to push meaningfully above that.

How long can I protect my anonymity? A good broker will maintain the highest practical level of confidentiality, initially sharing only general details like geography and size until you give permission to disclose your identity — though there’s always some residual risk a sufficiently determined buyer could work it out.

Will I have to work in the practice after the sale? That’s negotiable. Some buyers ask the seller to stay involved for a short period, commonly up to three months, to help ensure a smooth transition — clients are often comforted simply knowing you’re still around if needed, even without much direct contact.

How long does it take to sell a practice? Generally, four months to reach Heads of Agreement is typical, though straightforward or urgent sales — such as following the death of an owner — can move much faster, and larger, multi-million-pound deals often take longer. The Christmas/New Year and July/August periods tend to slow things down.

What is the best time of year to sell? The two busiest windows are early September to the end of November, and mid-February to the end of June.

What’s the difference between a broker and an agent? An agent acts for only one party in the transaction. A broker acts for both and has a duty to make the deal work in both parties’ interests.

Can’t I just sell it myself? Some owners do, whether through a trade advert or word of mouth locally. In our experience, a broker’s reach into a pool of buyers already actively looking — plus the ability to advise on legal and technical issues like clawback — tends to produce a better outcome than going it alone, even after fees.

What happens to work in progress and debtors? Normally the vendor collects their own debts and agrees the WIP level at completion; the purchaser finishes and bills any remaining work, remitting the vendor’s share as it’s collected, sometimes less a small handling charge depending on what’s agreed. Any under-recovery is apportioned.

Can I keep a small block of clients and sell the rest? Yes, within reason — the purchaser will simply want safeguards in the sale agreement confirming the retained clients won’t be drawn back into competition with the goodwill you’ve sold.

How can I make sure my staff are taken care of? Most purchasers want to retain your staff, and TUPE protects them through the transition: a seller can’t dismiss staff simply to make the sale more attractive, a purchaser can’t arbitrarily make acquired staff redundant, and any redundancy programme that does happen must follow proper legal process and cover both parties’ staff fairly.

> Contact Lucinda Kitchin for advice on your options.