Selling an Accountancy Practice

Selling an Accountancy Practice

We know it feels like it shouldn’t be complicated — but it can be, and getting it right matters more than almost any other decision you’ll make in your career.

Summary

The market has traditionally favoured sellers, though that’s beginning to shift as economic pressure builds and the profession adjusts to the digital changes coming through government legislation. If you’re thinking about selling, we believe there may not be a better time for many practices.

Read our Essential Guide to Selling a Practice for the full picture.

Have a browse through our ARTICLES page for more on selling a practice.

Is a broker’s fee worth paying?

If it’s still a seller’s market, why pay someone else to do what you could presumably manage yourself? You know your clients, your staff and your business better than any outsider ever could.

Why you may still need help

We call it objective professionalism. Selling the goodwill of an accounting firm is probably the single biggest financial transaction you’ll make as a principal, and getting the process right is fundamental to a worry-free sale.

As the vendor, you’ll want reassurance that the purchaser will retain your clients, since losing them can trigger a claim under the clawback clause that could cost you dearly. You’ll also need guidance on marketing the sale so your anonymity is protected, keeping staff, clients and competitors in the dark until you’re ready to introduce them to the new owner yourself.

Choosing the right shortlist of buyers matters too. Without real depth on that list, you risk committing to one buyer only to find you have no fallback if they pull out; and selling to the wrong buyer, even at the highest price, can leave you facing clawback claims later. We haven’t come across an equivalent service elsewhere in this market, and we believe you get what you pay for: it’s worth paying to get it right the first time.

Read what our clients say on our Testimonials page.

What if…?

• The purchaser overextends themselves and can’t keep up payments — or worse?
• You’re still an unsecured creditor when it happens?
• You should have sold to a first-time buyer instead of an established firm, or vice versa?
• The fees should stay in your offices rather than move to theirs?
• The buyer raises fees once they take control, and your former clients leave as a result?
• A large clawback claim is waiting to catch you out later?

Getting the right deal with the right buyer means you can move on without any of this keeping you up at night.

Our track record speaks for itself

Over the past 25 years or so, only one practice sale we’ve brokered that we know of has lost more than 5–10% of the fees sold during the warranty period. More often, purchasers end up billing 115% or more of the fees they bought.

It’s also worth saying: the new owner is usually more energetic than the vendor, who by the time of sale has often become a little jaded about chasing new business from existing clients, let alone finding new ones. There’s nothing wrong with making way for new blood, but that’s no reason to give your goodwill away.

Our experience across more than 50 years means we’ve already seen the pitfalls that catch out an inexperienced seller before they catch you. A.P.M.A. has not failed to sell a practice or block of fees within its agreed parameters in five decades, bar a small handful of exceptions.

How it works

It usually starts with an informal chat to talk through your options. If you’d like to go further, we’ll ask you to complete our Selling Pack, followed by a full meeting where we get to know you, your firm and what you need from the sale. From there, we hold your hand through every stage, offering the same guidance to prospective purchasers so they have full confidence in you as a seller, and full commitment by the time they make their offer.

The goal, always, is a genuine win-win: a willing seller and a willing buyer, matched properly.