and who better to answer than practitioners who have been through the merger or acquisition process?
the survey, which delves into the attitudes and behaviors of the m&a phenomenon like no other study, is yielding a raft of surprising findings. join the survey. get the results.
before you even begin searching for cpa firms for sale, be intentional about what you want. the more clarity you have going in, the more likely you are to make a good purchase decision.
here are 10 questions to consider when buying an accounting practice:
here’s a list of obstacles buyers have cited. not every buyer will consider each one of these issues a turnoff. think of this as a universal checklist. read more →
the survey, which delves into the attitudes and behaviors of the m&a phenomenon like no other study, is yielding a raft of surprising findings. join the survey. get the results.
your competition and client market are going to shift around, with smaller firms disappearing, then popping up inside bigger firms, and clients dragged here and there, some of them looking for new cpas. and if you’re scouting for talent, it could get hard to rope them in.
the big issues owners would rather ignore – until it’s too late.
by brannon poe
we always hear about the lack of succession planning for cpa practice owners, but we find that a few key planning pieces can make a huge difference.
in fact, we get a lot of calls from owners who are three to five years away from selling. the key issues really don’t take a tremendous amount of time or complex planning. most of the difficult planning issues are the ones that only owners can answer anyway. a little guidance coupled with common sense will generally pave the way to a smooth succession.
here are five key areas of succession planning that we most commonly encounter: read more →
hold on to your hat! a new tidal wave of mergers and acquisitions is about to swamp the tax and accounting business from sea to shining sea.
three-quarters of tax and accounting professionals are calling the current m&a market for accounting firms as “active,” with 33 percent of them terming it “very” or “extremely” active, according to the new 卡塔尔世界杯常规比赛时间 mergers & acquisitions survey, conducted in conjunction with capstone marketing.
the survey, which delves into the attitudes and behaviors of the m&a phenomenon like no other study, is yielding a raft of surprising findings. join the survey. get the results.
the demographic tsunami actually might surprise you. according to pew research, millennials are projected to soon overtake baby boomers as the largest generation. that’s right, they will be the biggest generation in the u.s. and they are almost there.
boomers – born from 1946 to 1964 – 74 million
millennials – born from 1982 to 2002 – 71 million
another very important consideration is the declining number of cpas in the profession. the total number of first-time licensed cpas has declined about 20 percent since the 1990s.
it appears that the “greying of the profession” may be more of a function of the number of people who have chosen the profession and those that have decided to get out of public practice altogether.
it’s been a major eye-opener for firms. reality is hitting home about the true implications of technology advances, global standards, tax reform, and talent transition.
overall, i’m impressed by the grace our profession’s leaders (across the top 200) are showing as they embrace these huge changes as opportunities vs. threats. read more →
when i teach a cpe class on how to value an accounting firm, the first question people ask is what is the multiple? as you likely know, an accounting firm is traditionally sold on a multiple of revenues.
the multiple is just one part of the equation and not a place to end – let alone start – the valuation process. the overall terms must include factors such as how much money if any up front, how profitable is the acquisition, how long is the retention period that impacts the seller’s balance due based on client retention and how long is the payout period? read more →
every week we hear about another merger or acquisition.
there are many reasons firms consider merging.
the most common objectives follow:
talent is in short supply in today’s marketplace. many firms are using mergers to add talent for growth and/or a tool to build an internal succession team for the long-term security of the firm.
cross-selling niche services: we are seeing firms entertain mergers that create strong cross-selling opportunities.
growth from having a larger platform of services, increased capacity and through the addition of the clients a merger brings.
marketplace refers to mergers that provide the successor firm a flag in a new harbor.
succession: a strong percentage of accounting firm owners are seeking to reduce their time commitment to their firm so succession remains the number one driving force of most small firm mergers. read more →