Guides for accountancy practice owners
We write practical, detailed guides with worked examples on what your practice is worth, how to sell it, the tax, succession, and how to free up your team's time. We buy and run accountancy practices ourselves.
We write practical, detailed guides with worked examples on what your practice is worth, how to sell it, the tax, succession, and how to free up your team's time. We buy and run accountancy practices ourselves.
We take you through each stage of a sale in the order it happens: valuation, timing, choosing a broker or a direct buyer, due diligence, heads of terms, earn-outs, tax, and protecting your clients and staff.
Read the complete guide →We compare selling through a broker with selling to a direct buyer on fees, speed, confidentiality and control, and list the questions to ask any buyer before you engage.
Read guide →We set out the signs that it is time to sell, what waiting too long costs, and how to use 12–18 months of preparation to sell from a strong position.
Read guide →A buyer reviews a set of documents before completing. The checklist lists each one, what it shows, the problems buyers look for, and how to set up a simple data room.
Read guide →Heads of terms set out the price, structure, timeline and exclusivity of a sale. We go through each clause and explain which parts are legally binding.
Read guide →We explain why buyers use earn-outs and deferred consideration, how they work in a worked client-retention example, how to protect yourself, and how they are taxed.
Read guide →Your net proceeds depend on a few tax decisions: an asset sale or a share sale, Business Asset Disposal Relief, and how deferred consideration and earn-outs are taxed.
Read guide →UK accountancy practices are usually valued on a multiple of recurring fees. We set out the multiple for each quality tier, work through a full example, and show how deal structure and buyers' adjustments change the number.
Read guide →There are seven practical ways to raise the value of a UK accountancy practice before a sale. Each comes with its likely effect, and a worked example shows a firm before and after.
Read guide →Owner dependency, client concentration, under-pricing, weak recurring income and disorganised systems all reduce what a buyer will pay. We explain the fix for each one.
Read guide →An owner can sell to the team, merge, or sell to an outside buyer. We compare the three on funding and timelines, and on how each protects clients and staff.
Read guide →We compare a management buyout with an external sale on funding, certainty, price and tax, side by side, and explain how hybrid deals work.
Read guide →Firms can move clients from compliance to advisory work at a pace the team can handle. We cover the capacity sums, a plan for the first 90 days, and where to start.
Read guide →Advisory work can be priced as fixed packages. We show three-tier packages with example prices and how to build recurring advisory retainers.
Read guide →Practices can outsource bookkeeping and compliance in stages. We set out what to hand over first, the quality controls to put in place, the capacity sums and a plan for the handover.
Read guide →A small set of figures shows how well your firm is performing. For each one we explain what it means, how to calculate it and a sensible target.
Read guide →These calculators work out your own figures for valuation, sale readiness, owner dependency and timing, and each one shows its working. All five tools.
The calculator gives an indicative value range from your recurring fees, fee mix, client concentration, hours, team and client tenure. It itemises every adjustment to the multiple, and you can change the starting multiple yourself.
Open the calculator →You answer twelve questions on owner dependency, systems, staff, client concentration, records and your reason for selling. You get a score out of 100 and a list of fixes in priority order, with timescales.
Score my practice →Ten questions measure how much of the firm rests on you. The answers are turned into an effect on your sale price in pounds, with the things to fix first.
Check my dependency →Choose a target exit month and route, and the planner works back from it to set real dates for each phase. It also shows which phases get shortened when time is short.
Plan my timeline →We send occasional notes for practice owners on valuation, selling and running a firm. You can unsubscribe at any time.