The best time to sell is usually a year or two before you feel you have to, while the firm is still growing and you have energy for the handover.
No single moment is right for every practice. If you plan the timing, you can sell while the firm is strong. A sale made in a hurry, from a tired position, tends to achieve a lower multiple. The signals come from your own situation and from the market, and even a short runway gives you time to lift the value before you sell.
Timing isn't only personal. After years of private-equity-fuelled consolidation, data from early 2026 suggests headline valuations may have peaked, with buyers scrutinising aggressive multiples more closely and the premium concentrating on quality. At the same time, the compliance burden is rising (MTD for Income Tax, Companies House verification), meaning the next few years demand more systems, people and investment. Together, a strong but cooling market and a rising workload make 2026 a year to consider your timing carefully.
A practice sold from strength — growing, well-staffed, systemised — commands more than one sold after the owner has run out of road. Burnout shows up in the numbers as deferred investment, drifting clients, a tired team, slipping fees.
Two identical £280,000 practices. One sells while growing and well-run, at 1.1× recurring fees = £308,000. The other drifts for two years — deferred investment, a few lost clients, fees slipping to £250,000 — and sells at 0.85× because the buyer sees decline = £212,500. The difference is about £95,000, and most of it could have been avoided by selling while the firm was still growing.
Even 12–18 months lets you do the things that lift both price and deal certainty: reduce owner-dependency, re-price under-charged clients, tighten WIP and lockup, and document how the firm runs. See seven ways to increase value. Start preparing while you feel little pressure to sell.
You can have a first confidential conversation with the buyer before you decide anything. The outcome is often a short plan to exit stronger later, or a way to take pressure off now, such as handing over the back office so the next couple of years are calmer. Explore your succession options, and start from a realistic valuation.
Usually a year or two before you feel you have to — while the firm is growing, well-staffed and systemised. Selling from strength commands a higher multiple and more deal certainty than selling in a hurry from a tired position.
It's a year to consider your timing carefully. Valuations appear to have cooled from their peak, and the compliance burden (MTD, Companies House verification) is rising, so waiting means more investment for possibly less. The right answer is personal — it depends on your energy, timeline and firm quality.
Potentially a great deal. A practice that drifts — deferred investment, lost clients, slipping fees — can move from, say, 1.1× to 0.85× fees, which on a mid-sized firm is tens of thousands of pounds, most of it avoidable.
Have a confidential conversation anyway. Often the result is a short plan to exit stronger later, or a way to reduce pressure now — such as outsourcing the back office — so the run-up to a sale is calmer and the firm more valuable.
Book a confidential call with the buyer to talk through when a sale would suit you and your firm.
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Andy Jackson, co-founder