Last year we were contacted by a vendor looking to retire and sell his accountancy practice.  He was aged 72 and had been working with his clients for longer than he cared to remember.  Some of his clients had been with him for over 35 years and in some instances, their business had been passed down the generations.  It was …

In 2018 we sold a practice in the North West and the vendor was asked what tips he would give to another vendor in the same situation. These are the tips he came up with:- 1 Make sure that there is sufficient resource in place to handle the extra work involved. a. Storage space b. Staff capacity c. Equipment , …

As most of our readers know, we only deal with accountants in practice. We are business brokers for accountants that want to sell fees and for accountants that want to buy fees. Most vendors want to sell their whole practice but we have had a number this year that want to sell only a tranche of fees. To date we …

We were contacted by a vendor three years ago to discuss the possibility of selling his practice with fees in the region of £160,000. Due to mitigating circumstances, we decided it was best to meet up face to face to discuss his particular situation, so a convenient time and place was agreed. I drove to the meeting and he drove …

Graham sold part of his practice through Draper Hinks several years ago. It did not go smoothly and he ended up having to sue the buyer. But that is another story. I recently met up with Graham to ask him for his top tips when selling a practice. Tip 1 Don’t expect it to go smoothly. Expect there to be …

We have had a number of vendors approach us this year not wanting to have to deal with MTD. Their sole purpose of selling was to avoid having to put things in place to deal with yet another system to be compliant in the ever changing world of accountancy. The first practice we marketed this year was for a lady, …

When a buyer buys accountancy fees they are looking to minimise their risk but at the same time maximise their return. I have yet to find a buyer that pays out a significant amount of money without wanting a good return on the investment. We have come across a few pitfalls that buyers find when they buy fees. In our …

Anyone making an investment of any kind wants to have a return. Buyers of accountancy practices are no different. There are several common things a buyer needs to take into account when looking to buy accountancy fees. If a vendor has staff that have been in the practice for a long time ie 25 – 30 years, under TUPE regulations, …

I often get asked if there is a good time or a bad time for selling accountancy fees. The obvious answer is not to try to sell your accountancy practice in December or January. I am now going to contradict myself by saying you can actually sell fees any time in the year, if you have to. We have had …

On a Wednesday afternoon in March, we had a call from a concerned relative.  His brother had just died.  His brother was an accountant and had clients that needed looking after.  His sister-in-law, was who was now a widow, did not want to have to deal with the clients of the practice on top of her own personal grief. As …