Practice Sales Blog

So, you're selling your accounting practice? Whether you're familiar with the process or not, the following is a list of things NOT to do when working towards that big sale. 

1. Failing to find a successful consulting company to assist you in your selling process.

Finding a consulting company that is working for your needs is imperative to the success of your selling experience. Professional consulting companies will help save you time by remaining to stay confidential and working for you to get the most for your accounting practice.

2. Failing to draft written documents for the sale of the company.

With any business sale, drafting proper legal documents including NDA/confidentiality agreements is important to the future of the sale. Be certain you consult a professional consulting firm and/or a lawyer to ensure the authenticity of the documents that both you and potential buyers are signing. Protect yourself in case of any legal disasters in the future! 

3. Failing to recognize current market trends.

Regarding any business sale, having knowledge about existing market conditions will dramatically influence the selling process of your own accounting practice. If you're not sure how to gain this proper knowledge, consult a professional consulting company that keeps up on market trends on a regular basis. This may be the deciding factor between getting paid or waiting longer for the proper deal to surface. What are you waiting for?  

4. Failing to screen potential buyers.

It's important that you properly screen potential buyers before providing any detailed, private information as well as get to far in the process with them. Also, see drafting written documents, because both of these things go hand in hand regarding potential buyers. This process should be stress-free, thus researching these companies beforehand will save you (and your business partners, if applicable) some much unneeded stress. If you're not sure how to complete this screening process, hire a professional consulting firm to do it for you!  

5. Failing to evaluate the cash-flow of the firm you're selling.

By evaluating the performance of your entity (cash flow), you will allow yourself to showcase to potential buyers the potential gain they can achieve through acquisition of your accounting practice. Determining a purchasing price through evaluation of these financial numbers and potential revenues will help yield a positive outcome for your selling process.  

What is a cash flow analysis? Ultimately, a CFA is a detailed look at one's past and current business performances. It showcases net cash flow as well as revenue trends that will help determine past successes and potential future ones for the accounting practice for potential buyers.  

6. Failing to negotiate properly.

Perhaps one of the biggest business lessons to learn, the art of negotiating, is exactly that, an art. Firstly, knowing what is expected of you in the negotiation process is important before beginning to talk numbers. It's important that you provide some expectations and a ballprice range to the potential buyer, so unnecessary tension does not occur. If you're not sure what you should expect monetarily, you should consult a professional company that can do the negotiation for you. Selling your accounting practice does not have to be difficult!  

Conclusion

Naab Consulting can help guide you through the important decisions. Ultimately, both the art of selling as well as negotiating, are both processes a successful seller must master for success. The best results come from hiring a professional consulting company that can save you time, stress and unneeded thought about the process. Leave it to the professionals!!