Our team has bought and integrated four accountancy practices this year through Practice Group, our connected buyer. That is buying rather than broking.
Four handovers in a year covers most of what goes wrong in a practice sale, and what it takes to put it right.
On the first call we will go through who we bought, how each deal was structured, and what went wrong on each one.
Three things came up in all four handovers.
The firms that keep their clients are the ones where the outgoing owner makes the introductions personally, and early.
People notice unfamiliar visitors and closed doors. Planning what you will say, and when, matters more than keeping it secret for another fortnight.
Unbilled work in progress, informal fee arrangements, and clients who have never signed an engagement letter. All fixable, and much easier before you start.
Twenty minutes on the phone. No documents, no NDA, no obligation — and the market hears nothing.