Buying an Accounting Firm in the U.S.: Key Benefits, Acquisition Insights, and Expert Tips for CPAs Considering Practice Ownership

The Accounting Practice Exchange is a specialized online platform that supports Certified Public Accountants (CPAs), Enrolled Agents (EAs), and financial professionals exploring strategic opportunities to acquire an established accounting firm in the United States. Rather than navigating the uncertainties of launching a new practice from the ground up, professionals can leverage our expert-driven resources, industry listings, and acquisition insights to transition into ownership with a profitable book of business, existing client relationships, and operational infrastructure already in place.

In the U.S. accountancy landscape, buying an accounting practice has become a preferred growth strategy for entrepreneurs seeking lower-risk market entry, immediate revenue streams, and long-term firm equity.

Through this guide, we outline the tangible benefits of practice acquisition, including client retention value, staff continuity, and market positioning - alongside our essential Top 10 Tips for acquiring an accounting firm with confidence and clarity.

Why buy an accounting practice?

Whether you are an entrepreneurial Certified Public Accountant (CPA) with your heart set on starting your own accountancy firm (as a ‘startup’) or a CPA wanting to buy an accounting practice, there are plenty of risks involved whichever route you take.

Put simply, the main reason as to why people tend to go for the second option, i.e., buying an up-and-running firm with accounts, employees, licenses and office leases already in place, is that there are not as many risks. Additionally, those risks that you are likely to face, such as losing accounts or staff, are much easier to take control of compared to risks associated with startups, which can often fail in the first 12 months due to reasons beyond your own control.

From a more optimistic standpoint, many CPAs see that the advantages of buying an accounting practice outweigh the risks, too. For example, some of the issues as mentioned above, such as retaining clients, accounts, staff and office space, if managed properly and professionally during the business takeover, can be of a huge advantage as you won’t have to set up these things yourself.

The bottom line is this: Acquiring an established accounting firm allows you to generate income from day one. With a solid client base already in place, your return on investment can be realized relatively quickly - depending on the purchase price and how effectively you manage client retention and operational continuity.

Top 10 tips on buying an accounting practice

If you are asking yourself ‘should I buy an accounting practice?’, then you may well want to read our Top 10 tips below that offer some advice on various topics such as how to buy an accounting practice and the transition of the business to the seller.

1. Scout around for small, profitable firms with older owners. The reason? Many CPAs reaching retirement age are likely to be considering the sale of their business in the next few years and building relationships with them early on can be beneficial to all parties.

2. All you need to start: some traditional networking! At first, it can be daunting when trying to find an accounting practice to buy. There are a plethora of good websites out there that list CPAs that are up for sale, but some of these may be difficult to navigate. By attending CPA and accounting networking events, you can directly reach accounting practices that could potentially be looking to sell – or at least let them know you are looking for acquisitions should they ever be looking to sell their business.

3. Put emphasis on profitability, not revenue. This point applies to the firm’s valuation as well as your final decision whether or not to buy. For example, if you buy into a firm based on its sky-high revenue alone and neglect the potential risks and overheads (such as staff and office space), then you might be waiting a long time to see that return on investment.

4. Do your homework on the firm’s client base. This information, which can easily be obtained from the owner or during the course of a due diligence check, is essential to you as the buyer, as the firm’s existing clients and accounts should match up to your own areas of expertise, interests, and ambitions.

5. Get the necessary help: Any large-scale company takeover or merger requires a whole team of lawyers and independent audit agencies to make sure everything goes to plan. It's worthwhile engaging an independent auditor or broker to oversee things like the company’s valuation or even a lawyer to handle the accounting practice buy-sell agreement.

6. Start your due diligence early. This step, in fact, simply starts with a conversation with the owner of the accounting practice. He or she should be able to provide you with all of the most important information you need to know, such as the history of the practice, the financials, the staff, working conditions etc.

7. Consider to buy a remote or virtual accounting practice: With prices for office space on the rise and more advanced accounting software, apps and cloud storage available, many accounting practices have gone virtual. Consider this as one of your options as it can often work out to be more affordable and profitable in the long run.

8. Carefully plan how you will finance the transaction. Just like buying a house or car, you have plenty of options. Normally, the bigger the down payment the better (to avoid interest on business loans). However, many bank financing deals can be obtained to fund your transaction.

9. Consider buying in. Another popular option is ‘buying in’ as a partner. This opportunity may arise when larger firms need to replace a retiring partner or are looking to expand. Various issues need to be considered regarding equity valuation, but most of the above tips still apply.

10. Questions, questions, questions. Formulate a detailed list of questions ready to pose to the owner or partner; these will give you a clearer picture of the business's flexibility, sustainability, staff terms, and owner's involvement post-sale.

Whether you are juggling the possibility of starting up your own accounting practice, buying a firm outright or purchasing part of the equity and becoming a partner in an existing firm, the potential for entrepreneurial CPAs at the moment really is huge.

We hope the above information on buying accountancy firms, as well as our top 10 tips have been of use.

Please feel free to get in touch if you have any questions or comments about the content above or any other page on accountingpracticeexchange.com.

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