[Recked]

I like to monitor sales listing for local firms. There has been 3 new listings in the last 2 weeks on APS.net in my state.
One local, the other 2 about an hour away. That’s 2 local firms that are now currently for sale in my city.
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I noticed H&R Block has been calling my employer’s firm recently.
I understand that they probably do not offer dollar for dollar, but I am wondering if anyone knows the acquisition rate that H&R Block offers.
Any one here have any experience with this?
Does anyone know of any other websites that list accounting practices for sale besides Accounting Practice Sales and Accounting Brokers?

[Josh]

Hey Recked! Glad to see your posts, I popped in to get a few ideas for myself going into a second season keeping my government job by day and cranking returns for a local firm by night. I'll have to make a decision this spring to either A. Continue this current arrangement, B. Fully return to public and drop the government gig, or C. Build my own thing from scratch with the few healthy accounting and tax clients I have of my own.

Anyway, my first firm went through multiple mergers and sales over a few years and 1 of those sales was to H&R. In 2015 they did offer dollar for dollar purchase price of the client list BUT only if the employees who serviced the majority of those clients also went to H&R which included 1 CPA. I believe the offer was also contingent on going through the whole tax season and the amount made that year was the sale price. It was weird and felt weird the whole way through.

We bought a firm, dollar for dollar as well, but same deal that we waited to get through a whole tax season to calculate actual revenue potential and required those partners to do a handoff of each client to one of us.

Happy to answer whatever I can without over disclosing.

[Recked]

Thanks for the information/feedback.

Have you considered keeping your day job while building your practice on the side?
Hard to give up that gov't pension. If you focus on tax season clients you'll have 8-10 weeks of rough nights and weekends, but can probably turn a profit equal to your gov't salary, effectively doubling your income and not losing those gov't benefits and pension.
Just my 2 cents, but it all depends on how old you are and how hard you want to grind.
(I know a few gov't employees who run tax practices on the side.)

[Josh]

Glad to help, least I can do for all the info you've shared over the years here that I often reference.

I agree with you and that's what I've been doing is taking clients nights and weekends but I also work tax season for a local CPA firm cranking all their returns in addition to my own.

My benefits alone are worth $25,000 a year but actual salary is 10k below the going rate and going on 4 years there seems to be little to no mobility, not to mention the politics and work are just… different.

I think I'm ready to return back to public full-time and am leaning towards merging in with the local firm, just waiting to have that conversation with the partners at the end of this tax season. I fell in love with tax and I think it's time to go back to what I love.

Thanks as always Recked, let me know if I can share any practice merger input, I've been through several now and many things were learned each time.

[Recked]

I'm sure I don't need to tell you this, but you leverage is typically higher BEFORE tax season than after, and make sure you get any deal in writing. Hopefully if you bring your client into the firm you can end up with some sort of equity, and on the path to making full partner.
I was offered a Cinderella clause by another local firm to merge in with them on partner path, and if it didn't work out I could leave after a year and take my clients with me, but leave their clients there.
I ultimately decided to keep my day job, and keep working on building my book on the side.
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Always interested to hear valuable life lessons you have learned along the way.
Much cheaper to learn for others mistakes, which is why I stress to you to get the deal in writing, lol.
Expensive mistake that was.

[Author]

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