About cpalist.info website
Selling a CPA firm....
There are a few different ways to sell a firm. If you have been in business long enough to have a firm for sale, then I might not have anything new to tell you. Over my career, I have bought several firms. All except one firm, for which I paid a small amount of cash were bought by paying a percentage of gross revenues. For me this was usually about 33% per year. No risk to me, or hardly. How did you buy your firm? Are you willing to sell it the same way? Did you buy like I did or from a broker?
Staffing
In the last several years we have found it increasingly difficult to hire professional staff. Rumor has it the big firms are getting commitments while accounting students are still in their junior year. I designed this site to have a place to run a job ad. However, I have in mind this might be useful for many other CPA firms. It's a simple start, but if there is some demand I will see about automating listings and charges. For now, I am going to keep it small as I have tax returns to prepare.
Brokers
When I started in accounting, I looked at a firm through a broker. This broker interviewed 10 to 20 buyers. This, I think is a different market. There are some brokers whom have marketed to you. I can't recommend or have anything to say about any of them in particular. I think they charge about 10%, want exclusivity, and want a contract several months long. If they can get you bank financing, a hefty down payment, or security for the loan, this might be pretty good. Beware, I have heard some promise the moon and don't deliver. I did see one firm sell for a very low factor of gross revenue. There was a day we could retire with 1 to 1.40 times gross. Best of luck.
Our Mission
At cpa list website, we strive to connect aspiring accountants with reputable CPA firms for sale. Our goal is to facilitate seamless transitions for both buyers and sellers in the accounting industry.