CPA firm acquisition, ownership, and operations

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by a searcher from University of Virginia-Darden - Darden School of Business
in Simi Valley, CA, USA

1yr ago

CPA firm acquisition, ownership, and operations

Can you please share your experience as a buyer or operator of a CPA firm? What critical elements should one look for before acquiring? What are the most vital operating areas? If you prefer to share your experience privately, send me a direct message, and I will follow up. Thanks in advance.

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reply by a searcher 1yr ago
from University of Virginia in Simi Valley, CA, USA

^redacted‌ thank you for sharing your thoughts. Indeed, many firms I have reviewed have owners who do a lot of heavy lifting while for valuation purpose adding back their comp to SDE. From that perspective, I am filtering our any firms below $3M in revenues. This also helps to eliminate small firms that have the majority of their revenues coming from individual tax returns.

reply by a professional 4mos ago
from Saint Mary's College of California in Seattle, WA, USA

We've done 4 acquisitions/mergers in the past 15 months at OLarry - happy to find time to share the good and the painful of each as they've all had their own quirks