Anonymous - You can find lawyers, lenders, accountants & insurance providers under the Directory tab at the top of this screen. Here is the direct link: www.searchfunder.com/user/list/professional/accounting

I don't want to speak out of turn here, but from my vantage point most lenders on Searchfunder want to get involved closer to the deal. Other professionals (accountants, lawyers & insurance providers) will be interested in establishing a strong relationship well before you have a specific deal (I welcome counter examples from our community if I'm wrong here).

Tagging a few searcher friendly professionals who can weigh in here: ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌. ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌,^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌, ^[redacted]‌ (To our commenters, THANK YOU for helping to make Searchfunder a collaborative community. We are pleased to announce that BVR DEAL Stats, the largest deal comps data set anywhere, will soon be available on Searchfunder. Stay tuned for more good things in 2021! ^[redacted]‌).

Anonymous - I'm an attorney and have some thoughts about questions to ask. In many cases, these would be applicable to other service providers as well. Assuming you've first screened the parties by looking at their bio/website or other information to confirm they have experience in M&A (and if not, then that would be the first thing to ask about), some good questions would focus on specific experience with search funds/funders, what forms of documents are used for forming the funds, what would the cost be, would the service provider be the one doing the work or would it be passed off to another, how quickly would the provider respond to questions/calls/emails, what's the turnaround time for getting documents back and overall time frame for your project, and cost/estimate of cost.

Here are 27 Interview Questions for an Outsourced Accounting Firm: https://www.driveninsights.com/small-business-finance-blog/the-average-cfo-salary[redacted]key-cfo-interview-questions

If you're doing a traditionally funded search, I would ask how many search funds they have been involved with and if they can provide references from other searchers. I'd try to get a sense of how investors feel about their work as well- you can ask this in an informational meeting with an investor even if they're not in you're fund yet.

I can provide you a list of questions to ask all of those service providers. How do I know? I'm a former self funded searcher (6 years) and now I run a due diligence firm. I can share how I've selected my best CPA, legal, insurance team members. If interested, schedule time with me here: www.calendly.com/elliottholland