Selling your accounting firm?
The math changed when private equity arrived.

The honest version

What accounting businesses actually sell for

Smaller practices still transact near 1x annual revenue; firms with genuine scale and advisory mix increasingly trade on EBITDA, commonly in the range of 5–9x. Which of those two worlds you are in depends less on your revenue than on whether the firm can operate without its founding partner.

The range is wide because the same business is worth different amounts to different buyers. In this sector you are usually looking at three:

• PE-backed accounting platforms — the new and most aggressive buyers, focused on firms with advisory revenue, staff depth, and a partner group willing to stay.
• Regional and national firms — traditional strategic acquirers, often the best home for a compliance-heavy practice.
• Internal succession — still the right answer for many firms, and worth valuing properly rather than assuming it is the only option.

Which of those is at your table changes your number far more than anything on your equipment list.

What moves the number

The four things buyers actually underwrite

• Recurring versus project revenue. Monthly and annual engagements are worth far more than one-off project work, and advisory retainers are the most valuable revenue in the firm.
• Client concentration. A firm where the top five clients are a large share of fees is discounted sharply, regardless of quality.
• Partner and owner dependence. If the relationships live with you personally, buyers price the risk that clients leave when you do — and structure long transitions to manage it.
• Staff retention and capacity. In a profession with a well-documented talent shortage, a stable team is a substantial part of what is being purchased.

Timing matters more in this sector than most: firms are valued on a normalized year, and buyers strongly prefer to close outside of busy season. Beginning conversations in the spring for a following-year close is a far calmer path than trying to run diligence in February.

The process

Why a quiet, competitive process beats the first offer

Most owners in this sector are approached directly, unsolicited, by a consolidator or a platform buyer. That approach is flattering and it is also the single most expensive letter you can accept, because a buyer negotiating against nobody has no reason to move on price or on terms.

We run the opposite process. Buyers are qualified and under confidentiality agreement before they learn whose business it is. Nothing is listed, advertised, or published. Your staff, your customers, and your competitors learn nothing until you decide they should — and several credible buyers are considering the same opportunity at the same time.

The result is not only a better number. It is better terms: what happens to your team, how long you stay, how the earn-out is structured, and what happens to any real estate.

Common questions

Accounting firm owners ask us these first

What is my accounting firm worth?

Smaller CPA practices still commonly transact around one times annual revenue, while larger firms with advisory mix and staff depth increasingly sell on EBITDA multiples in the range of 5 to 9 times. The presence of private-equity-backed platforms has widened the gap between those two outcomes considerably.

Is private equity really buying accounting firms?

Yes. PE-backed platforms have been acquiring accounting firms actively, and they typically pay more than traditional succession for firms with advisory revenue, staff depth, and partners willing to remain through a transition. Whether that is the right buyer for you is a separate question worth answering deliberately.

How do I sell my firm without my clients or staff finding out?

Through a confidential process. There is no listing. Buyers sign confidentiality agreements before they learn which firm is for sale, conversations happen on your schedule, and you decide when your partners, staff, and clients are told.