M&A misconceptions

摘要

Selling an accounting practice is a once-in- a-lifetime experience for most practice owners. There is much time, energy and money invested in an accounting practice, so finding the right buyer is crucial. Since it is such a rare event, sellers need to be educated about some of the key misconceptions surrounding the process. Although many owners have a misconception about the value of their business, the usual value is a multiple of gross revenue, according to Tom Jones, a shareholder/partner and chair of the Atlanta Corporate Team at Chamberlain Hrdlicka, who has structured many accounting practice sales and mergers. "If it's a true sale as opposed to a merger of equals, the priolng mat's anscussed is usually 1 to 1.2 times gross revenues," said Jones. "That's not always true, however. You might have two firms of approximately equal size that decide to combine operations. In that case, there may not be any money changing hands at all. The more disparity of size, the more there will be an exchange of value in the transaction."