An Open Letter to our Next Great CPA Practice Buyer

Dear Buyer,

I am already looking forward to working with you. One of the best parts of this job is finding a good match between great CPA practice buyers and sellers. We are going to get to know each other well over these next few weeks.

We are going to talk about why you want to buy and what your experience in public accounting is.

We will talk about the listings we have. It will be helpful for you to know what you are looking for in a firm and what your deal breakers are. Not all listings will be perfect for you. There may be some things you will want to improve on in every practice you consider. We can talk about those things and some strategies that other buyers have found helpful.

We will also talk about your financial picture. Do you have the money to purchase or the ability to get financing? We have some good financing sources and can get you pointed in the right direction.

When you find a CPA practice that might be a fit for you and the seller we will schedule you some time to meet.

This typically starts with a phone call and then you can find some time to meet in person. This is the fun part and can feel sort of like a first date. Do they have what you are looking for? You will ask questions about their staff, their types of clients and work that they do, and their philosophy for running a business.

The seller will ask you about why you want to buy, your experience and will just want to get to know you in general. After this meeting I will talk with you and the seller to find out your initial impressions and answer any follow up questions you may have. Hopefully, you will have found the right firm and we can work on putting together an offer. I have sample offers you can use. I will review your offer before I send to the seller and let you know if anything jumps out to me.

The seller has the option to accept, counter or reject the offer. I will handle the negotiations for you, which keeps the process simpler and more efficient. When we get to a signed agreement we’ll turn our attention to your due diligence and then on to creating a smooth closing and transition. You may also be working with a bank to get financing. The banks we work with understand lending to accountants (but banks can still offer some measure of frustration and this never moves as fast as I would like.) One of the things that sets Poe Group Advisors apart is our help with transition. We will work with you and the seller to plan for a seamless and successful transition.

I am excited about your future and I cannot wait to get started.

Sincerely,

Stephanie Smith