Exit and Succession Strategy
Clarify whether a sale, merger, internal succession, or staged transition is the best path.
For sellers
Sell or transition your accounting firm with care.
We help owners protect value, legacy, employees, and client relationships while finding the right next home for the practice.
You sell once. The buyers do this every week. We level the table.
A personal decision
This is not just a liquidity event.
Your practice may be the largest financial asset you own. It may also be the place where your family sacrificed, your team grew, and your clients trusted you through some of the most important moments in their lives.
We help you evaluate options, prepare the firm, identify qualified buyers, and move through the process with professionalism and respect.
Seller services
What we help with
Seller Opportunity Report™
Create a professional report that highlights the firm's full value beyond basic financials.
Qualified Buyer Matching
Identify buyers who fit your values, client base, employee needs, geography, and desired timeline.
Deal Structure Guidance
Support thoughtful conversations around price, payment structure, transition support, and risk allocation.
People and Client Transition
Plan communications and handoffs so employees and clients feel cared for, not surprised.
Process Coordination
Reduce stress by keeping diligence, conversations, and next steps organized.
Our philosophy
The right buyer matters as much as the right price.
A higher headline price can fall apart if the buyer lacks financing, capacity, cultural fit, or a practical transition plan. We help you look at the complete picture, including how the deal is structured. Cash at close, seller financing, earnouts, and rolled equity all shape both the price and what you actually keep, and the best outcome is a structure that works for buyer and seller alike.
And if preserving your culture and independence matters most, there may be a ready home within the Franklin Alliance, a platform built to keep local identity and leadership intact while providing resources to grow. We will tell you if it could be a fit, and disclose our relationship, before you decide. And if that path is the best one for you, we can reduce or waive our fee while still bringing you competitive outside offers to compare, so the choice is always yours and price is never the casualty of our involvement.
Discuss selling privatelySeller priorities we protect
LegacyEmployeesClientsConfidentialityFair valueClean transitionReputation
Know the players
You sell once. They do this every week.
Private equity roll-ups, patient-capital platforms, regional firms, and independent buyers each approach a deal differently, and each has a playbook most owners never get to see. We understand how many of them operate, so we can help you read the offer, anticipate what happens after closing, and choose the right fit for your people and clients, not just the highest headline.
Compare buyer and platform typesRead the offer
Understand what each buyer is really proposing, beyond the headline price.
Anticipate the playbook
Know how a given buyer tends to handle pricing, staff, clients, and earnouts after the deal.
Choose the right fit
Match the buyer or platform to your goals for your team, clients, and legacy.
Negotiate from strength
Level the information gap so you are not the only one seeing the deal for the first time.
Before you go to market
See how sellable your firm is, and where value is leaking.
The Optionality Score™ shows how a buyer would view your firm across eight value drivers, your biggest strengths and risks, and the three highest-ROI moves to lift both your score and your price. About six minutes, and completely confidential.
Take the Optionality ScoreWhy it matters
The most valuable firms are the most optional ones, free to sell, merge, hold, or transition on your terms. Building that optionality is what commands premium interest when you choose to move.