No Longer The Accountancy Boss

No Longer the Accountancy Boss! 

 When selling an Accountancy Business how long should you, the retiring proprietor expect to be asked to stay on after the deal has completed?

It is very common that your acquirer will want you to work with them to ensure a successful transition.

This could work as:

A consulting arrangement for a set period of time to complete a full handover and secure the goodwill in the client base.

Or

Staying on indefinitely as a Managing Director with an attractive salary.

Now you are probably thinking “Hold on, why do I need to do anything further, they bought the business, they are now in charge and that’s the way I wanted it”!

But let me tell you why riding straight off into the sunset without looking back, could end up having a negative impact on the sale of your Accountancy Business.

Until a full and healthy handover is completed, you are still the leader of the pack and the person the clients, staff… and more often than not the acquirers look to, to maintain healthy relationships and to ensure that a successful acquisition of your business is achieved.

And surely you as the exiting owner will be happy to add value to your business sale by ensuring that a complete handover has taken place.

Only after this has been achieved, can you truly walk away, contented and able to enjoy the fruits of your labour!

By clicking here to download our eBook you can learn why it is so important to lay the foundation of an open, trusting and reliable relationship with your acquirer.

Because if you don’t, when it comes time to negotiate the terms of your handover you could find yourself holding the short straw!

So you must make sure that the job description and handover targets are agreed beforehand and written down in a legally binding agreement between you and your acquirer.

This can cover:

How long the handover period will be.

The amount of hours you will fulfil in the office.

Appointments per week you will be prepared to carry out (specifying a total over the handover period).

Agreeing a plan for joint meetings

Contacting clients to inform them of the sale and introducing them to the buyer.

The reasons why putting an agreement in place are so important is because:

Firstly, if something goes wrong in client meetings, you can use your well established relationship with your clients to smooth over any potential discord.

Secondly, being involved in the business as a part time consultant will show your clients that you haven’t just abandoned them for pastures new! The feeling of continuity for clients will reap benefits up until you feel your clients are fully and happily under the wing of the acquirer.

And you will want clients to stay where they are, not only for your professional pride but to avoid the obvious potential liability of orphaned clients floating around!

And like I said before, by the time you have gotten to the handover stage, you will have already built up a reliable and trustworthy connection with your Accountancy acquirer, which will make the specifics of the handover run so efficiently.

But if you make the mistake of thinking that your continued presence isn’t worth anything then that could have a very negative and knock on effect!

Over half of Accountancy sellers we have spoken to didn’t realise that they could negotiate the terms of their handover, as they assumed that they had less control than the acquirer.

Which meant that points that were important to them were not covered, which in turn made their exiting experience less than pleasing!

So don’t let that be you!

If you are looking to attract top Accountancy Buyers, here are 3 ways I can help:

Claim your FREE copy of our guide that reveals the top tips when entering into negotiations with your Accountancy acquirer by clicking here.

Book in with one of our expert consultants who can talk you through the selling process, step by step and can update you with acquirers hot on the market right now by clicking here.

And if you want to find top Accountancy buyers in your area, reply to this email with the word ‘FIND’ and I will see if I can help.

Best Wishes

Stephen Hagues

PS. Click here to download our eBook on The 9 Key Steps to Negotiations so you don’t end up talking your way out of that premium cash offer for your Accountancy Business!