Professional services
Professional practices sell on relationships. The client who trusts the founder may not trust the buyer, which is why practice sales in BC are usually structured with transitions, retention clauses and deferred payments. We help owners of accounting, engineering, consulting, design and similar firms build transferable value and sell on terms that protect both sides.
How the money works
- Clients belong to people, not the firm, until systems and teams make them stay
- Recurring engagements and retainers are worth far more than project work
- Partner compensation hides the true profit until it is normalised
- Professional licensing and regulation can restrict who may own or buy a practice
The moves we make
- Value the practice on normalised earnings after market compensation for every partner
- Measure and document client retention, recurring revenue and concentration
- Structure sales with retention-based earn-outs and a defined transition role
- Explore internal succession and partner buy-ins alongside a third-party sale
What transfers and what does not
A buyer of a professional practice is buying the probability that clients stay after the founder steps back. That probability rises with recurring work, written engagement letters, a team that clients already deal with and a founder willing to introduce the buyer properly. It falls when the founder does all the client-facing work and the firm's name is the founder's name. We assess transferability honestly before valuing the practice, and the assessment usually becomes the first part of the exit plan.
Internal succession is often the better route
Many practices sell best to the people already inside them. Associates and junior partners know the clients, the work and the culture, and clients barely notice the change of ownership. The obstacle is financing, because professionals early in their careers rarely have the capital. We structure staged buy-ins, management buyouts and vendor financing so the founder is paid fairly over time and the successors can carry the debt. Your lawyer handles the partnership and shareholder agreements, and your CPA the tax.
Regulated professions
Some professions restrict who may own a practice, how it may be named and how client files are transferred. Those rules shape the deal structure before price is even discussed. We work alongside your professional regulator's requirements and your lawyer so the structure is permitted, and we focus on the business side: valuation, client retention, transition and the financial terms. Where a practice cannot be sold to a non-member, the plan becomes succession or merger rather than an open-market sale.
Questions from professional services owners
How are professional practices priced?
Usually on normalised earnings after paying every partner a market salary, with the multiple reflecting how much revenue recurs and how transferable the clients are. Retention-based earn-outs are common.
How long should the founder stay after a sale?
Long enough to introduce the buyer to every significant client and see at least one renewal cycle through. The role, hours and end date should be written into the agreement.
Can I sell to my associates?
Often that is the best option. We structure a staged buy-in or management buyout, test whether the practice can carry the financing and work with your lawyer on the agreements.
Start with a confidential conversation.
Tell Ali where the business is and what you want to happen next. You leave with a straight read on value, timing and the two or three moves that matter, whether or not we work together.