Good M&A Deals Start with Strong Leadership

Firms must act decisively or lose opportunities.

by Joel Sinkin and Terrence Putney

We work with hundreds of CPA firms across the country primarily assisting them with M & A of their firms. Firms that are successful with using M & A as a strategy to grow have to be agile and open to change. One of our mantras is if you want to stay the same, we can’t help you.

The characteristics of the firms we work with that are the most successful are found in their leadership. The most agile firms have strong leaders that are able and willing to make informed decisions quickly. Firms that cannot make decisions quickly find that M & A opportunities pass them by.

Strong leadership is derived from several things, including:

Posted on November 2, 2010

Terence Putney

About the Author

Terrence E. Putney, CPA, is CEO of Transition Advisors, a mergers-and-and-acquisitions broker for CPA firms. Terry has more than 35 years’ experience in the CPA profession. For six years, he served as Managing Director - Mergers & Acquisitions for RSM McGladrey, the country’s fifth-largest accounting firm and held several executive posts with its corporate parent, H&R Block. At RSM, he structured and negotiated numerous deals resulting in the acquisition of accounting and consulting firms ranging in size from sole proprietors to multi-state firms with hundreds of staff and professionals. Prior to joining McGladrey, he served as Managing Partner of Donnelly Meiners Jordan Kline, a 60-person CPA firm in Kansas City.

Terry believes it’s imperative that practitioners have a clear understanding of their objectives when pursuing a sale of their practice or the merger with, or acquisition of, another practice. “I've seen deals not work or not materialize because one of the parties to the succession plan had not thought through what they really wanted to accomplish. Transition Advisors will make sure the approach to executing your plan will meet your objectives. Because we are consultants and not brokers, we can be much more flexible in helping a firm succeed with its transition plan.”

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