Private Equity at the Gates

The pandemic has accelerated our progress toward the future that was already in the offing.

By Terry Putney

The pandemic is changing where firms work. And it’s a huge issue.

MORE: 12 Shifts to Ensure Firm Success | How to Reinvent the Firm for the COVID Age | Why It’s Time for an Acquisition | Three Ways the Accounting Profession Has Changed | Ramping Up for the Year Ahead
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Office space is being downsized dramatically. Long-term office leases that must be assumed by an acquiring firm are becoming a deal killer in many M&A deals. We are seeing a significant increase in the number of firms that are going almost completely virtual.

Posted on December 7, 2021

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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