Here’s what you’re looking for: Marc Rosenberg

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Eighteen Questions for Merger Candidates

Four people meeting at a restaurant

It’s time to get to know each other.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide

All merger discussions have to begin somewhere. After merger candidates have been identified, there obviously needs to be an initial meeting for the two firms to get acquainted.

MORE by Marc Rosenberg
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Everything is confidential and informal. No exchange of financial statements. The two parties simply spend an hour or two – you guessed it – getting to know each other. Many firms like to convene this meeting over breakfast or lunch because meeting at a restaurant gives the encounter an air of informality and sociability. Other firms like to do this in the larger firm’s office so that the smaller firm can get a “house tour.”

READ MORE →

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

One Times Fees Is Only One Way to Acquire a Firm

Businesswoman using calculator while reviewing something on laptop screen

If you do the math, you might be surprised.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide

Partners in accounting firms are familiar with the rule of thumb that a CPA firm’s goodwill is worth one times fees; however, like many “rules of thumb,” this notion is often incorrect.

MORE by Marc Rosenberg
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

When buyers begin to think about how much they will pay for a smaller firm, they often have this one-times-fees notion in the back of their minds. Then, when sellers are bold enough to ask for a price in excess of one times fees, buyers often balk because they feel that the asking price is too rich.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate that buying a small firm for one times fees is a steal (for the buyer). In fact, it’s still an outstanding investment at a premium price, say, as high as 1.3 times fees. Let me illustrate.

READ MORE →

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

The Proper Merger Process in 21 Steps

man tearing a piece of paper in half

PLUS: Fifteen Merger Deal Breakers to Avoid

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide

It’s important to understand the flow of the entire merger process.

MORE by Marc Rosenberg
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Every merger has its unique aspects. It’s impossible to choreograph, from A to Z, exactly how the process for all mergers will work. The steps in the process listed below appear in the order of how they commonly occur.

But again, because all mergers are different, the flow of the steps might vary from merger to merger.

READ MORE →

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

How to Attract the Best Merger Candidates

Man's hand sowing wheat

Never stop looking.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide

Firms that are serious about merging in smaller firms on a regular basis understand that doing mergers is all about planting seeds. A buyer has to have this attitude:

MORE by Marc Rosenberg
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

Every day of every year, at least one firm decides to test the merger waters. If our efforts to identify sellers are made continuously throughout the year, every year, sooner or later, we will find at least one interested merger candidate and probably more than one.

READ MORE →

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Thirteen Reasons Why Accounting Firms Merge

Executive woman and man in business meeting

Check your motivation, then create your strategy.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide

Why do firms merge?

Whether you’re looking to acquire a smaller firm, merge upward into a larger one or join forces with an equal, answering this basic question honestly and objectively is key to laying the groundwork for a successful merger.

MORE by Marc Rosenberg
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

In the chart below, the main reasons that firms seek mergers are listed. Some of these objectives will benefit all parties across the board, while others provide the greatest advantage to one or the other of the merger partners based on their unique situation.
READ MORE →

PRO Member Exclusive

What Relevance Means for Staffing in Accounting

Five young business people at work in an office setting.

Seventeen ways to improve.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Staff: Managing Your #1 Asset

The business graveyard is littered with major organizations that missed the boat by failing to see cataclysmic game changers happening right before their eyes.

  • Ice companies failed to get into refrigeration because they saw themselves in the ice business.
  • Railroads missed out on autos and aerospace because they didn’t see themselves in the transportation business.
  • A CEO of Digital Equipment Corporation said he couldn’t imagine why people would want a computer in their own house.
  • It took the Wright Brothers five years to get the U.S. government to even talk to them about their invention.

MORE: How Accounting Staffing Has Changed
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

In all fairness it’s extremely difficult, if not impossible, to anticipate and accept massive changes like these.
READ MORE →

PRO Member Exclusive

How Accounting Staffing Has Changed

Businesswoman sitting on table while talking with four coworkers

And two major drivers of that change.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Staff: Managing Your #1 Asset

“Treat people as they are and they will remain as they are. Treat people as they can be and should be and they will become as they can and should be.” – Goethe

“You see, really and truly, apart from the things anyone can pick up, such as dressing and the proper way of speaking and so on, the difference between a lady and a flower girl is not how she behaves, but how she’s treated. I shall always be a flower girl to Professor Higgins, because he always treats me as a flower girl. But I know I can be a lady to you, Colonel Pickering, because you always treat me as a lady and always will.” – Eliza Doolittle in “My Fair Lady”

MORE: Thirteen Traits of Partners You’ll Want to Keep | Six Rules for Keeping Partners Happy and Productive | Why Strategic Thinking Impacts Your Firm’s Future | Seven Things Good Firms Must Do | Five Ways to Separate Accounting Winners from Losers | Two Factors Determine Firm Profitability | Don’t Make Firm Profitability a Goal | Core Values: Why Your Firm Needs Them | Five Keys in Compensating New Managing Partners | Top 20 Tough Choices for the Partner Comp Committee | Voting on Ownership Basis? Three Better Methods | What Partners Do and Don’t Deserve
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

 

The ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus said: “There is nothing permanent except change.” People fly and drive cars instead of using horses and carts. Technology has replaced calculators, slide rules and the process for writing books. Food is purchased at grocery stores instead of grown on farms.

Drastic changes have occurred in the CPA industry as well. One of the biggest areas of change is how staff are managed and treated, as shown by this chart.
READ MORE →

MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Merger Checklist: 34 Action Steps

https://cpatrendlines.com/2021/11/09/why-its-time-for-an-acquisition/

There are a lot of decisions to make.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide

Most firms find that it takes three to four years to fully implement a merger. But during the first few months after the effective date of the merger, there are quite a few administrative and procedural things that need to be attended to immediately.

MORE by Marc Rosenberg
GoProCPA.comExclusively for PRO Members. Log in here or upgrade to PRO today.

Most firms try to get as much of a head start as possible, before the effective date of the merger.
READ MORE →