MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Rosenbloom: Don’t Merge for the Money

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Merge to make a better business.

This is a preview. The complete 1-hour video episode, with commentary and transcript, is first available exclusively to PRO Members. 

The Disruptors
With Liz Farr

Ira Rosenbloom has worked in M&A with accounting firms for years, but things are changing today. The community of buyers is shrinking, so firms are being more selective about with whom they partner. Rosenbloom is also seeing more creativity in transactions, and acquiring firms are looking closer at the clients they may be adding.

MORE PODCASTS and VIDEOS: Adam Lean: Get Out of the Accountant’s Trap | Geraldine Carter: Charging More is Better for Your Clients | Vimal Bava: When Working Smarter, Not Harder, Is the Only Option | Dawn Brolin Says Grow Your Firm by Shrinking It | Jason Blumer & Julie Shipp: Move Leaders Out of Client Service | James Graham: Drop the Billable Hour and You’ll Bill More | Karen Reyburn: Fix Your Marketing and Fix Your Business | Giles Pearson: Fix the Staffing Crisis by Swapping Experience for Education | Jina Etienne: Practice Fearless Inclusion | Bill Penczak: Stop Forcing Smart People to Do Stupid Work | Sandra Wiley: Staffing Problem? Check Your Culture | Scott Scarano: First, Grow People. Then Firm Growth Can Follow |

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“We’re bringing in more clients. Are they the right clients?” he asks. “And if we bring in clients from this other firm, and we do some cutting, how do we let that other firm earn some money back?”

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Aprio Sells Majority Stake to Charlesbank PE

By

Kopelman

Aprio is breaking off its CPA firm after reportedly selling a majority stake to Charlesbank Capital Partners, a private equity firm.

Already on a growth-by-acquisition streak, Aprio has logged dozens of deals in the last few years. With fresh cash on hand, this pace is sure to accelerate.

MORE Richard Kopelman talks with Rob Brown on Accounting Influencers

Aprio plans to adopt an “alternative practice structure,” with Aprio LLP as the legacy licensed CPA firm and Aprio Advisory Group LLC as the new PE-backed acquisition engine. READ MORE →

Should You Merge? Here’s How to Chart Your Path

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Businesswoman at crossroads, facing two paths

Lease renewals trigger this concern, but they’re not a good reason.

By Ed Mendlowitz
202 Questions and Answers: Managing an Accounting Practice

Question: I signed up with a broker who introduces buyers and sellers of CPA practices, to find someone who would buy my practice when I want to retire. I don’t want to retire yet, but am starting to think about it. The broker suggested a merger now combined with a buyout deal when I am ready to retire. Am I going about this in the right way?

MORE: A Friendly Chat or a Billable Discussion? | Busy Season Is Over, So It’s Time for Some Resolutions | Want to Merge? Six Steps to Take | How to Start Providing Family Office Services | Every Accounting Firm Needs Quality Control | No One Listens to You? Change How You Talk | 47 Types of Business Valuation to Provide | Thirteen Things to Consider Before You Sell Your Practice | Uncooperative Partner Might Not be the Problem
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Response: I get a lot of calls similar to this when lease renewals are coming up, or a tenant is lost and a merger could fill up the space, a key employee is lost or a major client is lost. In my opinion, these are not reasons to merge. Merging is a major change of life and needs to be done with great care.
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Eleven Possible Pitfalls of Mergers

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illustration of merger: four jigsaw puzzle pieces, each held by a different person's hand

What is driving the sale? Is your firm ready?

By August J. Aquila
Price It Right: How to Value Accounting Services

The trend for small and midsized CPA firms to merge is accelerating as the competitive environment becomes even more demanding. While hundreds of firms merge every year, history continually shows that at some point in the future, things don’t always work out. Like marriage, some mergers are successful while a great majority fail. Many of the reasons for failure can be avoided if firms do their homework at the front end before entering the merger.

MORE: Dodge the Four Curses of a Production Orientation | Clients Buy Solutions, Not Features | Make Sure You Know What You Will Get from Your Marketing | Three Pillars Support a Successful Accounting Firm | Clients Have Six Reasons for Needing You | Six Ways to Market Your Technology Consulting Practice | Sixteen Marketing Activities to Try | The Four Steps of Your Personal Marketing Process | How Does Your Firm Measure Up? | Six Questions Before Asking for All the Referrals You Deserve | Five Rules for a Marketing Orientation | Ten Keys to Marketing Success
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The merger and acquisition drivers are constantly changing. Some of the drivers we see today are a constantly changing marketplace, the creation of megafirms beyond the Big 4, the sophistication of clients, the high demand for qualified people, technology, the cost of acquiring new clients, and finally, the accounting industry being in a mature market.

As we will see, most mergers fail because of non-financial reasons. Unlike the sale of the manufacturing company, mergers of accounting firms are a lot more difficult to accomplish.
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