MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS

Twelve Benefits of Merging Up

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man and woman high-fiving each other in office

Plus 16 reasons it causes anxiety.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide

While selling to a larger firm may ultimately be the most viable succession plan available to a small firm, the prospect of the merger creates a great deal of anxiety among small firms nonetheless. The larger firm’s sensitivity to these concerns is critical for a successful meeting of the minds during the negotiation phase.

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Why Small Firms Are So Anxious about Merging Up

  1. Loss of control, loss of control and loss of control
  2. Loss of their job or a substantial reduction in their role. It’s possible that some of the smaller firm’s partners may not be invited to be partners in the new firm.

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Eight Questions for Assessing Merger Compatibility

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Overhead view of people solving a large jigsaw puzzle

Plus 23 issues to negotiate.

By Marc Rosenberg
The Rosenberg Practice Management Library

These questions can be explored via interviews or group sessions. But they are all great questions that will give insight into each firm’s culture and personality.

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  1. Why do the firms really want to merge? After the merger, will the firms have the commitment and wherewithal to realize their expectations? Acid test: If some of the main reasons for doing the merger are clearly not realized 12 months later, which issues and failures would make you the most upset and frustrated?
  2. How would the new firm be better than the sum of the two individual firms?

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Smaller, Larger Accounting Firms Have Different M&A Concerns

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Four businesspeople greeting each other

Seven topics for the first negotiation meeting.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide

Mergers succeed in direct proportion to the effort made by both firms to

  1. ask lots of questions,
  2. agree on as many merger implementation issues as possible before the merger takes place and
  3. openly share as much of their “dirty laundry” as possible to minimize surprises.

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Don’t assume anything. When you sit down for your first merger negotiation meeting:

  1. Start the meeting by confirming and agreeing on the agenda.

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Letters of Intent Require More Than ‘Good Faith’

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Generic business letter of intent

Fourteen provisions to include.

By Marc Rosenberg
CPA Firm Mergers: Your Complete Guide

Letters of intent should be drafted cautiously and with as much detail and precision as possible. This avoids potentially fatal misunderstandings or disagreements around key terms later in the process.

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An LOI is too often seen as a non-binding jumping-off point, with no real consequences. This is not exactly true. For starters, an attempt by one party to change a material term in the LOI can be characterized by the other party as an act of bad faith or a breach of trust, which can

  • derail an otherwise healthy merger,
  • give a party excessive or unwarranted leverage or
  • reopen the entire negotiation.

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Maksymiw: Kick the “Should” Out of Your Career | Big 4 Transparency

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“Being efficient got me more work, not more money. So I left.” 

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Big 4 Transparency
By Dominic Piscopo, CPA
For CPA Trendlines

When Mike Maksymiw first joined the Big 4 Transparency podcast, listeners were struck by his candor, clarity, and willingness to challenge the profession’s long-standing norms. Now, as host Dominic Piscopo welcomes him back as the show’s first repeat guest, Maksymiw brings even more insight—this time shaped by Aprio’s rapid growth, his own unconventional career path, and a message for accountants who feel stuck in roles that no longer fit.

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Maksymiw currently serves as executive director of the Aprio Firm Alliance, a national network of nearly 100 firms that share resources, expertise, and support across specialties and geographies. And—thanks to Aprio’s recent acquisition of the PS Plus Alliance from RSM—the Alliance has nearly doubled in size.

“It broadens how we can go find answers,” he explains. “Now there are a hundred people you can ask, and maybe fifty have done what you’re trying to do. Maybe there are seven different ways to make it work.”

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