Kimberley Hagues is Regional Director at Retiring Accountant, which specialises in brokering accountancy business sales. The majority of business sales she brokers are in the turnover ranges of between £50K and £1m. Over 50% of their deals are completed using a proactive, permission marketing approach where they directly engage the market searching for acquisition and exit opportunities that harmonise culturally as well as commercially.

Retiring Accountant has been established for nearly a decade and are the leading mergers and acquisitions specialist in the sector, brokering between 70 and 90 accountancy business sales every year. With a focus on aiding retiring owners exit strategies, they provide an end-to-end service for both ambitious individuals looking to grow and individuals looking to create bespoke exit strategies. They now have a register of over 1600 potential acquirers and are well experienced in alleviating the common pitfalls when moving through the M&A process. Shownotes:

• How MTD is driving more and more accountants to retire and sell their practice
• There are more people dying, leaving and retiring from the accounting profession than there are coming in
• Why it’s becoming more cost effective to run a larger accounting firm than a small one
• If you’re an accountant who wastes half your day on the phone to HMRC (UK tax revenue office) or similar, then you’re not alone
• Keeping up with the changes in software and technology is relentless for small accounting firm owners
• The best way retiring accountants can realise the value of their life’s work is by selling their firm
• Accounting firms sell for 0.6 to 1.5 x GRF (gross recurring funds) depending on a number of factors

• Now is a good time for accounting owners to sell – it’s a sellers market (for every one seller there are 3-4 potential buyers)
• An overview of the process involved in selling or buying an accounting firm
• Why price is one of the least important factors when a selling accountant decides to put their firm on the market
• The kind of people that buy accounting firms – you might be surprised
• Why the owner being available for a ‘handover period of 1-2 years increases the value of an accounting firm when selling
• The best time to think about selling (or buying) an accounting firm is when you don’t actually have to
• The critical factors that bump up the capital value of an accounting firm
• Why having an accounting client that makes up 10% or more of your revenue is not a good idea
• The importance of digitisation to increase capital value – some acquirers won’t take on paper or desktop based firms
• Some organic growth strategies can be limited, which is where acquisition becomes a viable option for accounting growth
• With the right kind of handover from a selling accounting owner to a buying firm, retention rates can be up to 95%
• What retiring accountants look for in prospective buyers when looking to sell their practice
• The 4 main reasons why sales of accounting firms fall through
• Why it’s best dealing with brokers rather than buying and selling accounting firms yourself
• The differences between a share sale and an asset sale when selling or acquiring an accounting practice.

In her free time, Kimberley supports the community as an agency care volunteer once a week, helping to alleviate isolation and loneliness for older people who have little or no contact with people. In addition, she is a keen netball player, enjoys self-learning various piano pieces and appreciates spending time outdoors with her family. To learn more about Kimberley, visit www.retiringaccountant.co.uk or contact her:

Phone (44) 7975 588 044

LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/kimberleyhagues

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