Accountancy practice valuations, independently prepared.

What the figure usually turns on

• Gross recurring fees and their quality

  Practices trade on a multiple of GRF, but only genuinely recurring compliance and payroll fees count. One-off project, probate and corporate finance work is valued separately and at much less.

• Fee base profile and client tenure

  Average fee per client, sector spread, client age and length of relationship all drive retention. A tail of very small annual-accounts clients dilutes the multiple.

• Compliance versus advisory mix

  Advisory, virtual FD and tax planning income earns a higher multiple where it is systemised rather than personal to the outgoing principal.

• Partner dependence and team continuity

  If clients are loyal to the principal rather than the firm, the retention risk sits with the buyer and the price reflects it. Qualified staff staying on materially improves terms.

• Deal structure and clawback

  Practice sales are usually paid over one to three years with clawback for lost fees. The headline multiple is meaningless until the retention mechanism has been read.

A GRF multiple is not a valuation

Practices are routinely traded on rules of thumb. That works only where the fee base, the payment profile and the clawback terms are identical to whatever transaction produced the rule — and they rarely are.

We value the practice on its own fee base and earnings, cross-check against the GRF convention, and show what the offer on the table is worth in present-value terms after deferred payments and clawback.

We value practices, we don't broker them

We take no commission and no success fee, and we don't prepare accounts, so there is no conflict with your own professional work.

The reports are used for practice sales and mergers, partner buy-ins and retirements, share transfers, disputes and HMRC submissions.

This is for you if…

• —You're selling or merging a practice, or buying a block of fees.
• —A partner is retiring or joining and the equity needs pricing.
• —You've had an offer expressed as a GRF multiple and want it tested.
• —You need a valuation for a share transfer, a divorce or HMRC.