As featured in the Australian Financial Review – 31 July - 1 August
By Louis White (Journalist) – in conjunction with Vivienne Quinn & Chris Clifford (Directors of Quinn & Associates)
The pandemic has wreaked havoc across the globe with many industries but surprisingly the appetite to buy and sell accounting practices has not diminished, in fact it has flourished.
The appeal of buying an accounting practice, regardless of size, has strengthened in the past 18 months with no signs of that interest declining.
Equally, those wanting to sell are in a strong position due to the abundance of purchasers and limited number of practices on the market at any one time.
“In the financial year to June 30, 2021, we brokered sales up to $18 million in fees Australia wide,” Chris Clifford director of accounting practice brokers Quinn & Associates, says.
“This figure would have been closer to $30 million had the accounting industry not been so inundated with extra workload issues relating to the COVID pandemic. There has been delays from the continual border closures and the banks taking significantly longer to process the loans and documentation.
“There is a very high demand Australia wide for practices particularly those turning over anywhere from $800,000 up to $5 million in revenue.”
An IBISWorld report entitled, ‘Accounting Services in Australia’ published in April 2021, reveals that accounting services realised $20.9 billion in revenue between 2016 and 2021, resulting in $3.7 billion in profit, which is a 17.9 per cent profit margin.
There were more than 34,000 businesses in Australia providing accounting services.
Quinn & Associates was established by Vivienne Quinn approximately 40 years ago as an accounting recruitment business.
“Clients were approaching us to find replacements for retiring partners,” she says.
“We were constantly on the search for new partners and then this expanded into referrals for people who wanted to sell their practices.
“Since then, we have become specialists in the practice broking industry where our extensive years’ of experience allows us to understand and gauge the state of the market and advise our clients accordingly.”
The ‘Accounting Services in Australia’ April 2021 report divulges that the big four accounting firms – KPMG, Ernst & Young, Deloitte and PwC – glean approximately 25% of industry revenue, leaving the second tier, SMEs and smaller independent accounting firms dividing the rest.
The report states: ‘Rising demand for industry-specific advisory services has supported revenue over the period, with many operators expanding their advisory services. Industry operators are increasingly incorporating technology, such as data analytics and cloud-based accounting, which has expanded value-added services. These value-added services have larger profit margins than traditional tax and audit processing, encouraging firms to diversify.’
“Accounting practices are in demand whether they be audit practices, tax and business services practices,” Quinn says.
“We often have accounting firms reach out to us regarding a potential sale but due to their workload it can be six to 12 months before they are ready to put the practice on the market. Once a practice is listed with us, we will have it at contract stage within two months - if it is in a high demand location.
“There are many reasons people want to either buy or sell a practice. With regards to buying, a firm may want more fees to merge into their existing practice and location or want to have a branch office in another area or even interstate.
“Practitioners wishing to retire want assurance that their practice is sold to the right purchaser who is a good fit with the clients and staff.”
A highly saleable accounting business has a quality base of clients, knowledgeable staff, strong internal systems ensuring work in progress and debtors are well controlled.
“As specialist accounting practice brokers, we assist our clients with the best advice on how to get their practice sale ready,” Chris Clifford says. “Purchasers are typically focussed on securing the future recurring fees of a practice.
“As a vendor it is important to consider factors such as the size and types of clients, the profitability of the practice, the location and size of the practice, risk factors, billing, work in progress, collection procedures, the deal structure and transition timing that is necessary.”
As experienced practice brokers, Quinn & Associates know and understand the state of the market and inform vendors and purchasers of what prices have been paid for similar sized practices in the CBD, suburban and regional areas.
“We have a ready and extensive database of purchasers’, and we know who to approach as a potential purchaser that is the right fit for your practice,” Quinn says.
“We know which purchasers are in the market at any one time and how motivated they are to buy.”
Not using a specialist broker can result in a practitioner being pressured into accepting a lower price than the market rate, as they do not have the knowledge of what other practices of a similar size and quality are selling for.
“We handle all stages of the sale from practice preparation through to successful settlement thereby allowing the client to focus on running their practice with minimal distraction,” Chris Clifford says.
Quinn & Associates have developed a sound reputation in the practice broking industry and their strength of expertise in the marketplace is widely known.
“We are confident in our ability to broker the sale of any accounting practice,” Quinn says. “We don’t ask for a listing fee, simply a commission payable upon settlement.”
