Letter from John Ezell, President ProHorizons

April 15, 2011

While the Top 100 firms have been busy doing M&A deals, I’ve heard that as many as 70 of those firms actually completed a transaction in 2010.  The other 50,000 firms, that is the rest of us, have been sitting on the sidelines to see what happens next.  Why?

The Economy

The most obvious answer is the economy, but it was more visceral than that.  The hesitation we have seen was caused by fear.  Fear of the unknown, fear of the collapse of our banking system, fear of the collapse of the government, fear of outlasting our money, etc, etc.  There are very few root motivators, but fear is a big one.

But things are settling down.  The economy is getting better.  We are not overly confident, but the economy is certainly better than it was two years ago.  We still have natural disasters and we still have economic woes, but we will work through those as well.

So, why do I digress on these large-scale topics when we advise in accounting and tax practice sales, mergers and acquisitions and other CPA transitions?  I do so because these topics affect the timing of when we want to do deals, but they do not affect our ultimate motivation.  Mergers and acquisitions will always happen; it is only the volume that gets affected.

What is new for 2011?

We are launching several new webinars and our completely new all-day seminar, Transitioning Your Practice: Planning for Sales, Mergers & Acquisitions of Accounting Firms.  These programs will address a variety of topics Current M&A Trends for Accounting Firms, Succession Planning for Accounting Firm Partnerships, Creating New Clients: Successful Lead Generation, Preparing Your Practice for Sale, and Benchmarking Your Accounting Practice.

We are continuing to offer our best selling webinars with some new updates to them.  See our webinar page for a complete list.  We are also offering our popular two day workshop, How to Sell Accounting Services: Becoming a Rainmaker at two locations this year.  So, whether you are considering selling, merging, buying or building your accounting and tax practice this year or next, I would encourage you to check out these programs.

We launched our MVP Program last year and we’ve made a few changes to it this year.  In short, the MVP program is a cost effective way for you to gain knowledge. The knowledge you will need to achieve your practice development and succession goals, and, it will be at a lower investment than you would if you had done some of these things individually.  We found that most people that attended one of our webinars usually attended several others.  Now you can attend all of the webinars at a reduced price, have access to some proprietary resources, and get discounts on other programs and services as well.

Finally, if you are someone that hopes to sell their firm before the next tax season, do not delay.  The time to start the process is now.  We have found that those practice owners that start the selling process early are much more likely to have a successful outcome than those that wait until October or November.  That means you will have better choice of buyers, more money upfront and a better overall price.

If you have any questions, or simply want to talk through possible scenarios call or email me.

Sincerely,

John R. Ezell, CPA, CEPA
President, ProHorizons Network, Inc