Selling Your Accountancy Practice
What your practice is really worth, how the money is actually paid, the tax that applies, and how to prepare in the 12 to 24 months before you exit. A working guide, whether you sell to us or not.
What your practice is worth
UK accountancy practices are valued as a multiple of gross recurring fees (GRF), the predictable, repeating income you earn each year. We anchor at around 0.8x GRF, inside a 0.6 to 1x range, and lead with a deliberately conservative number rather than a flattering one. Where you land depends far more on quality than on size: the same fees can be worth materially more or less.
- Anchor: around 0.8x of your gross recurring fees
- Range: 0.6 to 1x, set by client mix, concentration, systems and owner dependency
- A practice with £240K GRF anchors at roughly £240K x 0.8 = around £192K
- We give you a specific, honest range within 48 hours
We anchor low on purpose. A realistic opening number that holds up beats an optimistic one that gets walked back later.
What could your practice be worth?
The predictable, repeating fee income your practice earns each year, drag to your figure.
- Applied GRF multiple
- 0.80x
- Illustrative BADR tax (18%)
- −£34,560
- Indicative after-tax (midpoint)
- £157,440
After-tax figure assumes the gain sits within the £1,000,000 BADR lifetime limit and qualifies for the relief. Real deals depend on structure, timing and your circumstances.
On quality, you score 2 of 4, on the 0.8x anchor of the range
At £240,000 of recurring fees, we anchor at 0.8x, which is £192,000, inside a conservative 0.6 to 1x band of £144,000 to £240,000. The four quality factors above decide where inside that band a buyer lands. Turning more of them on, before you sell, is what lifts the number.
- A smaller practice is typically paid 50% on completion and 50% after 24 months; a larger one in three equal instalments over 36 months, with the deferred part tied to client retention.
- A typical sale qualifies for Business Asset Disposal Relief on the first £1m of gains.
- 12 to 24 months of preparation is usually enough to move your multiple meaningfully.
How deals are structured, and earnouts
Very few practice sales are paid entirely in cash on day one, and that is normal. The structure depends mainly on the size of the practice, and the deferred portion is tied to client retention so the buyer is protected against fees that leave or turn out to be one-off.
- Smaller practice: 50% on completion, 50% after 24 months
- Larger practice: three equal instalments (a third, a third, a third) over 36 months
- The deferred portion is tied to client retention in both cases
- A fair deferral is a sign of a serious buyer, not an aggressive one
Earnout red flags to watch: an open-ended clawback window; retention measured in a way you cannot influence after completion; vague transition obligations; and a metric that depends on the buyer’s own actions. Negotiate the clawback window, the measurement method (client count vs fee value) and unpaid transition time before terms are signed.
The tax on your sale
Get the structure and timing right and the tax on a practice sale is often very efficient. Most sales qualify for Business Asset Disposal Relief (BADR), formerly Entrepreneurs’ Relief, on the first £1m of qualifying lifetime gains. The current BADR rate is in the key figures box above and is pulled live from our rates engine. As a rough rule of thumb, practices above around £300K of recurring fees usually sell as a share sale and smaller practices as an asset sale, though we confirm the right route for your situation.
- BADR applies to qualifying disposals of shares in a trading company or a business sold as a going concern
- Sole practitioners selling a client list as an asset may need specific advice on whether the disposal qualifies
- Above ~£300K recurring fees: usually a share sale; below: usually an asset sale
- Plan the structure before you agree heads of terms, and consider timing across tax years
As qualified accountants (ACMA, CGMA, ACCA, FCCA) at a CIMA-regulated firm, the tax on a practice sale is our home turf. We advise on the most efficient structure and timing as part of the conversation.
Your 12 to 24 month prep checklist
The best outcomes come from owners who start early. Twelve to twenty-four months of runway is usually enough to move your multiple meaningfully. Work through these before you exit:
- Tidy the recurring fee base: convert genuine ad-hoc work to recurring engagements and document it
- Reduce owner dependency: move client relationships to the firm and the team, not you personally
- Spread concentration risk: a buyer pays more when no single client is make-or-break
- Modernise systems: cloud accounting and documented processes make the practice easier to value and integrate
- Keep clean, current management figures to build buyer confidence and speed the deal
- Look after your team: staff who stay keep clients, which protects your deferred consideration
Even if you are years from a decision, an early confidential conversation lets you plan these changes deliberately rather than scrambling when you are ready to go.
Score your practice: what lifts vs pulls your multiple
Run your own practice through this self-scorecard. Count the lifts you can honestly tick today; the more lifts and the fewer pulls, the closer to 1x a buyer will go. The four lifts are also the toggles in the calculator above.
- Lifts: a high proportion of recurring fees vs one-off work
- Lifts: a broad client base with no single client dominating
- Lifts: low owner dependency, with clients banking with the firm and team
- Lifts: a capable team that stays after the sale; clean, modern systems
- Pulls: fee income concentrated in a few large clients, or really one-off work
- Pulls: clients who bank with the owner personally; manual, undocumented processes; looming client losses or unbilled work
Most of the pulls are fixable with 12 to 24 months of runway. That is exactly why starting the conversation early is worth more than any negotiating tactic on the day.
The process, step by step
We move at your pace. Some conversations happen over weeks, others over many months. A typical sale to Zmartly runs in five steps:
- 1. Confidential call: 15 minutes on your situation, timeline and what a good outcome looks like
- 2. Valuation in 48 hours: a fair, honest range with a clear explanation of what drives the number
- 3. Light-touch diligence: we review the essentials, quickly and respectfully
- 4. Agree terms: price, structure and timeline, everything clear in writing before we proceed
- 5. Calm handover: clients introduced with care, staff protected under TUPE, professional clearance, HMRC transfers and PI run-off all arranged
Direct buyer, no broker: you speak to the founder from day one. No broker fees, no public listing, and confidential until you are ready.
Common questions
How much is my accountancy practice worth?
We anchor at around 0.8x your gross recurring fees, inside a 0.6 to 1x range that depends on client mix, concentration risk, systems and how dependent the practice is on you. We are realistic rather than optimistic with the opening number and give you a specific figure within 48 hours. Use the calculator above to get an indicative range on your own GRF.
How is the money actually paid?
It depends mainly on size. Smaller practices are typically paid 50% on completion and 50% after 24 months. Larger practices are usually split into three equal instalments over 36 months. In both cases the deferred portion is tied to client retention. We walk every seller through the structure line by line before terms are signed.
What tax will I pay when I sell?
Most practice sales qualify for Business Asset Disposal Relief on the first £1m of qualifying lifetime gains, at the current BADR rate shown in the key figures box. Whether the deal is an asset sale or a share sale affects the treatment; above around £300K of recurring fees it is usually a share sale. Plan the structure and timing before you agree heads of terms.
Print this part and work through it
Everything below is built to keep. Print it, fill it in, and take it to any conversation, including ours.
Selling direct vs using a broker
Most practice "sale" guides are written by brokers. They tend to dangle a high headline multiple, then take a percentage of the deal. Here is the honest contrast, so you can compare like with like. The number that matters is what you keep, not the multiple you are quoted.
Worth doing the sum: a broker quoting a higher multiple, minus a 10 to 15% fee, often nets you less than a straight, fair number with no fee. We would rather be the honest number you can keep.
Your valuation worksheet (fill in)
The interactive calculator on the web page does this live. Here is the printable version, so the logic travels with you. Pencil in your own figures.
- A. Your gross recurring fees (GRF)(predictable, repeating annual income)£ __________
- B. Your quality multiple(0.6 weak · 0.8 average anchor · 1.0 strong)____ . ____ x
- C. Indicative value (A x B)(your midpoint figure)£ __________
- D. Conservative low (A x 0.6)£ __________
- E. Stretch high (A x 1.0)£ __________
- F. Less illustrative BADR tax (C x the BADR rate above)(see the key figures box)£ __________
- G. Indicative after-tax (C minus F)£ __________
- Mostly recurring feesrepeating compliance work, not one-off projects
- No single client dominatesfees spread across many clients
- Low owner dependencyclients bank with the firm and team, not you
- Team stays after the salea capable team that transfers keeps clients
Start at the 0.8x anchor. Each quality factor you can honestly tick nudges B up toward 1.0; each one you cannot pulls it toward 0.6. Indicative only, every practice is different.
Self-scorecard: what lifts vs pulls your multiple
Tick what is true today. More lifts and fewer pulls means a buyer goes closer to 1x.
- Lift: a high proportion of recurring fees rather than one-off work
- Lift: a broad client base, no single client make-or-break
- Lift: low owner dependency, clients bank with the firm and team
- Lift: a capable team expected to stay after the sale
- Lift: clean, modern, documented cloud systems
- Pull: fee income concentrated in a few large clients
- Pull: clients who bank with the owner personally
- Pull: manual, undocumented processes
- Pull: looming client losses or unbilled work
Earnout red-flags checklist
Before you sign heads of terms, check each of these. Anything unticked is worth negotiating.
- The clawback window is defined and time-limited, not open-ended
- Retention is measured in a way you can actually influence after completion
- The measure is agreed: client count vs fee value vs billable hours
- Any metric depending on the buyer’s own actions is mutually controlled
- Transition obligations (your unpaid time) are written down, not vague
- You understand exactly how and when each deferred instalment is paid
12 to 24 month prep checklist
Start early. Most of these move your multiple meaningfully with a year or two of runway.
- Convert genuine ad-hoc work to documented recurring engagements
- Move client relationships to the firm and team, off you personally
- Spread concentration risk so no single client is make-or-break
- Modernise to cloud accounting with documented processes
- Keep clean, current management figures to build buyer confidence
- Look after and retain your team, who keep clients and protect deferred pay
- Get your own tax position and BADR eligibility sense-checked early
Questions to ask any buyer or broker
Take these to every conversation, including ours. Straight answers tell you who you are dealing with.
- 1Are you the buyer, or are you marketing my practice to others?
- 2What is your fee, and who pays it, me or the buyer?
- 3How did you arrive at the multiple, and what would change it in diligence?
- 4How much is paid on completion, and how much is deferred?
- 5How is the deferred portion measured, and over what window?
- 6What happens to my staff, and are they protected under TUPE?
- 7Who will actually look after my clients after completion?
- 8How will you keep this confidential from my clients and team?
- 9What is your track record, and can you evidence client retention?
- 10What does the timeline look like from first call to completion?
Tax and BADR timing cheat-sheet
A one-page reference, not advice. The live BADR rate and lifetime limit are in the key figures box above and refresh every tax year.
This is general information for the current UK tax year, not advice for your situation. We confirm the right structure, timing and reliefs with you before terms are signed.
Get expert eyes on your tax
Book a free 30-minute Tax Health Check — we review your situation, sense-check the figures and show you where you could save.
For guidance only — this factsheet does not constitute professional advice and is not a substitute for advice based on your specific circumstances. Whilst every care has been taken in its preparation, it may contain errors for which we cannot be responsible. Figures are for the 2026/27UK tax year (England, Wales & Northern Ireland) and may change. Last reviewed 6 June 2026.