Time is Running Out if You Want to SELL Your Firm in 2025 (click for our 2026 Waitlist)

I was talking to a CPA last month who asked me ‘how many firms have you sold near me in the last year’?

Since we don’t share internal (aka competitive) sales numbers here’s what I told him which is more important to know. We turn away or don’t work with about 80% of the accountants that contact us or are referred to us.

In other words we only work with the other 20% that we think we can legitimately help sell their firm.

Why do we turn away such a large number of potential clients? When we interview them to see what their situation is, we often find ‘red’ flags like:

– my tax returns show $800k of revenue but it’s really $1 million
– I won’t sell my firm to a (fill in some ethnicity here) accountant
– all my financial info I keep on spreadsheets and not in any software
– I’ve already told all my clients and staff I’m selling my firm
– my profits are 10% and I’d like to get 2X revenue when I sell

I could list more red flags but suffice it to say we pass on these firms because their red flags make them very difficult to sell. In other words we only work on the firms that we really BELIEVE we can find a good buyer for.

Because we take this approach, right now HALF of all the current listings we have are Sale Pending and approaching a Close Date. And it’s just a matter of time on the rest.

If You’re a 20% Firm, Here’s a 2025 TIMELINE For You – Given extensions & deadlines coming up this is a potential (albeit compressed) timeline for selling your firm:
> Next Week – Call us to talk and if there are no red flags, I’ll give you an idea of what your firm might list for.
> End of Sept – We finalize marketing materials for your firm
> Oct/Nov – We’ll start advertising & sending potential buyers to you to review
> Nov/Dec – You’ll review offers from buyers and choose one
> Dec/Jan – Your buyer goes through Due Diligence & gets financing in place
> Jan/Feb 2026 – You close & transition clients to your buyer before tax season is in full swing

I’d be lying if I didn’t tell you this is an aggressive timeline but it may be doable IF and only if we talk by the end of next week.

Now if you want to sell AFTER the 2026 tax season, it’s still a good strategy that we talk soon and get you into our marketing WAITLIST for next year (click here) now, so after the 2026 tax season you’re ready to start talking to potential buyers.

Jeff Bell – Broker – ABA Advisors – 317-674-3335 call / text – more Contact Info here