Accounting Practice Exchange Connects Firm Sellers and Buyers

The Accounting Practice Exchange has launched a new website (www.accountingpracticeexchange.com) that takes a different approach to how many accounting and tax practitioners have traditionally tried to sell their practice: A direct peer-to-peer approach that may make it easier & cheaper to do.

Daniel Crowley, founder and CEO of The Accounting Practice Exchange, says he noticed a gap in the market for a specific website aimed at the sale of accounting, CPA and tax practice firms in the US.

“I am not reinventing the wheel, just launching a specialized service,”  he said. “Classified advertising websites focusing on the sale of businesses have proven to be a powerful sales tool in the mainstream market, but certain sectors have nuances unique to them and general listing sites just don’t work.”

The accounting and tax practice arena is one such sector he says that might be transformed by the new practice-specific sales website.

The Accounting Practice Exchange is designed as a meeting place for buyers and sellers of professional practices, allowing a “For Sale by Owner” style market where sole practitioners can advertise and connect with potential buyers at a national level without employing a third party business broker.

For professionals considering the purchase of a practice, the “Buy Side” of the system offers the ability to search for the latest opportunities in the marketplace, by type, location and other factors.

For practitioners without fellow junior partners to sell to, specialist business brokers have been the traditional method of selling, with brokerage fees averaging between 10 – 15 percent of the final sales price. The Accounting Practice Exchange is based on advertising by those seeking to seel, with rates starting at $99 for basic listings.

“When you compare a hundred or two hundred dollars with a 15 percent brokerage fee on a practice selling for $250,000, you are looking at a fee of $37,500,” Crowley said. “That’s one big difference that could really affect the sale of your business.”