Selling a tax practice isn't like selling most small businesses. The calendar is set by tax season, and a sale that ignores it can cost you clients and money. Here is how long a sale usually takes, the months that work best, and what tends to slow things down.
The quick answer
Why tax season drives the calendar
From January to April, nobody in a tax practice has time for anything else, including you and most buyers. Clients also notice changes most during the season, so a handoff in February is the riskiest moment for retention.
That leaves a natural window. Once the April deadline and the spring business filings are done, you have the summer to market the practice and negotiate, early fall to finish due diligence and close, and the last months of the year to introduce the new owner before clients come back in January.
The October extension deadline is the other date to plan around. Avoid scheduling the busiest parts of due diligence or the closing itself in the first half of October.
The ideal calendar, month by month
| When | What happens | Your time |
|---|---|---|
| 1–2 years before | Prepare: bring fees to market, grow recurring work, tidy records and systems. | A few hours a month |
| January – April | Run the season as usual. Note client counts and revenue by service as you go. | None beyond the season |
| May | Valuation, decide your goals, sign the listing agreement, approve the blind profile. | A few meetings |
| June – July | Confidential marketing. Buyers sign NDAs and receive the full profile. First meetings. | 1–3 buyer conversations a week |
| July – August | Offers arrive. Negotiate price, structure and your role. Sign a letter of intent. | Focused decision time |
| August – October | Due diligence, buyer financing, purchase agreement, closing. | Document requests and calls |
| October – December | Announcement letters, introductions, joint client meetings, staff handover. | Regular, planned time |
| Next January – April | First season with the new owner. You support, answer questions and step back gradually. | As agreed in the deal |
What happens in each phase
1. Valuation and decision
A broker reviews three years of revenue, your client base and services, and gives you a realistic price range and the deal structures that fit your goals. This is also when you decide how long you want to stay involved after the sale. See how practices are valued for the details.
2. Confidential marketing
Your practice is presented with a blind profile: region, revenue, client count and service mix, but no firm name or city. Buyers sign a non-disclosure agreement and are screened before they see anything that identifies you. This phase usually takes four to ten weeks.
3. Offers and the letter of intent
You meet the strongest candidates, compare offers on price, cash at closing, payment terms and transition, then sign a non-binding letter of intent with the buyer you choose.
4. Due diligence, financing and closing
The buyer verifies revenue, client data and operations while their financing is approved. With SBA financing this usually takes 45 to 90 days. Attorneys for each side finalize the purchase agreement, and the sale closes. Our 10% fee is paid from the proceeds at closing.
5. Transition
Introduction letters go out, you hold joint meetings with key clients, and you support the buyer through the next season. A well-run transition is the single biggest factor in how many clients stay.
What slows a sale down
- Starting too late in the year. Listing in November or December usually pushes the real work past tax season.
- Messy records. If revenue by client and by service is hard to produce, due diligence stalls.
- Buyer financing. Bank and SBA approvals take time, especially if the buyer isn't pre-qualified.
- The office lease. Assigning or ending a lease can take longer than the sale itself. Check your lease terms early.
- Staff uncertainty. Deciding when and how to tell key staff, and whether the buyer will keep them, needs a plan.
- Unclear goals. Sellers who haven't decided on price, timing or their own role tend to reopen terms late in the deal.
If you need to sell quickly
Health, family or other changes sometimes mean a sale has to happen fast. A practice can change hands in 60 to 90 days, usually with a cash buyer or an existing firm that can absorb clients immediately. Expect the price to reflect the shorter timeline and the lighter transition, and expect retention-based terms to matter more. Even then, a confidential process protects your client relationships while you find the right buyer.
Documents to start gathering now
- Revenue for the last three years, split by service (individual returns, business returns, bookkeeping, payroll and so on).
- A client list with annual fees per client. Early on this can be anonymized.
- Client retention for the last two or three seasons.
- Engagement letters and any client contracts.
- Tax, accounting and practice-management software, with licence and data-ownership details.
- Your office lease and any equipment leases.
- A staff list with roles, pay and tenure.
- Your entity documents and any professional licences that apply to the firm.
Wherever you are on this calendar, the first step is the same: a free, confidential valuation. It gives you a price range and a timeline built around your own tax seasons.