CPA Firm Mergers: The Best Best Practices
Source: The Marc Rosenberg Blog
The following includes excerpts, reproduced with permission, from a blog entry by Marc Rosenberg. In it, Rosenberg describes his favorite merger best practices. Following are Rosenberg's best practices for both buyers and sellers. (He also lists best practices for buyers doing downward mergers and for sellers doing upward mergers.)
- By far the biggest factor in determining the success of a merger is culture and personality fit. Both sides should spend plenty of time getting to know each other and clarifying expectations.
- Negotiate with the mindset that you don't have to do the deal.
- Don't rush through the merger process. Allow enough time for due diligence, and ask all the right questions.
- Don't automatically choose January 1 as the merger effective date. If you do, the seller has to deal with the merger, relocation, software conversion/training and . . . the tax season, all at once. Merge before January 1 or wait until after the tax season.
- Avoid a de-merger clause. It could cause one of the firms to pursue merger implementation with less than 100 percent commitment because it knows it can always pull out if it doesn't like something.
For the complete entry, read “Merger Best Practices: My Short List.”
From The Marc Rosenberg Blog, April 27, 2015, blog.rosenbergassoc.com.