July 2022
Buying financial planning businesses or accounting practices in regional areas is becoming a significant issue with many of our buyers. We have about 200 active buyers in Australia, many wanting sellers in the capital cities. They used to look at regional areas for acquisitions, but since the pandemic, it’s almost impossible to employ staff to replace the business owner.
Sellers in the country and regional areas generally want to collect the sale proceeds over a year, then move into retirement or some other career.
Qualified accountants and financial planners are impossible to find outside capital cities. Radar Results buyers are no longer prepared to risk not having support staff to run these businesses once the owner moves on.
Below in this newsletter are several positions our buyers want to fill, and with the lack of demand for regional practices, prices have fallen.
Radar Results has published a Price Guide for 15 years, and from July 2022, we will publish two Price Guides. One based on the age of the financial planning clients that are sold, and a new version based on the size of the client’s fee paid for the review service.
In capital cities and regional areas, the demand has lifted for clients who pay higher fees. The minimum fee payable to a financial planner is expected to be $4,000 to $6,000 per year. Similarly, accounting clients that pay higher fees are more valuable and sought after if they are small to medium-sized businesses.
The challenge is to find qualified accountants in these regional and country areas to take over from the owner.
