The honest answer is that selling an accountancy practice usually takes six to twelve months from decision to completion, and often longer once you count the earn-out and handover that follow. A clean, well-prepared firm sold to a ready buyer can move faster; a firm with messy records, heavy founder dependence or an ambitious asking price can drift well beyond a year. The timeline is not a fixed thing you are handed. It is the sum of decisions you make, the state of your records, and how responsive everyone chooses to be.
It helps to see the sale as eight distinct stages rather than one long wait. Each has its own realistic duration, and each can be shortened or lengthened by choices largely within your control.
This is the stage owners most often underestimate, and the one that quietly determines everything downstream. Getting sale-ready means clean, reconciled records; up-to-date client lists with fees, services and engagement letters; sensible WIP and debtor positions; and a firm that can function when you step back. Realistically this takes three to nine months if there is real work to do, and it is time exceptionally well spent. A firm that is genuinely ready to be examined by a buyer sells faster, more smoothly and usually for more. Our guide on preparing your firm for sale goes through this in detail, but the short version is that preparation is where value is protected before a single conversation begins.
Once the firm is in reasonable order, you establish a defensible value and decide how to approach the market. Arriving at a realistic figure, gathering the supporting information a buyer will want, and preparing an information pack typically takes two to six weeks. The valuation itself is quick; the discipline is in pricing to the evidence rather than to hope. An over-priced firm can sit unsold for many months and start to look tired, which is the most expensive kind of delay. If you want a grounded starting point, our valuation approach is designed to be honest rather than flattering.
With the firm presentable and priced, you begin conversations with credible buyers, each preceded by a non-disclosure agreement before any sensitive detail changes hands. This stage runs four to eight weeks, sometimes longer if you are meeting several parties. The aim is not the largest number of conversations but the right ones, with buyers whose intentions for your clients and staff you can actually live with. A serious, well-matched buyer will move at a sensible pace; a curious tyre-kicker will absorb your time and give little back.
When a buyer is genuinely interested, you agree heads of terms, the outline of price, structure, earn-out, timing and key conditions. Negotiating and signing heads of terms usually takes two to four weeks. It is not legally binding on the main commercial points, but it sets the shape of the whole deal, so it rewards care. Much of the price in practice sales is deferred and linked to client retention, which is why understanding the mechanics matters. Our note on earn-outs explained is worth reading before you sign anything, because the structure you agree here governs how, and how much, you are actually paid.
Once heads of terms are signed, the buyer examines the firm properly: financials, client and fee analysis, engagement terms, staff, systems, compliance, and any liabilities. Due diligence typically takes four to eight weeks, and this is where preparation pays back most visibly. A firm with clean, cloud-based records and prompt answers can be through diligence in a month. A firm that has to reconstruct information, chase paperwork or explain inconsistencies can stretch this to several months and, worse, can shake a buyer's confidence in the numbers they were shown.
In parallel with, and following, due diligence, the solicitors draft and negotiate the sale agreement, warranties, restrictive covenants and any employment or property matters. Legal documentation commonly runs four to eight weeks. The single biggest variable here is the pace and pragmatism of the professional advisers on both sides. Good corporate solicitors who understand practice sales keep this tight; advisers who treat every clause as a battleground can add a month or more for little real protection. Choosing advisers with relevant experience is one of the most effective things you can do to keep a deal on schedule.
Completion is the point of exchange and, usually, the initial payment. In itself it is quick, a matter of days, once documentation is agreed and conditions are met. It feels like the finish line, but for most practice sales it is really the start of the part that determines your final proceeds.
Because so much of the value in a firm sits in ongoing client relationships, a large share of the price is typically paid over an earn-out of one to three years, linked to how many clients stay and what they are worth. The handover period, where you introduce clients, transfer relationships and support continuity, usually spans three to twelve months of active involvement. This is not a formality. It is the period that decides your final consideration, and it deserves the same care as everything before it.
There is a strong temptation, once completion arrives, to treat the job as done and to hand over quickly so you can move on. This is usually a mistake. Clients stay because they trust the person who has looked after them; that trust is transferred by unhurried, personal introduction, not by a hasty round of emails. A rushed handover raises the risk that clients drift or leave, and because your earn-out is tied to retention, every client lost in a clumsy transition is money taken directly out of your own proceeds. The patient path is not just better for clients and staff; it is better for you financially. For a fuller picture of how the whole process fits together, see our guide to selling your accountancy practice.
Put the stages together and a realistic expectation is six to twelve months to completion, followed by a handover and earn-out that can run one to three years. A well-prepared firm with a motivated buyer can sit at the shorter end; complications at any stage can extend it. The most useful thing you can do is start earlier than feels necessary, get your records and systems genuinely in order, and price to the evidence. Time spent preparing is rarely wasted, and it tends to buy back multiples of itself later.
This article is general information about how practice sales tend to unfold, not tax, legal or investment advice, and Founder Capital is not FCA-authorised. Your own timeline and figures will depend on your firm's circumstances, so please take specific advice from a qualified tax adviser and solicitor before you act.
