When a buyer approaches your firm, they will have done this dozens of times. You may be doing it once. The fastest way to level the field is to ask better questions — and watch how comfortably they're answered. Here are the ten we'd ask.
Recurring fees, WIP, debtors, premises, your personal advisory clients? Ambiguity here becomes an argument later.
The headline multiple means nothing without the structure. If most of the price is contingent, the risk is still yours. (See our earn-outs guide.)
Ask for specifics: whose roles change, who reports to whom, what happens to pay and progression. "Nothing changes" is not a plan — integration always changes something, and a buyer who pretends otherwise hasn't done it before or isn't being straight.
Some buyers absorb everything into their name within months. Others keep local identity permanently. Neither is wrong — but you should know which deal you're signing.
Technology migration is where integrations succeed or quietly fail. A credible buyer can name the stack, the timeline and the support you'll get.
The single most revealing question. A buyer with happy sellers will connect you the same day. Hesitation is data.
If you're staying, get the shape of the role, your authority over client relationships, and your reporting line in writing.
Clients lost to death, sale or the buyer's own decisions shouldn't reduce your price. If carve-outs aren't offered readily, the structure is designed to shift risk to you.
Committed capital, platform cash flow, or debt raised deal-by-deal? You're entitled to understand the covenant behind your deferred payments.
A serious buyer has a real answer: your sector mix, your region, your team, your fee quality. "We're acquiring in your area" means you're a row in a spreadsheet — and you'll be treated like one.
Notice how the conversation feels. Straight answers, comfortable with scrutiny, unbothered by you taking advice — that's what a good partner looks like before the deal. It only gets more honest from there in one direction.
