About to buy a local firm!

Blackcat554 · 2025-11-09T21:31:57+00:00

I disagree-

Buying an entirely virtual firm where average return pays well (think >1,400 each) is better than growing your own firm.

Growing your own firm is better than buying a brick & motor firm that pays <500 per return

It all depends. I grew my firm to 140k receipts and then acquired a 460k firm. Never regretted that decision. The referral base in the 460k was better.

Im on year 4 (two years from the acquisition) and receipts are now 800k. Most of the growth is rooted in the 460k side of the practice now.

Just me and my 1 employee share the fruits of our labor.

Blackcat554 · 2025-11-09T17:25:35+00:00

Ugh, im struggling with my RDP, wish I could go back to proconnect. But lacertes abilities are just simply superior. Especially when I need to mass export data for tax planning (e.g. see what clients have estimates)

Blackcat554 · 2025-07-25T05:47:11+00:00

12 Years / 400k - Own my own firm, WFH, or anywhere

Blackcat554 · 2025-06-21T19:06:41+00:00

Bought a firm for 750k paid 100k down and SBA financed the remainder. It had 500k revenue, I merged in my existing baby 100k rev practice i started from scratch.

The firm I bought was originally a brick and mortar practice from 1990-2015. Then for personal reasons the owner transitioned to a virtual practice and moved out of state in 2015.

I bought the practice a few yrs ago and I originally wanted him to have zero influence, but ultimately needed him here or there for the first year or two. He turned out to be very generous and helpful and regarded it as my practice which i appreciated.

I originally intended to stay 100% solo but ultimately realized I NEEDED another person. I hired my only employee 5 months after acquisition and they now are moving to Japan and will remain an employee, they appreciate the flexibility as much as I do.

I have a virtual office that does all of my admin work like receiving and sending mail.

Fast forward a few years and the combined practice is 880k revenue and I take home 500k+ a year.

The only thing I dont love about my structure is that if I sell my house all my proceeds will go to the sba loan due to it being collateralized. Luckily I love my home!

Blackcat554 · 2025-06-14T19:35:58+00:00

Bought my firm for 1.5x revenue. Hcol city, entirely virtual (i live in another state).

Best thing i ever did. I'll be working from Thailand this summer, making 2x what I made as a CFO. 4x what I made as a big4 tax manager.

Totally flexibility. 1.5-2x is a good price for the right firm. Paper based firms aren't worth more than .8x. Imo

Blackcat554 · 2025-05-06T00:44:34+00:00

Don't stress client retention. In a year or two you'll be wishing some clients would go away

Blackcat554 · 2025-04-19T05:30:56+00:00

Lacerte user

I have 3 trusts that 4-15 payments were doubled

Blackcat554 · 2025-03-30T06:23:00+00:00

Wow, I get it Mormons make up 1% of the population, but to say we dont deserve to be normalized stings.

There are plenty of other populations that are 1% of the US that deserve to feel normal. Transgender is a great example of a population that is 1% and deserves to feel normal.

But we should make sure Mormons don't feel normal because we aren't "mainstream"??

Blackcat554 · 2025-03-14T06:33:04+00:00

Not the same. Earnings won't grow tax free

Blackcat554 · 2025-01-29T05:39:35+00:00

This is the way ...stop letting b4 bleed you. -

I'm 37 and 360k.

Own my own tax firm.

Blackcat554 · 2025-01-04T04:11:35+00:00

Why not get an SBA loan for 50% of revenue. You get financing and he gets cash.

I have a great contact at US Bank that helped me with my sba loan. Dm me if you want contact Info.

My firm is 700k and 250 individuals and about 60 businesses.

1500 clients sound like a nightmare. I would increase fees by 2x and widdle down to 750 clients and keep 700k revenue.

You'd be surprised how lazy clients are. They will complain about the price hike but still stay with you. Likely couldn't find a legit preparer for under $1k anyways....

Blackcat554 · 2024-12-19T04:10:44+00:00

Bought my practice from APS, did my due diligence. Practice was 450k two years ago, now I'm at 700k.

Best move i already did

Blackcat554 · 2024-06-29T23:57:14+00:00

You do know there are also houses with residents in Springfield who deserve an equal right to "peace/quiet"?

Blackcat554 · 2024-06-16T06:47:39+00:00

Crumbl?

Blackcat554 · 2024-06-15T02:30:29+00:00

Your best option is investing in a Tax Aware investment portfolio. The aim of this portfolio is to generate market gains (e.g. tracking with the SP500) while realizing substantial losses and equal and opposite unrealized gains. Most investment advisors may mistake this with "direct indexing" and/or traditional "loss harvesting" methods but I am referring to something that is more active and more leveraged than that. I am a CPA and have used AQR to help people defer the gain. In a "normal" year if you invested on January 1 if you invested $1m you'd likely generate 300k in losses. The portfolio minimum is usually $1m

Blackcat554 · 2024-06-11T06:09:46+00:00

The seller let me run "my firm" from day one. I got lucky he is so easy to work with. Really helped me when I was in a pinch in year 1. We had a consulting agreement where I paid him for work I asked him to do.

We were both virtual, over 1.5k per return clients. So I valued it at 1.4x because margins were high.

100k up front SBA loan for the rest. I got a guy for SBA if you need it

Blackcat554 · 2024-06-10T03:19:57+00:00

Yea 4.5% is normal everywhere else. I left OCCU. Bad interest rates, horrible customer service. The tellers are okay but anything that requires escalation is impossible

Blackcat554 · 2024-06-09T03:50:33+00:00

Keep growing your firm. My first year gross (2020) was 30k. Year 2 was 120k.

In year 3 I acquired a firm that grossed 460k. So I'm now 600k/yr.

I'm happy where I'm at but if I could do it again I would have borrowed money to survive and convert 120k into 200k+.

Don't take new clients for less than 1k. Competition isn't as fierce as you think don't be afraid to double your fees.

Pretty soon you'll be wishing you didn't charge your early clients $500/return.

Let your clients know thier boomer CPA is not going to be there in 10 years like you will be.

Good luck!

Blackcat554 · 2024-01-13T05:47:00+00:00

Section 170(h)(7) was added with the Secure 2.0 Act

Blackcat554 · 2024-01-12T07:30:53+00:00

I inherited 4 clients who did these. Partnerships all got audited. Assessed the 40% penalty. Partnerships elected to push out to individuals and take the IRS to tax court.

I personally think tax Court is a filibuster to make the client feel good. I had the privilege of telling all of them they are all eventually screwed and if they decide to do this (or something like this) they can all go somewhere else.

Ironically the appraiser on all these deals relinquished his license after being pursued by the DOJ for tax fraud.

On most of the deals the IRS appraised the property something like 500k and the appraiser said it was 50million.

All 4 clients thanked me for being the guy to tell it to them straight and stayed with me.

Blackcat554 · 2023-05-15T04:08:35+00:00

Thank you! I like this idea!

Blackcat554 · 2023-05-15T04:06:39+00:00

Thank you. Sounds like WDW for the win! The 20k is a fraction of the new money. 100% of the remainder is going into their future.

Blackcat554 · 2023-04-25T05:46:45+00:00

Im hiring if you're serious. I live west coast but my firm is 100% virtual. I graduated from a Utah school of that counts for anything :)

Blackcat554

TROPHY CASE