How to Prepare Your Accounting Business for Acquisition

Why prepare for acquisition?

As an accountant, you may have built your business from scratch and invested a lot of time, money, and energy into it. You may not be thinking of selling it anytime soon, but you never know when an opportunity or a necessity may arise. For example, you may receive an attractive offer from a larger firm, or you may face personal or professional challenges that require you to exit the market. In either case, you want to be able to sell your business quickly and smoothly, and get the best possible value for it.

 

How to prepare for acquisition?

Preparing your business for acquisition involves several steps, but one of the most important ones is to make sure that your technology assets are in order. Technology assets include software licenses, domain names, email accounts, social media accounts, and any other digital tools or platforms that you use to run your business. These assets are essential for your business operations, reputation, and customer relationships. They also affect the valuation of your business, as potential buyers will look at them as part of the due diligence process.

 

What are the best practices for technology assets?

Here are some best practices that you should follow to ensure that your technology assets are ready for acquisition:

• Use your business name and contact information for all your technology accounts. Avoid using personal email accounts or names that are not related to your business. This will make it easier to transfer ownership and avoid confusion or disputes.

 

• Keep track of who has admin access to your technology accounts. You should have a clear list of who can access, modify, or delete your software licenses, domain names, email accounts, social media accounts, and other digital assets. You should also have a backup plan in case you lose access or need to revoke access from someone.

 

• Keep a “runbook” with admin credentials for your technology accounts. A runbook is a document that contains all the information and instructions that are needed to operate your technology assets. It should include the usernames, passwords, security questions, recovery codes, and other details that are required to access and manage your accounts. You should store your runbook securely and update it regularly. You should also share it with a trusted person or a professional advisor who can help you in case of an emergency or a sale.

 

• Make sure your software and hardware is up to date. When prospective buyers look at your business they will factor in technology upgrade costs. If they perceive they will need to replace all of your software and hardware it will lower your company value. 

 

• Know your contractual agreements. Be sure to track how long you are contracted for all your software and support services. Many applications are sold as a month to month subscription but some also carry a longer term. 

 

By following these best practices, you will not only make your business more efficient and secure, but also more attractive and valuable to potential buyers. You will also save yourself a lot of time and hassle when it comes to negotiating and closing a deal. So, don’t wait until you are ready to sell your business. Start preparing it for acquisition today.