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Practice succession

Successful practice succession can be a real challenge. You may need to fund the retirement of older partners while keeping the practice an attractive proposition for new ones.

Featured article

Making succession planning effortless
An accounting firm broker discusses how to create a firm which is in a good place for succession planning and staff retention.

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Featured survey

GAA Global succession survey 2014
Analysis of a 2014 survey by the Global Accounting Alliance into the current state of succession planning among firms belonging to its 11 member bodies. 4,547 respondents answered questions on their plans for retirement, succession and business continuation.

ICAEW helpsheets

Closing your practice

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Technical Advisory Services 06-2023

Technical helpsheet issued to help ICAEW members consider the practical and ethical implications of ceasing to practice; be it retiring from practice or closing your practice.

Retiring from practice

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Technical Advisory Services 06-2023

Technical helpsheet issued to help ICAEW members consider the practical and ethical implications of ceasing to practice; be it retiring from practice or closing your practice.

Bloomsbury Accounting and Tax Service

Eligible firms have free access to Bloomsbury Professional's comprehensive online library, comprising more than 60 titles from some of the country's leading tax and accounting subject matter experts. Find out who is eligible and how you can access the Bloomsbury Accounting and Tax Service.

Succession planning and passing on the family or owner-managed company

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Peter Rayney Tax Planning for Family and Owner-managed Companies July 2023

Tax planning advice for passing a family or owner-managed company on to the next generation or selling to a third party, written for anyone who advises or runs one.

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Online articles

The Library provides access to leading business, finance and management journals. These journals are available to logged-in ICAEW members, ACA students and other entitled users subject to suppliers' terms of use. 

Preparing your firm for your death or disability

Advice on creating a Practice Continuation Agreement (PCA) with another firm. The PCA is an agreement by a practitioner with a firm who would acquire their practice upon their death or would service their clients if they needed time to recover from a temporary disability. The article covers how to choose a PCA partner, how to prepare before approaching them and ways to structure payment under a PCA.

Making succession planning effortless

An accounting firm broker discusses how to create a firm which is in a good place for succession planning and staff retention. Tips include: focus your service offerings, be selective about your clients, hire staff to fit your firm culture and price your services appropriately.

Succession planning: A case study

Former practice owner Denis Ryan discusses the process of ensuring successful practice succession from his general accountancy, taxation and audit practice in Ireland. He describes how he gradually reduced his hours over a four-year timescale, giving his clients time to become comfortable with his planned successors at the firm. In his view a clear and unambiguous exit is crucial for a successful transition.

Set a high bar for successors

A collection of practical tips for finding and introducing an effective successor for your accounting firm. The author stresses the need to have a consensus among the stakeholders, a clear vision for the firm after closing, and management of the new client base.

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Useful links

Business strategy: Succession planning
A collection of articles, books and online resources on succession planning for businesses.

Guide to practice management for small-and medium-sized practices
The 4th edition of IFAC's practice guide, published in 2018. Module 8 covers succession planning and includes checklists for a range of scenarios.

Articles and books in the Library collection

Selected material

Succession planning in the independent firm 
(Wolters Kluwer, 2007)
This Accountants Digest examines how to go about orderly retirement and planned succession. 

Retiring minds
Economia, Dec 2014
Highlights the issues you need to think about when retiring from your accounting practice. Includes the questions: when are you planning to retire? Are multiple exit strategies on your list of possibilities? How many of your partners or principals are planning to retire in the next few years?

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