Are You a CPA Ready to Retire? You May Want to Review These FAQ’s

Preparing For Retirement - The 5 Essential Questions You Must Ask

RETIREMENT FOR CPA’S

Like all other occupations, there is a time when you will want to retire after working as a CPA. After a long career working as a CPA, there are a number of things that you will need to settle before you officially retire. It is important to ask yourself a few questions so that you can make sure that you are making the right decision for your future. As a retiring CPA, you will want to ask yourself if you have sufficient funds to retire, if you want to sell your practice, how you will sell your practice and how will you inform your clients about your retirement. By answering these questions, you will be in a position to determine a proper course of action in ensuring a smooth transition into retirement.

WILL YOU SELL YOUR PRACTICE?

One of the first questions that you will ask yourself about retirement is if you want to sell an accounting practice that you own. It is important to determine if you plan on selling an accounting practice because it can allow you to get some funds to retire with. In some cases, you may need to sell your practice in order to retire. Since selling your practice is a major decision to make, it is important to make sure that this is something that you truly want to do.

HOW DO YOU ATTRACT BUYERS?

Another question you will want to ask yourself is how you will attract buyers. You will want to know if you plan on selling the practice to people you know or total strangers. When looking to sell your practice, it is a good idea to determine if you want to sell it to colleagues or other business acquaintances that you have met in recent years. As a retiring CPA, you will also want to find out how you will get people to buy your practice. You can tell others about the high profitability of the practice or the steady clientele in order to more easily sell your practice.

WILL YOU USE A BROKER TO SELL PRACTICE?

While you can sell a CPA practice yourself, it is also beneficial to use a business broker. Therefore, it is a good idea to determine if you plan on using a professional to help you with the sale. A business broker is a professional who is responsible for linking buyers and sellers of businesses. They interact with business owners and list businesses for sale. Once they list a business for sale, they will then look for qualified buyers. These professionals can save you a lot of time and more efficiently find you, someone, to buy your CPA practice. Therefore, a business broker is a good option to use when selling your CPA firm.

HOW DO YOU INFORM YOUR CLIENTS?

Since you are about to retire, it is important to let your clients know about this situation. Therefore, you will need to find a way on how you will let them know that you are no longer going to serve them due to an upcoming retirement. In order to inform your clients about your retirement, you can tell them yourself or send them a message via email. These methods will clearly let them know that you are retiring and that someone else will be serving them in the near future.

OTHER QUESTIONS

As you retire as a CPA, there are some other questions that you may ask yourself. These include if you have enough funds to retire and if you will miss your work. Those who retire need to make sure they have enough savings and income to fund their lifestyle during retirement. As well as ensuring that you are financially secure, it is also important to make sure that you are okay with no longer working in your field. By answering these questions favorably, you will be in a position to have a smooth retirement and sell an accounting practice successfully.