CPA Firm Valuation Calculator

Closed transactions put the median revenue multiple at 1.02x, the average at 1.07x, and the quartiles at 0.92x and 1.17x. In 2025 the market firmed: the average revenue multiple reached 1.11x and the average earnings multiple 2.34x, both above their five-year averages. The median sold practice went for $500,000 on $440,000 of revenue and took 169 days to sell. Sellers ask for more than buyers pay: recent asking prices ran a median 1.15x against 1.02x for completed sales.

One more number worth keeping in view: the multiple partners use internally for retirement buyouts averaged just 0.769x of revenue in the 2025 Rosenberg Survey. External buyers pay more than partners pay each other, which is part of why so many owners now look outside for succession.

Buyers in 2026 price the same five or six risk factors over and over, and the directions are consistent across Accounting Practice Sales, Poe Group Advisors, and CT Acquisitions. Recurring CAS and advisory work above 40% of revenue is the strongest premium: pure tax-compliance books trade at 4–4.5x EBITDA against 5.5–7x for recurring-heavy firms. Tax-season concentration, earning over half of revenue between January and April, compresses pricing by roughly 0.5–1x EBITDA. One client above 25% of revenue triggers a price adjustment and a longer retention look-back.

Three more factors this calculator does not model, because they need a conversation rather than a slider: staff who stay under non-competes (Poe Group lists staff without agreements among the top value killers), a modern cloud stack (legacy desktop systems discount 0.25–0.5x EBITDA), and location, where identical firms a few miles apart can differ by 10–20%. Owner-level profitability rounds out the list: a 60% cash-flow practice outprices a 25% one on the same revenue.

Price and terms are inseparable in this market. The traditional structure is the collection deal: 20% down, then 20% of collections each year for four years, which leaves the seller carrying client-retention risk. On a $900,000 firm, a 1.1x headline paid that way totals about $846,000 once 10% of fees leave in year one, while a 1.0x headline paid 80% cash at close plus a three-year note pays $900,000 and $522,000 more on closing day.

The market has shifted toward sellers: 70–80% at close is an achievable target, Accounting Practice Sales reports that most of its listings now sell for all cash at close, and competing offers push into the 70–100% cash range. Earnouts remain the structure to scrutinize; about two-thirds of earnout deals generate conflicts over the escrowed money. One term survives in nearly every deal regardless: a retention contingency, with periods under two years now rare. Model your offer at 85% and 95% retention before you sign. Our accounting practice sale calculator decodes a specific offer line by line.

Private equity firms told the Rosenberg Survey they target CPA firms with $2 million to $50 millionin revenue. Below that floor PE platforms rarely engage, which is why the small-firm market still prices on gross multiples and retention terms. Above it, the pricing language changes: the buyer starts from SDE, subtracts a normalized salary for the role the owner keeps, and applies an EBITDA multiple to what is left. That subtraction is the "scrape" that converts partner compensation into buyable earnings, and it is why a 7x EBITDA headline can describe less cash than a 1.2x revenue deal on a smaller firm.

PE buyers also normalize rent (if you own the building), family payroll, personal expenses run through the firm, and one-time costs, then discount for tax-season concentration and legacy software. A deal above the floor usually includes rollover equity and a multi-year commitment, so the money arrives in more than one installment. Who those buyers are, from PE platforms to AI-native operators, is covered in our guide to who is buying accounting firms in 2026. If you would rather keep the clients and sell only the production work, Jupid's hybrid roll-up prices the recurring work directly instead of pricing your departure.