Lodgehollow Funding Group arranges funding requests for accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll firms in New Bern, NC and Craven County. Filing deadlines can bunch hiring and fees, and a firm can grow by buying another practice. This page covers term loans for acquisitions, lines of credit for the year's swings and what partners review, with County Business Patterns 2023 figures.
| Accounting and tax employers, Craven County, NC | 33 (CBP 2023) |
|---|---|
| Under five employees | 21, or 63.6% |
| Employees at those firms | 184 (CBP 2023) |
| Listed in ZIP 28560 | 4 (ZBP 2023) |
| No-payroll accounting and tax practices | 90 (NES 2024) |
Uneven Work, Even Payroll
Filing deadlines shape the work of accounting and tax firms. Workloads and fees can bunch around them, while salaries, software subscriptions and rent run evenly through the year. A firm may add preparers or pay overtime before the heaviest weeks and collect the resulting fees afterward. Bookkeeping and payroll services may be billed monthly.
Accounting business loans therefore tend to cover two different needs: smoothing the year, and buying growth.
Lines of Credit for the Year's Swings
A line of credit drawn before the heavy weeks to cover extra hires and repaid as fees are collected matches the firm's own calendar. Partners look at monthly deposits across a full year, which show the pattern clearly.
Illustrative example only: a firm adds three temporary preparers for ten weeks at a combined $36,000 in wages. Fees from the extra returns arrive over the following two months. Drawing on a line for the wages and repaying from those fees keeps the cost to the weeks the money is actually used.
Financing the Purchase of a CPA Practice
A firm can grow by buying another practice or a retiring accountant's client book. Accounting firm financing for an acquisition is usually a term loan repaid from the acquired clients' fees. Partners review the seller's revenue by client, retention history, the purchase agreement and the buyer's own financials. Some agreements tie part of the price to how many clients stay, which partners will want to understand.
Pricing a CPA Firm Purchase: Who Sets the Number
No price list exists for accounting practices. The figure is negotiated between buyer and seller and usually discussed in relation to the practice's recurring annual fees, client retention and the mix of services. Your own accountant or a valuation professional can help set it. The funding request starts once a price and terms are agreed, and the partner judges whether the acquired fees can carry the payment.
Technology and Office Costs
Software, secure document systems, workstations and an office move are smaller one-time costs. Hardware can be financed as equipment; a move or build-out is a term request.
Bookkeeping and Payroll Services: A Monthly Pattern
A firm whose clients pay monthly for bookkeeping and payroll processing can show a different deposit pattern from a tax-heavy practice whose clients pay mainly around filing deadlines. Twelve months of deposits show which pattern a firm has. A practice that is shifting its mix toward monthly services can show that trend there too, which gives a partner more to review for either a line or an acquisition loan.
Tax and Bookkeeping Firms Counted in Craven County, NC
County Business Patterns counted 33 accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services employer establishments in Craven County in 2023, with 184 employees and $7.2 million in annual payroll. Twenty-one, 63.6%, had fewer than five employees; 4 had a ZIP 28560 address (ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023). Nonemployer Statistics counted 90 no-payroll accounting and tax practices in the county in 2024, a separate program and year.
After the Purchase: Keeping Clients
The value of an acquired practice is its clients, and some will leave after a change of owner. A transition period in which the seller introduces the buyer, and a clear letter to clients, help retention. From a funding view, a buyer who plans for some client loss and can still carry the payment presents a more convincing request than one who assumes every client stays.
The Records an Accounting Firm Sends
- Twelve months of bank statements, to show the full-year pattern
- Revenue by service line and by client for acquisitions
- Client retention history
- The purchase agreement or letter of intent
- Existing loans and leases
Related Pages
Law firms face similar timing issues; see the law firm page. The New Bern, NC data page shows professional services within the county's economy.
By Lodgehollow Funding Group · Updated