Glenpoint Finance, a small-business funding service in Dubuque, Iowa, covers accounting, tax and bookkeeping practice funding: loans to buy a CPA firm or a partner's share, credit lines for uneven fee months, working capital and growth. Dubuque County NAICS 5412 counts from County Business Patterns 2023 and Nonemployer Statistics 2024 are included.
| CPA, tax and bookkeeping firms with payroll, Dubuque County, IA | 37 establishments (CBP 2023) |
|---|---|
| Employees | 465, with $34.2 million payroll (CBP 2023) |
| Accounting and tax businesses with no payroll | 68 (NES 2024) |
A fee year that is not flat
Tax preparation work can bunch around filing deadlines, audit and review work can follow clients' fiscal years, and bookkeeping and payroll services can bill monthly. A firm heavy on individual returns may collect a large share of its fees in a few months, while salaries, rent and software run every month. Clients who pay late, or firms that bill engagements on completion, widen the gap.
CPA firm financing for uneven months
A line of credit drawn in the lighter months and repaid when fees come in can fit. A firm that adds employees ahead of its heavy months may use working capital for a one-time gap instead. Some partners ask that the line be paid down to zero at some point in the year.
Pricing a CPA firm purchase: what drives the number
A practice's price can be tied to its annual recurring fees, adjusted for client retention, fee mix and how much the seller stays involved during transition. A loan to buy an accountancy practice can be a term loan sized to the fees acquired, with a down payment and sometimes a seller note or a retention-based earn-out. Partners read the seller's fee history by client type, retention, engagement letters and the transition agreement.
Matching a firm's need to accounting firm financing
| Need | Often fits | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Buying a practice or client list | Term loan | Sized to recurring fees |
| Buying out a retiring partner | Term loan | Read with the partnership agreement |
| Payroll in lighter months | Line of credit | Draw and repay |
| Technology or office fit-out | Equipment financing | Or a small term loan |
How to grow an accounting practice
- Add recurring monthly services, such as bookkeeping and payroll, to even out the fee year.
- Buy a retiring practitioner's client list rather than building from scratch.
- Bill engagements in stages instead of on completion.
- Invest in software that lets each employee handle more clients.
Each of these has a funding angle: a client-list purchase is a term loan, and staged billing may reduce the need for a credit line.
Records partners read on accounting business loans
- Fee history by service line and month
- Client retention and concentration
- Bank statements and tax returns
- Partnership or operating agreements for buyouts
Illustrative example: buying a retiring practitioner's clients
Illustrative only, not an offer. A four-person firm buys a retiring sole practitioner's client list producing $240,000 a year in fees. The price is paid partly in cash, partly through a seller note tied to first-year retention, and partly with a seven-year term loan. If 85% of clients stay, the acquired fees are about $204,000 a year, and the loan payment is judged against that, not the full $240,000.
Partner retirement and buyout terms
Partnership agreements in accounting firms can set out how a retiring partner's share is valued and paid, sometimes as a percentage of the fees that partner's clients produce over the following years. If the remaining partners pay that out of cash flow, no outside funding is needed. If the payout is large or the firm wants to pay it faster, a term loan can fund it.
Partners read the agreement, the fee history of the retiring partner's clients and how many have stayed through earlier transitions. Documented client handovers give a partner something to read on that question.
Dubuque County, IA accounting and tax practices in census counts
Dubuque County had 37 accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll services employers in 2023, with 465 employees and $34.2 million in payroll; 56.8% had fewer than five employees, and 16 had a ZIP 52001 address (CBP and ZBP 2023). Nonemployer Statistics 2024 counted 68 such practices with no payroll.
Other professional services, including insurance agencies, are on the industries hub. County figures are on Dubuque County figures.
By Glenpoint Finance · Updated
