Buying an accounting practice in Treasure Coast

• Clients who come back year after year, with a healthy mix of individuals and businesses.
• Monthly work that brings in money outside tax season.
• Fees that have kept up with the work, ideally fixed fees in signed engagement letters rather than old hourly rates.
• Staff who prepare returns, so the owner reviews instead of doing everything.
• Current tax software, a secure client portal and organized workpapers.
• Mostly routine returns, without a big share of complex or high-risk ones.
• A seller willing to stay through at least one tax season and introduce you to clients.
• Fees collected up front or by card on file, so little time goes into chasing unpaid bills.

• The client list with fees for the last three years, and how many clients came back each year.
• How the price is paid. Many practice sales tie part of the price to how many clients stay, so understand exactly how that's counted.
• Engagement letters, and how client files will move to you. Federal rules let a client list go with the sale of a tax practice, and let you review it beforehand under a written confidentiality agreement (Treasury Regulation 301.7216-2). Ask your attorney about the rest.
• Professional liability insurance, and any open client complaints, IRS penalties against preparers or Board of Accountancy cases.
• Data security. Client files hold Social Security numbers and bank details, and the IRS reminds preparers that federal law requires a written information security plan. Ask to see it.
• Seasonal staff: who the practice hires each tax season and whether they'll come back.
• The software and storage contracts, and whether they can move to you.

• How many clients have you lost or added in each of the last three years?
• How much of your revenue is monthly work, and how much is tax season?
• Who prepares returns now, and who reviews and signs them?
• Would you stay through the next tax season and introduce me to your clients?
• Are any clients in a dispute with the IRS or behind on their filings?
• When did you last raise your fees, and did anyone leave?
• Is anyone on staff a CPA or enrolled agent, and would they stay?

This region covers Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties on the Atlantic coast and Okeechobee and Highlands counties inland: Stuart, Palm City, Port St. Lucie, Fort Pierce, Vero Beach, Sebastian, Okeechobee, Sebring and Avon Park. Port St. Lucie is the largest city and has grown quickly as a suburb within reach of Palm Beach County to the south.

The coast draws retirees and winter residents, and health care, construction, real estate, boating and sport fishing are big parts of the economy. The coast lies in the Indian River citrus district, named for the lagoon. Inland, Okeechobee and Highlands are cattle, dairy and citrus country around Lake Okeechobee and along the ridge near Sebring, with many retirees of their own. Home service companies, the building trades, marine businesses and medical practices find steady customers here.

The coast is seasonal, with winter residents filling restaurants, golf courses and service schedules, and summer is quieter. Hurricane Nicole came ashore near Vero Beach in November 2022, and the region has a long history of storms, so check insurance, flood zones and how a business came through recent ones.

Water quality in the St. Lucie River and the Indian River Lagoon is a recurring problem, and in a bad year it can hurt fishing, boating and tourism businesses. Inland, distances are longer and the labor pool thinner. A company in Sebring or Okeechobee may be one of very few of its kind nearby, which can mean loyal customers and little competition, but also few people to hire. Most new homes on the coast are going up in and around Port St. Lucie.