The accounting firm launch plan
Every step from deciding to opening, in the order it happens, shaped to your situation, with your own numbers beside it. About 51 steps in 8 phases, 22 of them specific to an accounting firm. Free to read; ticking steps off and putting in your own numbers come with membership.
The plan51 steps
- 01Not started0/6Fold
Decide with the numbersa week or two
Before a dollar is spent. Most expensive mistakes happen here, and this phase costs nothing.
An accounting firm makes money four ways, and the mix decides both your and how lumpy your year is.
Typical for one unit is $400,000 to $5,000,000 a year; the owner keeps 10 to 35% of it before paying themselves. If that band does not cover what you need, that is the signal to pause and look again.
~50-60% survive 5 years. Roughly half of all new U.S. businesses reach five years.
Twelve questions about your money, time, experience and temperament, scored. Then the 5 questions this business asks of its owner, about the hours and the work. Answer both before you spend a dollar.
Rule of thumb: if you can buy a well-run firm with a renewing book, real advisory , and staff likely to stay (ideally with the seller through a transition), buying buys you years. Answer it in your situation above and the plan reshapes.
Customers, prices, rent, staff pay, what it costs to open. We filled in typical numbers; change what you know and everything on this page follows.
- 02Not started0/5Open
Plan the moneya week
What it costs to open, where the money comes from, and the cushion that keeps you alive until the business pays for itself.
An accounting firm is capital-light to start compared with a fixed-location retail business: there is no inventory and the is modest.
The itemized cost to open8 lines
- Computers, monitors, scanners, printer and network: $11,000 to $36,000A workstation and two screens per seat, a multifunction printer and a firewall
- Furniture, conference room and locked files: $6,500 to $33,000Desk and chair for each seat, a conference table, lateral files and a shredder
- Office refresh and cabling: $0 to $30,000Nothing if you take a second-generation office as is; paint, carpet, wiring and a new room at the top
- Logo, website and signs: $1,000 to $24,000How the first clients find and recognize you
- Firm permit, PTINs and peer review: $200 to $2,000State board registration, a PTIN per preparer, peer review once you do attest work
- Insurance first premiums: $2,500 to $10,500Professional liability (E&O), office policy, cyber and workers’ comp
- Lease deposit, legal setup and launch marketing: $6,500 to $25,000One to three months of rent, entity and engagement letter, opening ads
- Initial working capital: $20,000 to $90,000Payroll and overhead through the slow season, 3-6 months
Costs start on day one; customers take months. Map the first twelve months of cash so the business does not run out of money while it is getting going.
The business has to earn your pay like any other bill. Set it in your numbers and watch the month it move.
How deals in this business are financed4 lines
- SBA 7(a) loan (Up to 10 yr (25 with real estate) · 75-85% government-guaranteed)The workhorse for buying an existing practice or funding a startup’s build-out and working capital.
- Seller financing (Often 10-30% of price · 3-7 yr, retention-adjusted)Very common when buying a book of business, often with a retention clawback.
- Bank term loan / line of credit (Secured by the practice & receivables)A conventional loan or revolving line to fund growth or smooth the seasonal cash gap between busy-season collections and year-round payroll.
- Partner buy-in (Negotiated equity stake · vesting common)Bringing in a partner who buys equity is a common way to fund growth, succession, and retention of a key producer: aligning a top earner to the firm rather than a competitor.
Most new shops pair an with 10 to 20% of your own cash. Know the monthly payment before you look at a single space.
Before you shop. A lender tells you what they would fund, what they need from you (credit, your cash in, a plan with numbers), and a pre-qualification letter makes a landlord or a seller take you seriously.
- 03Not started0/4Open
Set up the companya day or two
A day of paperwork, and it has to come before the space: a lease, a loan application and every permit are in the company’s name.
Your state’s business name search, the trademark register, and the domain, before the name is on a sign, a van, or a lease.
A , an , and the S-corporation election each change what you keep and what you are exposed to. Compare them with the numbers, confirm with a CPA and an attorney, then file with your state.
After:The is free from the IRS in minutes once the company exists. The bank account needs both. Keep business money separate from day one.
After:Pick the accounting software and connect the bank account now, so every cost of opening is captured and the numbers you later are real.
- 04Not started0/6Open
Find and secure the spaceone to three months
An accounting firm has no walk-in storefront: your "location" is the market of businesses and individuals you serve.
What decides it for this business: dense small-business base, complex clients (multi-entity, multi-state), available credentialed-talent pool, a defensible niche or specialization, higher-income, business-owning population.
One call to the planning desk with the address: is this use allowed there, and what will it take (, permits, fire sign-off)? A space that needs a change of use can add months.
Rent, free months for the , who pays for what, the and the renewals, subject to financing and permits. The lender needs this letter or a draft lease to take your application.
After: ,, renewal options, increase caps, what the landlord adds on top of rent, and what happens if you have to leave. For a location business the lease is part of the purchase price.
After:at minimum; property, workers’ compensation and the rest as the business needs. The landlord asks for a certificate at signing and the lender at closing.
Walk the floor plan and the equipment list, then get contractor quotes. The lender wants the quotes; the health department wants the plan.
- 05Not started0/2Open
Get the loanfour to eight weeks
Four to eight weeks with an SBA lender, longer if the file is incomplete. Everything else waits on this, so send a complete file.
Your plan with numbers (download it as a PDF from this page), the company’s papers, the or draft lease, the and equipment quotes, your personal financial statement, and proof of the cash you put in.
After:The lender approves against the ; you sign the lease once approved; the loan closes against the signed lease and the insurance certificate. Ask for the to match the or longer.
After:
- 06Not started0/13Open
Permits and the build-outone to three months
Accounting is a licensed profession: attest work requires a CPA license and the firm itself must be registered, and you handle sensitive client data under real obligations.
Bind the policies you had quoted before a contractor, a vehicle or a customer is in play. Keep the certificates; the landlord, the lender and the city will ask.
After:Your contractors pull the building, plumbing, electrical and mechanical permits and close them out by inspection. Hold the free rent months for this.
After:Most cities approve exterior signs separately; signs take weeks to make. Order early.
Register your , PC, or partnership and obtain a city or county operating license, subject to state ownership rules for CPA firms.
With your state, before the first taxable sale. Usually free and online; check your state.
to perform attest work and to sign as a CPA: education, the CPA exam, experience hours, and continuing education.
Most state boards require the firm itself to register or hold a permit, often with a CPA-ownership majority.
Firms performing audits, reviews, or compilations must enroll in and pass periodic peer review.
Firms that audit public companies must register with and are inspected by the PCAOB.
Malpractice coverage, commonly to hold engagements and sometimes by the state board.
IRS safeguards rules and a written data-security plan are for firms handling taxpayer data, plus a document-retention policy.
Fire-marshal review of exits, extinguishers and load, after the build and before the .
After:The city’s sign-off that the space is approved for this use. You cannot open the doors without it.
After:
- 07Not started0/10Open
Set up to runduring the build
During the build, so the business runs from day one: the systems, the prices, the people and the routine.
The backbone: prepares returns, organizes workpapers, and tracks the engagement through preparation and review.
Tracks engagements, due dates, time, and WIP, and routes work through the review queue.
A dedicated account keeps compliance, advisory, and write-up separate from personal money: essential for clean books and any future sale.
You sign returns and attest to financials.
See the price the the business needs implies, then check it against what the market pays.
Federal plus state employer and withholding registrations once you hire staff.
After:Wages are the start: , insurance, training time and the hours you stop billing. Owners usually post the jobs a month out and hire two to four weeks before opening so training happens before the doors open.
Busy season (Jan-Apr): Returns and filings flood in. Early morning: Managers triage the engagement list, assign preparers, chase missing... Daytime: Staff prepare returns, close books, and run workpapers; seniors and...
Opening, closing, the sale, the complaint, the cash. One page each. This is the manual a franchise would have sold you.
Free, and it is how most people will find you. Address, hours, photos and the menu or price list, live before opening day; then the sign, the soft opening and the first regulars.
- 08Not started0/5Open
Open and measurethe first ninety days
You own it. Now run it on the numbers.
Friends, neighbors and a short menu or list. Find the problems while the room is forgiving.
Enter the real numbers and see every cost line against the for this business.
Staff compensation & utilization; Realization & write-offs; Tax-season concentration.
Growth consumes cash before it produces it. Find the rate your own cash funds before you push.
Accounting firms are in steady demand from buyers, and private-equity-backed roll-ups have begun acquiring firms aggressively to consolidate a fragmented profession.