Some baby boomer owners of accountancy practices may have to resign themselves to simply closing their businesses and walking away, according to business broker, Paul Tynan.
He said the simple facts of life confronting some accountancy business owners was that fewer generation X and Y accountants were keen to embrace business ownership.
Tynan said he believed many baby boomer generation accountants had been putting off their exit aspirations and plans in the hope that an ideal offer would reward them for their years of commercial endeavour.
“For a rapidly growing number that will never arrive,” he said. “Unable to find a buyer, many public practice accountants will simply switch off the lights and walk away from the accounting practice into an uncertain and underfunded retirement future.”
According to Tynan, the accounting industry is currently experiencing unprecedented change as technology continues to break the rules of past business models, creating new practice structures, services and changes to the way accountants engage with their clients.
“Baby boomer accounting practice owners continue to get older and it’s important that their lifetime of work is seamlessly passed onto a new generation, however the X and Y generations are not as keen to embrace ownership as past generations of accounting business owners,” he said.
“We are seeing fewer X and Y generation members wanting to move into business ownership for one main reason. This generation is burdened with debt! They have school fees, lifestyle expenses, house loan repayments, marriage costs, children to fund and as a result have no money left for business debt!”
Tynan said there were better prospects for those accountancy practices which had adapted to the changing environment and represented a better commercial prospect for potential buyers.
