Contracts & Agreements

In addition to CPA and accounting practice sales & mergers, Ragan & Associates provides enterprise consulting to CPAs including Operating, Buy/Sell, Non-Compete, Employment, and Consulting Agreements. We focus on the operating and financial issues of these agreements, from partner compensation to retirement buyouts that protect the practice, the partners, and unforeseen events while crafting a document that is flexible enough to accommodate change and growth. With hundreds of CPA sales, we are able to share the markets ‘best practices’ with our clients and apply them to their unique circumstances. We find that many organizations, whether they are LLCs, Corporations or Partnerships, have outdated Agreements that require updating to reflect the industry’s current practices in order to remain competitive and relevant.

Agreements Ragan & Associates prepares for clients that can be purchased separately. Call or email for more information and pricing.

  • Asset Purchase Agreements – Describes and conveys the intangible and tangible assets being sold with the necessary warranties and representations specific to the sale of the assets of an accounting practice.
  • Stock Purchase Agreements – Describes and conveys the equity ownership interest being sold with the necessary warranties and representations specific to the sale of an accounting practice.
  • Asset and Stock Sale Exhibits – Schedules that detail the clients, revenues, assets, liabilities, accounts receivable, work in process and any other equity items that may or may not be part of the transaction.
  • Partnership/Operating Agreements – Describes duties and responsibilities of members of a limited liability corporation and how the corporation is to be operated and managed.
  • Employment/Confidentiality/Non-Compete/Non-SolicitationAgreements
  • Consulting/Confidentiality/Non-Compete/Non-Solicitation Agreements
  • Seller Non-Compete Agreements – Area, Limits, Terms, ability to still work elsewhere, etc.

Types of the Issues Addressed in a Seller Consulting Agreement

  • Partner (Member/Shareholder) Compensation, industry standard formulas
  • Partner Hours – Managing, Administrative and Other
  • Partner Compensation during Disability
  • Mandatory Retirement, Minimum and Maximum Ages
  • Working after Retirement
  • Admission of new Partners
  • Partnership Tracks for Employees
  • Voluntary Withdrawal of a Partner
  • Withdrawal for Cause, defined with terms
  • Company verses Partner Expenses, limits
  • Distribution of Cash Flow, defined
  • Mandatory Minimum Cash Reserves
  • Variable Company Valuations based on Retirement, Disability, Buyout, Buy-In, Merger and/or Withdrawal of Partners
  • Terms of Payment for the Above Scenarios

From Blog

Many of our competitors promise their clients all cash deals. But we have found that those are the worst M&A transactions for long-term success, for both parties.

If the Seller gets all cash at closing then he/she has no incentive to carefully transition the clients over time, and it takes time. Instead, they are off sipping martinis, believing they got the best deal ever, only to find themselves in court a year later.

Once the Buyer realizes that he/she is not going to get all of the clients/revenue that they paid for, they litigate. And a majority of the clients won’t transfer without Seller involvement, so attrition will be high.

We know this because they call us as expert witnesses. In addition, all cash deals get lower multiples because all of the risk is with the Buyer, so they pay less.

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