Selling, succession and insolvency: the CAs making businesses better
This article was first published on Acuity Accounting Insights.
Practice management is front of mind in this month’s update, as we examine the emotional toll selling a practice can take on business owners. We also take a look at the unique opportunities available to family businesses and the key themes accountants should be aware of when advising those clients.
We learn what a career in insolvency really looks like – belying the 'corporate undertaker' stereotype. And finally, we learn more about the role chartered accountants play in advising small and medium businesses, and how CAs can help them operate more profitably.
Selling an accounting practice: what CAs need to consider
Mark Emney, co-owner of specialist accounting sector business broker DMY, says selling an accounting practice is just as much an emotional journey for the owner as it is a business transaction.
“What you’re effectively selling is your client and staff relationships, and years of hard work,” he says.
He believes the most stressful and difficult time for accountants wanting to exit their practice is often in the lead-up to the sale process, when they have to make the decision to sell.
“At that time, they’re committing to sell but they don’t know who the buyer is, there’s almost this kind of black hole and they can’t quite picture who the right buyer is,” he says.
Read Emney's advice – along with insights from business coach Amanda Gascoigne FCA GAICD – here.
How intergenerational dynamics shape family businesses
Insights from the 2025 Grant Thornton Family Business Survey offer accountants new clarity around the challenges facing these organisations, as well as the enormous opportunities they can enjoy.
And family businesses do have opportunities that others don’t, says Kirsten Taylor-Martin CA, partner and national head of family enterprise consulting at Grant Thornton Australia. They have superpowers.
“When they have everything set up and they work well together, it’s just magic. You just can’t compete with it,” Taylor-Martin says.
Drawing on research data and insight from decades spent consulting to family businesses, Taylor-Martin says there are five key themes accountants should be aware of when advising family business clients.
What does it take to work in insolvency?
As a child, Larissa Logan FCA watched her father, a small business owner installing concrete swimming pools, navigate both boom times and tough downturns.
“I think from an early age I understood how economic cycles worked,” she says. “And I always knew, even before I got to high school, that I wanted to work with businesses in some way and help them through the cycles.”
With that guiding principle, Logan studied accounting and worked for Deloitte in the preparation of financial accounts and tax returns for SMEs, and then at ANZ as a relationship associate.
While she didn’t directly pursue a change to insolvency practice, it was an immediate and natural fit.
“I haven’t looked back since the day I entered insolvency,” says Logan. “I joined in the thick of the global financial crisis, and it was awesome and I just loved it.”
How can we help SMEs do business better?
Chartered accountants play a central role in advising small businesses on their cash flow, profitability and meeting their tax obligations, to ensure they can survive and grow.
“Chartered accountants are fantastic at helping small business,” says Susan Franks CA, Australian leader – tax, superannuation and financial advice at Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand. “Small businesses often treat their accountant as their CFO, and look to them for advice to help sustain and grow their businesses.”
With small businesses forming the backbone of Australia and New Zealand’s economies, it is essential that the accounting profession supports the sector’s resilience and long-term profitability.
Find out how CAs can help SMEs operate more profitably here.
