Lindenfield Business Funding helps accounting, tax and bookkeeping firms in La Crosse, WI request term loans for buying a practice or book of clients and lines of credit for staffing ahead of fee collections. La Crosse County, WI had 43 such firms with payroll in 2023. Funding partners decide on any offer, and you choose.
| Accounting, tax and payroll service employers in La Crosse County, WI | 43 (CBP 2023) |
|---|---|
| Employees and payroll | 557; $25.3 million (CBP 2023) |
| In ZIP 54601 | 24 (ZBP 2023) |
| Firms without payroll | 69 (NES 2024) |
How Accounting Firms Earn and Spend
Fees for returns, audits and advisory work can be billed after the work is done, and part of the year's work can cluster around filing deadlines. Staff costs come first; collections follow. Bookkeeping and payroll services may bill monthly.
Accounting business loans can come down to two things: acquisitions and timing.
Accounting Firm Financing Options
| The spending in question | Option to look at first | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Buying a book of clients or a whole practice | Term loan | Paid back out of the fees acquired |
| Payroll ahead of collections | Line of credit | Draw before, repay after collections |
| Moving or refitting the office | Term loan | A one-off project |
| Software and hardware upgrades | Equipment financing | Spread over the systems' life |
See term loans and business lines of credit.
What It Costs to Buy a CPA Firm
There is no local price list, and we will not invent one. Sale prices for accounting practices can be discussed in relation to the practice's annual recurring fees, and a deal may include terms tied to how many clients stay after the sale. What partners care about is whether the fees you are buying, after realistic attrition, cover the loan payment with room to spare.
CPA firm financing for an acquisition may ask for the seller's fee history by client or service line, the client retention terms in the agreement, and your plan for the transition.
Census Counts for Accounting Firms in La Crosse County, WI
County Business Patterns counted 43 accounting, tax preparation, bookkeeping and payroll service employers (NAICS 5412) in La Crosse County, WI in 2023, with 557 employees and $25.3 million in annual payroll, about 13 employees per firm (our arithmetic). Sixteen, or 37.2%, had fewer than five employees, and 24 had a ZIP 54601 address (ZBP 2023).
Nonemployer Statistics counted 69 such businesses with no paid staff in 2024, with $1.8 million in receipts (a separate program and year). Professional, scientific and technical services as a whole had 220 employer establishments in the county in 2023. County context: La Crosse, WI data page.
What Partners Review for an Accounting Firm
- Fee revenue by month for at least a year, showing when fees arrive
- Accounts receivable and work-in-progress at the busiest point
- Client concentration: the share of fees from the largest clients
- For acquisitions, the seller's fee history and the purchase terms
A partner may weigh recurring monthly clients differently from once-a-year returns, so show the mix.
An Illustrative Book Purchase
Hypothetical figures, for arithmetic only. A firm buys a retiring practitioner's client list with $200,000 of annual fees. If 15% of clients leave in the first year, $170,000 of fees remain. After the cost of serving them, the remaining margin must cover the loan payment. Run the sum at a higher attrition rate too, to see how much room there is.
Questions Before Buying a Book or Opening a Line
- How much of the seller's fee base is recurring monthly work?
- Are the largest clients likely to stay after the sale?
- How far does the line need to stretch past the filing deadline?
- Will the seller help with client introductions?
Firms in the county averaged about 13 employees in 2023 (CBP, our arithmetic), so staffing weighs on any request.
By Lindenfield Business Funding · Updated
