A physical therapy practice in DeKalb is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Sycamore — not on a statewide rumor multiple. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. The statewide physical therapy practices playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the DeKalb file. Confidential sale. No upfront listing fee.
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DeKalb market
Selling a physical therapy practice in DeKalb
A physical therapy practice in DeKalb is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Sycamore — not on a statewide rumor multiple. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. The statewide physical therapy practices playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the DeKalb file.
DeKalb is Northern Illinois University’s city on I-88 — campus plus a farm-and-industrial county seat region, two economies that do not share a calendar.
NIU drives restaurants, rentals, and services on an academic year; summer cash flow must be explained. Farm-service businesses in the townships follow harvest, not move-in weekend. Downtown and Annie Glidden campus-adjacent licenses are not automatic transfers. Sycamore is the quieter county-seat neighbor, not this business.
DeKalb has about 43,849 residents in DeKalb County, inside the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area. Nearby markets buyers already compare this book to include Sycamore. That comparison changes who shows up: a buyer who will drive from Sycamore is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.
Planning facts
Typical multiple
4x–7x EBITDA
Typical timeline
6–15 months
SBA eligible
Often — confirm
County
DeKalb County
Population
43,849
Metro
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Nearby comps
Sycamore
Closing clock
Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago
Rockford, the I-90 industrial belt, and Wisconsin-line towns draw owner-operators and regional manufacturers more often than a Loop platform.
State CBS-1 still applies. Price the customer list and the license holder, not a Chicago multiple.
DeKalb demand for physical therapy practices is the customer list and the license path — not the Census population figure. About 43,849 residents is context for who already lives in the trade area. It is not a sale price.
Physical Therapy Practice in DeKalb
What a DeKalb buyer will underwrite on this physical therapy practice
A physical therapy practice in DeKalb is a personal license plus a panel that will still drive here after the seller leaves. Parking, payer mix, and who can own the clinical entity are Illinois rules; the trade area is DeKalb versus Sycamore. We will not invent a ZIP premium.
Physical Therapy Practices statewide typically plan around 4x–7x EBITDA and a 6–15 months process when books and the lease are ready. That is a planning range, not a price for this DeKalb shop. Buyers here usually argue payer mix, patient volume, referral source diversity, licensed pt count.
Closing clock for this DeKalb file: Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. License path: IDFPR physical-therapist licenses are personal. The industry hub teaches the statewide rule. This URL is the DeKalb application of it.
DeKalb is a regional market. The first serious call is often an owner-operator from Sycamore, not a platform that needs $2 million of earnings to pay for diligence. SBA 7(a) and seller financing usually matter more here than a headline multiple.
Buyer pool
Who buys a physical therapy practice in DeKalb
SBA buyers who understand university towns; agricultural-service buyers in the townships. PE only for scaled routes.
Illustration: a two-clinic orthopedic PT practice in the western suburbs with a selling clinical director, two employed PTs, and 40 percent of referrals from a single sports-medicine group. Not a closed sale.
A physical therapy practice whose customers already sit in Sycamore is a larger business than one that stops at the DeKalb city limit. Tell the truth about the route. Buyers will map it.
SDE recast
How a buyer will read the books on this DeKalb physical therapy practice
PT buyers recast visits and therapist productivity after a market-rate clinical director. Pull the selling PT’s evaluation volume if they are leaving, and isolate any employer or IME contract that is personal. Medicare cap and modifier discipline belongs in the recast, not in a footnote. A 4x–7x EBITDA band assumes referrals survive the name on the door.
Illustration only — not a quote for any DeKalb shop. A physical therapy practice whose tax return shows $237,000 of net profit is not worth $237,000 × a rumor multiple.
Add back the owner’s $109,000 W-2 and payroll tax, $26,000 of discretionary benefits, $11,500 of accepted one-time cost, and $8,500 of personal expenses that a buyer will not run. Then subtract $27,000 of replacement labor if the owner still diagnoses, sells, or closes the books.
Adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings are $365,000. At the planning range 4.0x–7.0x, enterprise value is $1,460,000 to $2,555,000. Mid-range 5.50x is $2,007,500 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. A DeKalb buyer will argue the multiple after they ride with the staff and read the lease.
At 5.50 times $365,000 of seller’s discretionary earnings, enterprise value is $2,007,500 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. That is the planning conversation. It is not a listing-site guess.
SDE line items
Reported net profit (tax return, not the marketing P&L)
+ Interest expense
+ Income taxes (not payroll, sales, or property tax)
+ Depreciation and amortization
+ Owner W-2, bonuses, and payroll taxes on the owner
+ Discretionary owner benefits that a buyer will not keep (auto, personal travel, family on payroll with no role)
+ Accepted one-time or non-recurring expenses
− Market-rate replacement labor for owner work that will not transfer
= Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)
Illustration recast for a DeKalb physical therapy practice — not a quote
Net profit
$237,000
Owner W-2
$109,000
Benefits
$26,000
One-time
$11,500
Personal
$8,500
Replacement labor (subtract)
−$27,000
Recast SDE
$365,000
Planning EV at 5.50x
$2,007,500
Recast Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, then apply a planning multiple for physical therapy practices.
Replacement labor is subtracted. This is a planning tool, not an appraisal.
Recast SDE—
Planning enterprise value—
Before debt, working-capital peg, holdback, and tax. Educational only.
Enter your annual Seller's Discretionary Earnings (SDE) — your net profit plus owner's salary and any personal expenses run through the business — to estimate a range.
$
1x3.0x8x
Estimated Value Range—to—
This is an estimate for planning purposes only. Actual value depends on lease terms, asset quality, customer concentration, and current market conditions. Request a professional valuation for a precise number.
DeKalb County uses state CBS-1 plus City of DeKalb and Sycamore licenses. Student-housing and downtown retail near NIU have lease and seasonality issues.
IDFPR physical-therapist licenses are personal. Clinic ownership and use of “physical therapy” in the trade name are regulated. Medicare and commercial enrollments are change-of-ownership filings. Illinois direct-access rules still leave a referral-heavy book in many orthopedic corridors. The clinic’s IDFPR and payor numbers do not automatically follow the assets.
Labor and lease
What has to keep working on Monday after close in DeKalb
For a physical therapy practice in DeKalb, the first labor question is: Referral diversity beyond one surgeon.
Northern Illinois University drives restaurants, rentals, and services on an academic calendar. Summer cash flow must be explained. Farm-service businesses follow a different clock.
I-88 between Chicago and the Quad Cities. Two economies: campus and corn.
Diligence
What a serious physical therapy practice buyer will open
Levers that move the multiple in this vertical: Referral diversity beyond one surgeon; Staying licensed PTs and a non-seller clinical lead; Clean Medicare and commercial billing file; Visit productivity a platform will not immediately cut; Lease economics on a high-build-out clinic.
Have these ready before anyone hears the name of the DeKalb business: Visits per therapist per day and cancellation/no-show rates; Referral-source concentration (one surgeon vs a panel); Payer mix, Medicare share, and any audit history; Licensed PT vs PTA mix and who is staying; Lease, build-out, and equipment (tables, modalities, gym); Employer, cash-pay, or wellness add-ons that are real contracts.
Buyer tool
SBA payment sketch for a DeKalb physical therapy practice buyer
Most Illinois owner-operator acquisitions use SBA 7(a). This is a payment sketch, not an approval.
SBA 7(a) loans are the most common financing for business acquisitions. Estimate your monthly payment and required down payment based on the purchase price.
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This calculator provides estimates for planning purposes only. Actual SBA loan terms depend on your credit profile, the specific lender, and current market conditions. Contact us to connect with SBA-approved lenders in Illinois.
Sale steps
How to prepare a DeKalb physical therapy practice for sale
Recast this DeKalb physical therapy practice. Start with the tax return. Add owner pay. Subtract replacement labor if the seller still does the work a DeKalb buyer must hire. Do not treat a spike year as the new normal.
Name who can operate on Monday. List every credential that lets this physical therapy practice pull a permit or see a patient in DeKalb, and whether that person stays. Personal licenses do not transfer with the assets.
Tell the truth about the DeKalb trade area. Map customers against neighboring towns. Buyers will. A book that already covers those towns is larger than a book that stops at the DeKalb limit.
Open the lease and the labor file. Remaining term and assignment in DeKalb County. Whether the crew can run without the seller living eight minutes away.
Calendar the notices that apply here. Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. Start them at letter of intent, not the week of funding.
Read the statewide playbook, then talk. The Illinois physical therapy practices hub is the statute and recast teaching. This page is the DeKalb file. Confidential consult — no upfront listing fee.
Continue
Related DeKalb and physical therapy practices pages
Questions about physical therapy practices in DeKalb
Answers for owners and buyers in DeKalb County, including local closing steps.
Illinois physical therapy practices typically sell for 4x–7x EBITDA. Payer mix, patient volume, referral source diversity, and licensed therapist count are the primary value drivers.
Buyers include PE-backed PT platforms, hospital systems, larger independent PT groups, and individual licensed therapists. PE consolidation in physical therapy has been especially active over the past five years.
Heavy dependence on one or two referring physicians is a risk factor for buyers. Practices with diversified referral bases — multiple physicians, PCP networks, and direct-access patients — are worth more.
Yes. Physical therapy practices are SBA-eligible businesses. Individual buyers frequently use SBA 7(a) financing for acquisitions.
Most PT transitions include 30–90 days of active involvement by the selling therapist to support referral relationship continuity. Longer transitions are sometimes structured for practices with complex referral networks.
Most DeKalb asset sales file Illinois Form CBS-1 at least 10 business days before closing. DeKalb County does not use Chicago’s 45-day city notice unless the business also operates there. Municipal licenses and the lease still need their own calendar.
The first serious call in DeKalb is usually an owner-operator or a neighboring shop, not a coastal fund. DeKalb County buyers already know the trade area. Seller financing and a clean lease matter more than a headline multiple.
No. The planning multiple for physical therapy practices is a statewide starting point, not a DeKalb appraisal. Buyers in DeKalb County still adjust seller’s discretionary earnings, then argue the lease, licenses, labor, and owner dependency.
Service Area
Physical Therapy Practice Brokerage Near DeKalb
We serve physical therapy practices owners and buyers across DeKalb County and the surrounding region.