Sell a Financial Advisory Firm in Des Plaines, Illinois
A financial advisory firm in Des Plaines is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Park Ridge — not on a statewide rumor multiple. CBS-1 (10 business days) plus Cook County’s 45-day local notice; Chicago’s 45-day city notice only if this business also operates in the city. The statewide financial advisory firms playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Des Plaines file. Confidential sale. No upfront listing fee.
Confidential • No upfront fees • Illinois statewide
Des Plaines market
Selling a financial advisory firm in Des Plaines
A financial advisory firm in Des Plaines is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Park Ridge — not on a statewide rumor multiple. CBS-1 (10 business days) plus Cook County’s 45-day local notice; Chicago’s 45-day city notice only if this business also operates in the city. The statewide financial advisory firms playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Des Plaines file.
Des Plaines is the O’Hare-edge Cook suburb on the Des Plaines River, with a downtown Metra station and airport-hotel/industrial demand that Mount Prospect does not share.
Airport hospitality, cargo-adjacent services, and a conventional downtown retail book are three different buyers. Flight-path and hotel-cycle seasonality belong in the recast. This is not a quiet Northwest Highway professional village — it is the first suburb the airport actually touches.
Des Plaines has about 58,720 residents in Cook County, inside the Chicago-Naperville-Elgin area. Nearby markets buyers already compare this book to include Park Ridge, Elk Grove Village, Mount Prospect, Niles. That comparison changes who shows up: a buyer who will drive from Park Ridge is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.
Planning facts
Typical multiple
2x–3x Annual Revenue
Typical timeline
9–18 months
SBA eligible
Often — confirm
County
Cook County
Population
58,720
Metro
Chicago-Naperville-Elgin
Nearby comps
Park Ridge, Elk Grove Village, Mount Prospect, Niles
Closing clock
CBS-1 (10 business days) plus Cook County’s 45-day local notice; Chicago’s 45-day city notice only if this business also operates in the city
Cook County and the City of Chicago add 45-day bulk-sale notices on top of Illinois Form CBS-1 (10 business days). That calendar is longer than most downstate businesses.
Buyer density is the highest in Illinois. Confidential outreach matters more here than a public ad on a recognizable storefront.
Des Plaines demand for financial advisory firms is the customer list and the license path — not the Census population figure. About 58,720 residents is context for who already lives in the trade area. It is not a sale price.
Financial Advisory Firm in Des Plaines
What a Des Plaines buyer will underwrite on this financial advisory firm
A financial advisory firm in Des Plaines is retention and re-papered appointments or a signing credential — not a contest year. Households and commercial accounts already compare Des Plaines to Park Ridge, Elk Grove Village, Mount Prospect. Confidential outreach matters; employees commute and talk.
Financial Advisory Firms statewide typically plan around 2x–3x Annual Revenue and a 9–18 months process when books and the lease are ready. That is a planning range, not a price for this Des Plaines shop. Buyers here usually argue aum size, client retention, revenue per client, fee structure (recurring vs transactional).
Closing clock for this Des Plaines file: CBS-1 (10 business days) plus Cook County’s 45-day local notice; Chicago’s 45-day city notice only if this business also operates in the city. License path: SEC or state IARD registrations, Series licenses, and Illinois securities notice filings sit on people and on the RIA — they do not ride with a customer list. The industry hub teaches the statewide rule. This URL is the Des Plaines application of it.
In a suburb like Des Plaines, ria aggregators, larger advisory firms, pe-backed wealth management platforms are the names that usually appear on the NDA list. A buyer who will drive from Park Ridge is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.
Buyer pool
Who buys a financial advisory firm in Des Plaines
Cook has the deepest Illinois buyer pool: SBA owner-operators, PE home-services and healthcare platforms, and strategics who already have a Chicago route. Density is an asset and a leak risk. Employees and landlords hear rumors faster here than in a downstate county. Confidential outreach is the default, not a listing-site photo of a recognizable storefront.
Illustration: an independent RIA book in Oak Brook with $90 million in fee-based AUM, two service advisors, and a founding advisor who still owns the largest 15 households. Not a closed sale.
A financial advisory firm whose customers already sit in Park Ridge, Elk Grove Village, Mount Prospect, Niles is a larger business than one that stops at the Des Plaines city limit. Tell the truth about the route. Buyers will map it.
SDE recast
How a buyer will read the books on this Des Plaines financial advisory firm
RIA and advisory buyers often quote 2x–3x recurring revenue or an AUM conversation; this business uses 3x–5.5x SDE as a Main Street planning band. Recast fee-based AUM after a market-rate advisor if the seller still owns every household. Pull transaction and trail spikes, and any held-away assets the seller cannot assign. Household retention is the diligence, not the AUM slide.
Illustration only — not a quote for any Des Plaines shop. A financial advisory firm whose tax return shows $179,000 of net profit is not worth $179,000 × a rumor multiple.
Add back the owner’s $103,000 W-2 and payroll tax, $11,500 of discretionary benefits, $4,000 of accepted one-time cost, and $7,000 of personal expenses that a buyer will not run. Then subtract $19,000 of replacement labor if the owner still diagnoses, sells, or closes the books.
Adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings are $285,000. At the planning range 3.0x–5.5x, enterprise value is $855,000 to $1,567,500. Mid-range 4.25x is $1,211,250 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. A Des Plaines buyer will argue the multiple after they ride with the staff and read the lease.
At 4.25 times $285,000 of seller’s discretionary earnings, enterprise value is $1,211,250 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 Des Plaines financial advisory firm — not a quote
Net profit
$179,000
Owner W-2
$103,000
Benefits
$11,500
One-time
$4,000
Personal
$7,000
Replacement labor (subtract)
−$19,000
Recast SDE
$285,000
Planning EV at 4.25x
$1,211,250
Recast Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, then apply a planning multiple for financial advisory firms.
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.
Cook County adds a local bulk-sale notice on top of Illinois Form CBS-1. File the Cook County notice at least 45 days before transfer with the sales contract (revenuecompliance@cookcountyil.gov). City of Chicago businesses also file a Chicago Department of Finance bulk-sales notice at least 45 days out under Municipal Code 3-4-140, covering city taxes and Title 4 licenses. State CBS-1 is still due at least 10 business days before closing. Miss a local clock and the buyer can inherit tax or license debt.
SEC or state IARD registrations, Series licenses, and Illinois securities notice filings sit on people and on the RIA — they do not ride with a customer list. Broker-dealer affiliation changes can force re-papering of every household. A buyer without the right registration cannot legally service the book they just paid for. Custody and ADV amendments are closing-path items.
Labor and lease
What has to keep working on Monday after close in Des Plaines
For a financial advisory firm in Des Plaines, the first labor question is: Fee-based recurring revenue and household retention.
Leases are the deal killer more often than the multiple. Loop, River North, and neighborhood retail have assignment clauses, kick-out rights, and renewal politics that collar-county industrial shops rarely see. CTA-adjacent and parking-constrained sites change buyer type. Labor is union-aware in several trades and hospitality crews turn over faster than downstate.
Cook is not one market. A bungalow-belt repair shop, a South Side contractor, and a Near North concept do not share a “Chicago premium.” O’Hare, the lakefront, and the expressway grid concentrate customers and also concentrate competing buyers. Price the business, not the skyline.
Diligence
What a serious financial advisory firm buyer will open
Levers that move the multiple in this vertical: Fee-based recurring revenue and household retention; A staying advisor the largest households already know; A registration path the buyer can finish; Low client-age and concentration risk; Clean compliance and complaint file.
Have these ready before anyone hears the name of the Des Plaines business: AUM, household count, and percent of revenue that is fee-based recurring; Client age, concentration, and next-generation relationships; ADV, IARD, and broker-dealer or RIA path for the buyer; Advisor contracts and who the households will actually follow; Compliance file, complaints, and custody arrangements; Held-away or insurance-product trails that will not assign.
Buyer tool
SBA payment sketch for a Des Plaines financial advisory firm 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 Des Plaines financial advisory firm for sale
Recast this Des Plaines financial advisory firm. Start with the tax return. Add owner pay. Subtract replacement labor if the seller still does the work a Des Plaines 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 financial advisory firm pull a permit or see a patient in Des Plaines, and whether that person stays. Personal licenses do not transfer with the assets.
Tell the truth about the Des Plaines 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 Des Plaines limit.
Open the lease and the labor file. Remaining term and assignment in Cook County. Whether the crew can run without the seller living eight minutes away.
Calendar the notices that apply here. CBS-1 (10 business days) plus Cook County’s 45-day local notice; Chicago’s 45-day city notice only if this business also operates in the city. Start them at letter of intent, not the week of funding.
Read the statewide playbook, then talk. The Illinois financial advisory firms hub is the statute and recast teaching. This page is the Des Plaines file. Confidential consult — no upfront listing fee.
Continue
Related Des Plaines and financial advisory firms pages
Questions about financial advisory firms in Des Plaines
Answers for owners and buyers in Cook County, including local closing steps.
Illinois financial advisory firms (RIAs) typically sell for 2x–3x annual revenue. AUM size, client retention history, and the fee structure (recurring vs. transactional) are the primary value drivers.
RIA aggregators (Mercer, Focus Financial, CI Financial), national wirehouse recruits, independent broker-dealers, and larger local advisory firms are the most active acquirers. The RIA consolidation market has been very active.
Client transition is the central concern in every advisory firm sale. We structure earnouts, transition periods, and joint client meetings to maximize client retention through the handover. Most buyers expect 85–90%+ client retention to close the deal.
Clients cannot be transferred without their consent. The transition process involves direct communication with clients by both the selling and acquiring advisor. A well-managed transition with appropriate personal introductions typically achieves strong retention.
ADV amendments, state filing requirements, and client consent procedures are all part of the RIA sale process. We work with your compliance counsel to ensure all regulatory obligations are met.
Illinois Form CBS-1 is due at least 10 business days before an asset sale. Cook County and the City of Chicago each add a 45-day local notice when the sale meets their rules. Ask counsel which notices apply to this Des Plaines company.
Des Plaines sits in the deepest Illinois buyer pool: owner-operators, neighboring shops, and platforms that already cover Cook County. Density is why a public listing leaks. Start with confidential outreach.
No. The planning multiple for financial advisory firms is a statewide starting point, not a Des Plaines appraisal. Buyers in Cook County still adjust seller’s discretionary earnings, then argue the lease, licenses, labor, and owner dependency.
Service Area
Financial Advisory Firm Brokerage Near Des Plaines
We serve financial advisory firms owners and buyers across Cook County and the surrounding region.