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Urbana, Champaign County

Urbana Accounting Firm for Sale

A accounting firm in Urbana is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Champaign — 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 accounting firms playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Urbana file. Confidential sale. No upfront listing fee.

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Urbana market

Selling a accounting firm in Urbana

A accounting firm in Urbana is priced on adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings after a buyer compares this book to Champaign — 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 accounting firms playbook is on the industry hub; this page is the Urbana file.

Urbana is the Champaign County seat and the University of Illinois quad city — Lincoln Avenue, Carle’s historic campus, and a civic downtown, not Campustown’s Green Street.

County offices, the main quad, and Carle create professional and medical demand that a Champaign bar file does not share. Campus licenses still do not transfer automatically. Buyers who say “Champaign-Urbana” as one word still have to pick which city’s clerk and which neighborhood lease they are actually buying.

Urbana has about 39,350 residents in Champaign County, inside the Champaign-Urbana area. Nearby markets buyers already compare this book to include Champaign, Savoy, Mahomet, Rantoul. That comparison changes who shows up: a buyer who will drive from Champaign is not the same buyer who will fly in from a coastal platform.

Planning facts

Typical multiple
1x–1.5x Annual Revenue
Typical timeline
6–15 months
SBA eligible
Often — confirm
County
Champaign County
Population
39,350
Metro
Champaign-Urbana
Nearby comps
Champaign, Savoy, Mahomet, Rantoul
Closing clock
Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago
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Champaign County demand

East-central Illinois demand

Champaign-Urbana, Danville, and I-57 / I-74 towns mix campus, hospital, and farm-adjacent service demand. Academic-year cash flow has to be shown, not smoothed away.

State CBS-1 plus municipal licenses. Campus liquor or vendor rules do not transfer by handshake.

Urbana demand for accounting firms is the customer list and the license path — not the Census population figure. About 39,350 residents is context for who already lives in the trade area. It is not a sale price.

Accounting Firm in Urbana

What a Urbana buyer will underwrite on this accounting firm

A accounting firm in Urbana is retention and re-papered appointments or a signing credential — not a contest year. Households and commercial accounts already compare Urbana to Champaign, Savoy, Mahomet. Confidential outreach matters; employees commute and talk.

Accounting Firms statewide typically plan around 1x–1.5x Annual Revenue and a 6–15 months process when books and the lease are ready. That is a planning range, not a price for this Urbana shop. Buyers here usually argue client retention history, revenue per client, tax vs advisory mix, billing rates, client concentration.

Closing clock for this Urbana file: Illinois CBS-1 (10 business days). No Chicago 45-day city notice unless the business also operates in Chicago. License path: IDFPR CPA licenses are personal and do not transfer. The industry hub teaches the statewide rule. This URL is the Urbana application of it.

Urbana is a regional market. The first serious call is often an owner-operator from Champaign, Savoy, Mahomet, 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 accounting firm in Urbana

Buyers who understand a university MSA: student housing, restaurants, tutoring, and tech-adjacent services. Rantoul and Mahomet are more conventional small-city books. PE appears on healthcare and scaled services, not on a campus bar.

Illustration: a two-partner CPA shop in Peoria with a heavy 1040 season, a growing monthly CAS book, and a selling partner who still reviews every business return. Not a closed sale.

A accounting firm whose customers already sit in Champaign, Savoy, Mahomet, Rantoul is a larger business than one that stops at the Urbana city limit. Tell the truth about the route. Buyers will map it.

SDE recast

How a buyer will read the books on this Urbana accounting firm

Buyers often talk 1x–1.5x revenue on small CPA books; this business uses 2.5x–4x SDE as the planning band next to other Main Street shops. Recast after a market-rate CPA if the seller still signs every return. Pull one-time catch-up books and any litigation-support year. Realization and write-offs tell the truth. A book that is 90 percent personal 1040s in March is not a 4x advisory firm.

Illustration only — not a quote for any Urbana shop. A accounting firm whose tax return shows $139,000 of net profit is not worth $139,000 × a rumor multiple.

Add back the owner’s $72,000 W-2 and payroll tax, $25,000 of discretionary benefits, $2,500 of accepted one-time cost, and $14,500 of personal expenses that a buyer will not run. Then subtract $78,000 of replacement labor if the owner still diagnoses, sells, or closes the books.

Adjusted seller’s discretionary earnings are $175,000. At the planning range 2.5x–4.0x, enterprise value is $437,500 to $700,000. Mid-range 3.25x is $568,750 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. A Urbana buyer will argue the multiple after they ride with the staff and read the lease.

At 3.25 times $175,000 of seller’s discretionary earnings, enterprise value is $568,750 before debt, working capital, holdback, and tax. That is the planning conversation. It is not a listing-site guess.

SDE line items

  1. Reported net profit (tax return, not the marketing P&L)
  2. + Interest expense
  3. + Income taxes (not payroll, sales, or property tax)
  4. + Depreciation and amortization
  5. + Owner W-2, bonuses, and payroll taxes on the owner
  6. + Discretionary owner benefits that a buyer will not keep (auto, personal travel, family on payroll with no role)
  7. + Accepted one-time or non-recurring expenses
  8. − Market-rate replacement labor for owner work that will not transfer
  9. = Seller’s Discretionary Earnings (SDE)
Illustration recast for a Urbana accounting firm — not a quote
Net profit$139,000
Owner W-2$72,000
Benefits$25,000
One-time$2,500
Personal$14,500
Replacement labor (subtract)−$78,000
Recast SDE$175,000
Planning EV at 3.25x$568,750

Recast Seller’s Discretionary Earnings, then apply a planning multiple for accounting 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.

$
1x 3.0x 8x
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.

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Champaign County closing

Licenses and closing steps for a Urbana sale

Champaign County uses state CBS-1 plus Champaign, Urbana, Savoy, Mahomet, and Rantoul licenses. Campus-area liquor, rental, and restaurant licenses are not automatic transfers.

IDFPR CPA licenses are personal and do not transfer. Firm names and “CPA” use are regulated. Peer review, if they do attest work, sits on the firm and the named partners. A non-CPA buyer cannot simply own attest work under Illinois accountancy rules. Client businesses transfer only with engagement-letter and confidentiality discipline.

Labor and lease

What has to keep working on Monday after close in Urbana

For a accounting firm in Urbana, the first labor question is: Recurring CAS or business-tax retainers.

University of Illinois calendar dominates Champaign-Urbana cash flow. Summer must be modeled. Research-park and hospital (Carle, OSF) support professional practices. I-57 and I-74 are the buyer roads.

One of Illinois’s few true university + research MSAs. Price the calendar and the lease, not “college town” as a multiple.

Diligence

What a serious accounting firm buyer will open

Levers that move the multiple in this vertical: Recurring CAS or business-tax retainers; A staying CPA who can sign; Realization that survives a rate conversation; Low 1040-only concentration; Clean IDFPR and peer-review status.

Have these ready before anyone hears the name of the Urbana business: Fee mix: 1040, business tax, monthly CAS, attest; Realization, write-offs, and aged WIP; Who signs, who is staying, and IDFPR firm status; Client concentration and whether the seller is the relationship; Software (QBO, UltraTax, CCH) ownership and data export; Peer-review status if they do attest.

Buyer tool

SBA payment sketch for a Urbana accounting 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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Down Payment Required —
Loan Amount —
Est. Monthly Payment —

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 Urbana accounting firm for sale

  1. Recast this Urbana accounting firm. Start with the tax return. Add owner pay. Subtract replacement labor if the seller still does the work a Urbana buyer must hire. Do not treat a spike year as the new normal.
  2. Name who can operate on Monday. List every credential that lets this accounting firm pull a permit or see a patient in Urbana, and whether that person stays. Personal licenses do not transfer with the assets.
  3. Tell the truth about the Urbana 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 Urbana limit.
  4. Open the lease and the labor file. Remaining term and assignment in Champaign County. Whether the crew can run without the seller living eight minutes away.
  5. 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.
  6. Read the statewide playbook, then talk. The Illinois accounting firms hub is the statute and recast teaching. This page is the Urbana file. Confidential consult — no upfront listing fee.
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Questions

Questions about accounting firms in Urbana

Answers for owners and buyers in Champaign County, including local closing steps.

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Accounting Firm Brokerage Near Urbana

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