Transition
August 2026 · 5 min read
The 90-Day Client Transition Plan That Keeps Retention High
A letter, a meeting and a calendar: the three things that keep retention above ninety percent after a sale.
Client retention is the whole game in a practice sale. Buyers pay for clients; sellers get paid, in part, on whether those clients stay. Practices that manage the first ninety days well keep more than ninety percent of their clients. Practices that do not can lose a quarter of them before the first tax season. The difference is almost never the buyer’s competence. It is whether the clients felt informed, introduced and reassured.
Day one to day ten: the letter. It comes from the seller, on the seller’s letterhead, and it says three things in plain language. I am retiring, here is who is taking over and why I chose them, and nothing changes for you this year. It names the buyer, gives their background, and says the seller is staying on for the transition. It does not announce a new firm name, new software or new fees. Those come later, one at a time.
Day ten to day forty-five: the meetings. The top twenty clients by fees get a joint meeting or call with the seller and the buyer together. The seller does the introduction; the buyer listens and asks about the client’s business. These twenty clients are usually half the revenue, and after a personal introduction they almost never leave. The next tier gets a joint phone call. Everyone else gets the letter and a follow-up email from the buyer.
Day forty-five to day ninety: the calendar. The seller and buyer agree who is visible on each file through the first deadline cycle. The seller signs off on nothing new but is in the office, answering the phone, for the agreed hours. Staff keep their desks, their titles and their clients. Fees, software and letterhead stay as they were until the first full year is done.
What breaks retention: a buyer who changes the fee schedule in the first month, a seller who disappears after closing, a staff departure that was not planned for, and a rebrand before clients have met the new owner. Every one of these is avoidable with a plan written before closing and tied to the deferred payment.
We write the transition plan into every engagement, and we stay involved through the ninety days. For sellers it protects the deferred portion of the price. For buyers it protects the asset they just bought.
Talk To A Broker
Daniel Roussel, CPA, CMA covers Québec, Manitoba And Saskatchewan. The first conversation is free and confidential.
Related Reading
Transition
May 2026
Tell them too early and you risk the sale. Tell them too late and you risk the staff. The sequence that protects both.
5 min read
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