For Sellers
October 2026 · 7 min read
How Accounting Practices Are Valued In Canada In 2026
Multiples of gross revenue still anchor most Canadian deals. Here is what moves a practice above or below the range, and why two practices with the same revenue sell for very different prices.
Ask ten accountants what a practice is worth and nine will say “about one times revenue.” That rule of thumb is not wrong, but it hides everything a buyer actually pays for. Small Canadian practices, roughly those under $3M in annual revenue, change hands at 0.8x to 1.5x gross revenue, with normalized earnings of three to five times as a cross-check. The interesting question is where in that range your practice lands, and why.
The starting point is practice type. A CPA firm with compilation and corporate tax work starts near 1.0x. A personal tax practice starts a little lower because the revenue is seasonal and the clients are easier to lose. A bookkeeping practice with monthly retainers starts lower still on multiple but often higher on certainty, because the revenue arrives every month whether or not the owner is in the office.
From there, buyers adjust for five things. Recurring revenue: the share of fees that renew without being resold. Owner dependency: whether clients would notice if the owner left tomorrow. Client concentration: any single client above ten percent of revenue is a risk the buyer prices in. Location: Toronto, Vancouver, Calgary and Montréal practices draw more bidders, and more bidders means a higher multiple. And the transition the seller will offer: a year of hand-over is worth real money to a buyer, and a seller who wants to leave the week after closing will pay for that in price.
Larger firms are priced differently. Once a practice has a management layer and partners who are not the owner, buyers move to a multiple of adjusted earnings, typically four to seven times EBITDA, and the conversation becomes about margin and growth rather than revenue retention.
The last piece most sellers underestimate is deal structure. A $1,000,000 price paid in full at closing is not the same as $1,000,000 paid half now and half over two years tied to client retention. Earn-outs shift risk to the seller. Vendor financing shifts credit risk. A good valuation states the price and the structure together, because one without the other is only half a number.
If you want a quick read on where your practice sits, the calculator on this site applies these adjustments to your numbers. If you want a number you can plan a retirement around, ask for the written valuation. It is free, and it uses your actual financials, client list and lease rather than rules of thumb.
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Michael Hartley, CPA, CA covers Ontario And Atlantic Canada. The first conversation is free and confidential.
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