Aging ownership
A New Chapter for CPA Firms. The right succession partner to preserve its legacy
For CPA Firm Owners
A long-term home for the practice you built.
Same office. Same clients. A handsome payment today and a share of future profits.
CharteredWays partners with CPA firms that want a long-term home for what they’ve built, not a quick exit. You’re paid well for your practice, your clients keep the office they know, and you stay as involved as you want.
Who We Are
Partners, not a transaction.
We’re Krishnan and Yugandhar, partners at CharteredWays. We partner with CPA firms that want a long-term home for what they’ve built, not a quick exit.
You spent decades earning your clients’ trust. We believe that trust deserves to stay where it is — in your office, with your team.
Recently
Fincent joined CharteredWays.
Their clients still walk into the same office, now with more support behind it.
Fincent has evolved in its technology, processes, and capabilities, but our commitment to our clients, the relationships we’ve built, and the trust we deliver remain unchanged.The Succession Gap
You spent decades earning your clients’ trust.
Most exit options hand that trust to someone who never met them. Many owners are approaching retirement at the same time — and fewer younger CPAs want to buy and run a firm.
Thin pipeline
Fewer accountants are choosing the path to owning a practice.
Value at risk
Without a plan, client relationships and practice value erode.
Today’s Exit Options
Every familiar route trades something away.
Income stops, your role ends, or clients are handed to strangers. A partnership with CharteredWays is designed to keep all three.
| Option | Upfront value | Ongoing income | Your role | Client continuity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sell to another firm | Yes, often earn-out | Ends with payout | None | Uncertain |
| Merge into a larger firm | Varies | Limited | Short-term | Moderate |
| Internal sale to staff | Financed over years | Until paid off | Advisory | Good |
| Wind down and close | Little | None | None | Lost |
| CharteredWays | Yes | Profit share | Your choice | Same office |
The Model In One Sentence
We acquire your practice. You keep the office, the clients and as much of the work as you want. You also share in its future profits.
How It Works
Four steps. Only the first one is familiar.
1
Acquisition
We buy your practice at a fair multiple and close in about 60 days.
2
Continuity
Same office, same clients, with a gradual move to our brand.
3
Your pace
Stay fully active, ease off, or retire whenever you choose.
4
Profit share
You receive a share of your office’s future profits.
Step 1
The acquisition
A handsome payment at closing, a share of future profits on top, and about 60 days to close. Nothing about the office or the client relationships has to change.
Purchase priceValuation based on 12-month revenue, with value paid upfront.
On top of thatA share of your office’s future profits
Time to closeAbout 60 days
What staysYour office, your team and your client relationships
Your roleFully active, part-time or retired: your call
Step 2
Same office, a stronger brand
Clients keep walking into the office they know and dealing with the people they trust. The brand changes gradually, and your name stays attached to the practice you founded.
Months 0–12“[Your Firm], a CharteredWays Partner”
Months 12–Later“CharteredWays, formerly [Your Firm]”
What Your Clients NoticeThe same office and the same trusted adviser, now with automation and a deeper bench behind them.
Step 3
Work at your pace
Many owners aren’t ready to stop working — they’re ready to stop doing the administration. There’s no fixed hours requirement, and your choice can change over time.
Stay fully active
Keep leading your clients, with far less admin on your desk.
Ease off
Cut back your hours and hand work to the team over time.
Retire and relax
Step away when you’re ready. Your profit share continues.
Our MottoKeep you active, unless you’d rather retire and relax. Weekly hours are yours to set.
Step 4
A share of future profits
The purchase price rewards what you built. The profit share rewards what the practice becomes — and as automation and advisory work grow your office’s profits, your share grows with them.
- Calculated on
- [Net profit] of your office, as defined in the agreement
- Paid
- [Quarterly], with a full profit statement
- Continues to
- [Your estate or named heirs], as the agreement allows
After You Join
More advisory, less administration.
We take on the work that keeps you from your clients, so you can take on more of the work they value most. Routine compliance takes less time, freeing partners and staff for advisory engagements — higher value for clients, higher profits for the office, and a larger profit share for you.
We help you
Automate routine compliance work
Free up time for advisory engagements
Offer new advisory services to clients
We handle
Staffing and back-office
Technology and cybersecurity
Billing, collections and marketing
The Network
From competitors to comrades.
Every office joins a network of peer practices that grow CharteredWays together. The more CharteredWays grows, the more each partner’s profit share is worth — so everyone has a reason to help everyone else.
Cross-referrals
Clients move between our offices, not to rivals.
Peer roundtables
Partners across offices share what works, regularly.
Specialists on call
Tax, advisory and industry expertise across the network.
Shared upside
A stronger brand lifts every office’s profits, and every share.
Built To Protect You
Hard questions deserve clear answers.
CPAs ask the right questions — and they should. Here’s how the agreement addresses the ones we hear most.
| Your question | How the agreement addresses it |
|---|---|
| Licensing and ownership | Your office operates within CharteredWays license, structured to meet state board ownership rules. |
| Profit transparency | Clear profit definitions, periodic statements for your office, and your right to audit them. |
| Payments for life | Structured as purchase and retirement payments, reviewed against AICPA and state rules. |
| Client confidentiality | Client notice and consent before records transfer, including tax-return information. |
| If plans change | Clear terms for disability, death, buy-back. |
Final terms subject to review by your legal and tax advisers and the applicable state board of accountancy.
Next Steps
No commitment, just a conversation.
01
A conversation
Your goals, your timeline and what matters to you
02
What it may be worth
A confidential, no-obligation valuation
03
Letter of intent
Purchase price, profit share and your role
04
Closing
In about 60 days, in the same office
The Team
The decision is personal. So is the conversation.
You’ll speak directly with Krishnan or Yugandhar — about what you’ve built, your timeline, and what matters most to you.
No obligation and no pressure. Just a conversation about what the process looks like and what your practice may be worth.
Krishnan N
Partner
Partner
Yugandhar J
Partner
Partner