What Should You Look for in the Staff Structure of an Accounting Practice?
Updated: Sep 30
The staff schedule should help you understand who performs the work, who manages the clients and where important operating knowledge sits — without turning Stage 2 into full employment due diligence.
An accounting practice's financial statements can show the total wage cost, but they do not show how the team is structured or which people are critical to client delivery.
An accounting practice staff structure should show who performs the work, who manages clients and where important operational knowledge sits.
Stage 2 is about obtaining enough staff information to understand the operating model and identify where more detailed employment review may later be needed.
Accounting practice staff structure: the short answer
Request a staff schedule showing roles, employment status, tenure, remuneration and broad qualifications.
Identify who manages important client relationships and which people hold critical technical or operational knowledge.
Understand which employees are expected to remain after settlement and whether any known vacancies or retention concerns exist.
Keep detailed employment-entitlement and legal checks for the appropriate later due-diligence process.
Start with the basic team structure
The schedule should show the number of employees and contractors, their roles and whether they are full-time, part-time or engaged in another arrangement.
This lets the buyer compare the team structure with the services and client base being acquired.
Role titles are not enough
Two people with the same title may perform very different work. Ask for a short description of responsibilities, including technical work, review, workflow management, administration, business development and client management.
The objective is to understand how work actually moves through the practice.
Tenure can reveal where knowledge sits
Length of service can help identify staff who may hold significant institutional knowledge or longstanding client relationships. It can also show whether the practice has experienced recent turnover.
Tenure is one data point, not a conclusion about employee quality or retention.
Remuneration helps interpret the operating cost base
A staff schedule should generally provide enough remuneration information for the buyer to understand the cost structure. That can be particularly important where the accounts include unusual owner remuneration, contractors or temporary vacancies.
At Stage 2, the goal is to understand the broad operating reality, not to perform a detailed entitlement audit.
Qualifications and seniority may matter to service delivery
Where the practice performs specialist or higher-risk work, the buyer may need to understand which staff hold relevant qualifications, registrations or senior technical responsibility.
The level of detail required depends on the services provided and professional advice.
Map key client responsibilities
For senior staff, ask which major client groups they manage and how much of the relationship sits with them rather than the vendor.
This connects the staff schedule with the client information and helps identify where continuity may depend on specific people.
Ask what is known about post-settlement intentions
The vendor may not have discussed the sale with every employee at Stage 2, and confidentiality may limit what can be known. Even so, the buyer should understand what the vendor currently expects regarding staff continuity.
Do not assume that every employee will remain merely because they appear on the current organisation chart.
Keep employment due diligence separate
Detailed checks of employment contracts, accrued entitlements, awards, policies and transfer-of-business consequences belong within the appropriate legal and employment due-diligence process.
Stage 2 is the information-gathering step: identify what staff information exists and where later specialist review may be required.
Questions to ask before going further
Do I have a complete staff and contractor schedule?
Can I see each person's role, status, tenure and remuneration at a useful level?
Who manages the important client relationships?
Which people hold critical technical or operational knowledge?
What is currently known about staff continuity after settlement?
Frequently asked questions
Should I receive individual employment contracts at Stage 2?
Not necessarily. A staff summary may be enough for initial assessment. Detailed contracts and entitlements can be reviewed later where appropriate.
Is long tenure always positive?
No single metric should be treated as automatically positive or negative. Long tenure may indicate stability and knowledge, but the buyer should understand the broader team structure and succession risk.
What if staff have not been told about the sale?
That is common in confidential sale processes. The timing of employee communication is a matter for the vendor and advisers, but the buyer should understand what information is currently available and what remains uncertain.
Illustrative decision scenario
A practice has eight employees. The staff schedule shows that two senior accountants together manage more than half of the business-client relationships, while the vendor performs most final technical review.
The buyer now knows which roles require closer attention even before detailed employment due diligence begins. This example is illustrative only.
A practical Stage 2 staff schedule
Use columns for role, employment status, tenure, remuneration, qualifications, key responsibilities, major client relationships and expected post-settlement status. Add a short note for known vacancies or special arrangements.
That gives the buyer a structured view of the operating team without pretending the full employment review is complete.
Which adviser covers which issue?
An accountant or transaction adviser can help connect the staff structure to the operating cost base. An employment or commercial lawyer can advise on contracts, entitlements and transfer-of-business matters. A finance broker can explain how staff continuity may later affect lender assessment.
The buyer remains responsible for deciding whether the team structure supports the opportunity.
What should you look at next?
Stage 2 works best when each information category builds on the last rather than being reviewed in isolation.
Conclusion
The purpose of Stage 2 is not to finish due diligence. It is to obtain enough structured information to understand the practice more intelligently, identify gaps and decide what should happen next.
Return to Stage 2 — Initial Information for the full information-gathering sequence.
Considering an Accounting Practice Acquisition?
Discuss how the information available, proposed acquisition and funding pathway could be assessed as the transaction progresses.
General information only. This article does not constitute financial, credit, legal, tax, accounting, compliance or valuation advice. Finance is subject to lender approval, eligibility criteria, terms, fees and conditions. Consider obtaining independent professional advice for your circumstances before acting.
