How Should You Track Contract and Finance Deadlines When Buying an Accounting Practice?
Updated: 1 day ago
Track contract and finance deadlines together, linking each date to the evidence, decision and person needed to act before time runs out.
An accounting-practice acquisition can appear to be progressing smoothly while its different timetables quietly drift apart. The vendor is preparing records, your solicitor is reviewing documents and the lender is considering the application.
Everyone is busy, but that does not establish whether the next contractual requirement will be met.
For an Australian buyer, a useful tracker brings those conversations together. It should show what remains unresolved and leave time for your advisers to explain the position before you make a decision. The point is to make approaching commitments visible while there is still room to respond.
The short answer
Have your solicitor confirm each contractual deadline, its calculation and required action.
Keep lender estimates separate from agreed contract dates.
Give each outstanding requirement an owner and an earlier review date.
Record the evidence supporting an update, including confirmed extensions.
Escalate timing concerns early rather than waiting for the final day.
Which contract and finance deadlines belong in your tracker?
Start with the current documents rather than a timetable recalled from negotiations. Your solicitor can identify which requirements arise under an offer, Heads of Agreement, purchase contract or later amendment, and what each date actually requires.
A deadline may concern a payment, decision, consent or notice, so the parties should be clear about which action is required.
Alongside finance and due-diligence dates, your tracker may need lease-consent requirements, deposit payments and vendor documents. business.gov.au’s sale-contract guidance identifies conditions, payment and handover arrangements among matters the agreement addresses. Include later obligations where they affect current planning, including vendor handover commitments.
Ask your solicitor which dates are fixed, which depend on another event and which still need agreement.
If you are still clarifying the documents that create your commitments, the guide to what to understand before signing or paying provides useful background. Once obligations exist, the task becomes keeping the agreed process visible as the acquisition develops.
Record the action behind the date
A calendar reminder saying ‘finance due Friday’ leaves important questions unanswered.
Does your solicitor need the lender’s written decision by then? Must you consider whether its terms meet the contract? Is a particular communication required, and who will prepare and send it?
For each condition, your solicitor should confirm the exact date and time, how the period is calculated and any relevant notice requirements. Business days, public holidays and the way a notice is delivered can matter, depending on the documents and applicable law.
Avoid calculating these details yourself from a general online rule.
Your tracker should then translate that advice into a practical sequence. Receiving an answer, reviewing it, deciding what to do and communicating that decision all need attention.
An update arriving late on the final afternoon may leave little opportunity for the remaining steps.
Keep lender estimates in their own column
A lender’s estimated assessment time helps with planning, but it does not change the purchase contract.
Record the estimate as an estimate, with its source, date and any assumptions. If the lender is waiting for documents, make that dependency visible rather than treating the original estimate as a promise.
The acquisition funding pathway needs to remain connected to the transaction timetable. A missing lease document or revised purchase term may affect the information available for assessment. Ask your acquisition finance adviser what the lender currently requires rather than assuming that an earlier submission covers later developments.
Ask your acquisition finance adviser to explain the application’s current status, what the lender has confirmed and what remains outstanding. Your solicitor then interprets how that finance position relates to the contract.
Submission, approval, satisfaction of a contractual condition and readiness to release funds should each be recorded distinctly.
Build a tracker people can actually use
A shared spreadsheet or agreed transaction system can be sufficient. The useful feature is a reliable current version, with enough detail for someone to understand the next action without searching through several email chains.
Agree who maintains it and how significant changes reach the advisers affected.
Requirement and document reference: what must happen, according to which document?
Confirmed deadline: include the time and adviser who checked it.
Responsible person: who obtains the evidence or completes the action?
Current position: what is confirmed and what remains open?
Supporting evidence: where is the relevant written update or document?
Next action and review date: when will progress be checked before the deadline?
Descriptions such as ‘waiting for landlord’s signed consent’ are more useful than ‘lease almost done’. Likewise, ‘lender has requested revised forecasts’ tells you more than ‘finance progressing’. These descriptions help the buyer understand what still needs attention.
Keep sensitive records in an appropriately controlled location. The OAIC’s personal-information security guide explains access controls that limit information to authorised people. Your tracker can point advisers to evidence without copying the records. The data and cybersecurity due-diligence guide explores the wider acquisition context.
Follow the dependencies between workstreams
Some dates depend on information held elsewhere. Your adviser may need updated billing records to finish the earnings review, making financial information requests part of the timetable. Findings may change the forecast supplied to the lender, while a price discussion changes the contract.
Recording only the final finance date hides the steps needed to reach it.
The Australian Government’s business-purchase guidance highlights financial, operational and legal records in due diligence, including contracts and leases. Your timetable should reflect the scope of your agreed review, rather than assuming that receipt of the financial statements completes it.
Premises can create similar connections. As the article on taking over a commercial lease explains, the occupancy arrangements need attention alongside the business purchase. Ask who is obtaining consent, what information is missing and whether the finance process relies on the same documents.
Allow time to consider the answer
Choose an earlier progress-review date with your advisers, allowing for the work still required. There is no universal buffer that suits every acquisition.
A straightforward document check and a material earnings concern requiring vendor discussion may need very different amounts of time.
At that review, ask what is supported by evidence, what remains uncertain and whether the current timetable is still credible. If more time appears necessary, involve your solicitor promptly.
A request for an extension is not confirmation that it has been agreed, so keep the existing deadline visible until the legal position is clarified.
Once your solicitor confirms an agreed change, update the affected dates and circulate the current position. Moving one condition date may leave another deadline unchanged. The tracker should show both the revised requirement and any remaining pressure points.
An illustrative example: missing lease information changes the timetable
Suppose a buyer expects a lender decision before a Friday finance deadline. At an earlier review, your acquisition finance adviser identifies that the lender is waiting for revised lease information. The solicitor explains the contract’s requirements and discusses what steps may be needed if the information does not arrive in time.
The buyer can now address the missing information and obtain legal advice while time remains. This hypothetical example does not prescribe an extension period or predict the outcome.
It shows why a review date and an identified dependency are more useful than a reminder on Friday morning.
Frequently asked questions
Can my finance broker confirm the contractual deadline?
Your solicitor should confirm the deadline and its legal requirements. Your acquisition finance adviser can explain the finance position and outstanding lender steps so the timetable reflects current information.
Does a lender’s estimated turnaround extend the finance period?
Do not assume so. An assessment estimate and an agreed contractual deadline serve different purposes. Discuss any mismatch with your acquisition finance adviser and your solicitor promptly.
When should I mark a condition complete?
When the appropriate adviser has confirmed the required action and supporting evidence. An encouraging conversation may still leave a decision, document or notice outstanding.
Who should update the tracker?
Agree one person to maintain the current version, with advisers confirming their respective workstreams. The buyer should ensure material changes reach everyone affected.
Know the next decision before the reminder sounds
The best timetable leaves you able to explain what is due next, what evidence is missing and who will act. Before a significant deadline, bring the legal and funding updates together. That gives your decision a clearer foundation than a collection of separate assurances that the transaction is on track.
Considering Buying an Accounting Practice?
Speak with your acquisition finance adviser about the current funding position and outstanding lender requirements before your next contractual deadline.
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.
