For retiring tax professionals

You don't have to sell your practice to step back from it.

Hand off a group of clients to Doughy. Keep your name, your role, and the clients you enjoy. Get paid on the ones you hand off, every year, for the term we agree on.

It's not a sale. Nothing else moves.

Run my numbers

Any group size. All 50 states. Nothing changes unless we both agree.

Example firm: 360 clients, $265,000 a year. Drag to split it.
100 clients
$736
$22,080 to you, every year $88,320 over four years
260 clients still yours Same name, same role, same practice

Illustrative, at a 30% share for four years. Terms are negotiated between firms. Results vary.

Is this you?

If these sound familiar, you're in the right place.

Then a traditional sale isn't your only option.

Paid more, on your terms

You want more than the old multiple of gross, and you don't want to work for the person who bought you just to earn your payout.

Clients and staff looked after

You want your clients and your staff taken care of.

No drawn-out due diligence

You don't want a long negotiation where a stranger walks through every nook and cranny of your practice.

Not selling everything yet

You may not be ready to sell the whole practice.

The difference

What a sale actually pays you, and what an exchange does instead.

Selling the practice One check. Then strings.
Closing
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
  • Paid at closing, on profit, not on what you bill
  • A holdback, released only if your clients stay
  • An earn-out: you work for the buyer to collect the rest
Working with Doughy A check every year. No strings.
Year 1
Year 2
Year 3
Year 4
  • A share of what those clients pay, every year, for the term we agree on
  • Nothing held back, no one to work for
  • Your name, your role, your practice, and the clients you keep stay exactly where they are
  • Doughy payouts average 2x gross revenue, compared to the industry standard of 0.6x to 1.2x (potentially $100,000s more than a traditional sale).

Same clients. Same relationships you built.
Paid over years instead of shrinking at closing.

A traditional sale pays sooner. Exchange figures are totals across the full term, not discounted to today's dollars. Terms are negotiated between the two firms. Results vary based on your firm's unique situation.

How it works

Three steps. You set the pace.

01
Choose a group Twenty clients or two hundred. The ones who wear you out, or a whole service line. You decide who moves and who stays.
02
We take over, your way Full Service with your clients introduced to Doughy. Or white labeled behind your brand, with Doughy doing the work while you stay the name on the door. Your choice, group by group.
Your client hears from you first, then meets their Doughy advisor.
03
You get paid on them A share of what those clients pay, negotiated with you based on the client mix, for a term of one to ten years. Monthly, quarterly, or annually, whichever you prefer.

Then do it again, whenever you're ready. Or don't.
There's no end date and no buyer waiting for you to leave.

Why Doughy

Your clients get better. Your share grows with them.

  • Every client you hand off gets the Doughy Tax Savings Recipe™, modern tools that do the data entry, and licensed US-based advisors who find savings all year.
  • Clients who get more, pay for more.
  • When their fees rise, your share rises with them.
  • You participate in the value we create, for the whole term.

More than a sale pays, before any fee ever rises. And you keep 260 clients, your name, and your practice.

An example firm: 360 clients, billing $265,000 a year. Hands off 100 clients at a 30% share for four years.
The Recipe
Doughy Tech
Doughy Advisors
a year, at today's fees a year, after Doughy optimizes their service
About $88,300 over four years, 1.2 times what those clients bill today. About $148,300 after optimization, 2 times what they bill today.

Illustrative example. Share, term, and fees are negotiated between the two firms. Results vary based on your firm's unique situation.

On your terms

Most owners don't actually want to retire. They want out of the parts they're tired of.

Freedom, income, and choice. Most owners were never really after an exit. They were after that.

Today
Year 3
Year 7
No end date
Stay as long as you want. Or forever. Hand off the clients who wear you out. Keep the ones you enjoy. Your involvement is whatever you decide it is.
Your staff have options. A gradual handoff means nobody has to choose between working for a stranger and finding a new job. We can bring your people on, per person, in the way that fits them.
Keep working with your own clients, through Doughy. Many retiring pros join the Doughy advisor network and keep serving the clients they handed off, with our tools and team behind them.

Ready to see your own numbers?

Run my numbers
Two minutes. Nothing here commits you to anything.

What worries people most, answered plainly.

What happens to my staff?

A gradual handoff gives your people options a sale never does. No drop-dead date. And we can bring staff onto the Doughy team, negotiated per firm and per person.

How do I know my clients will be taken care of?

Every Doughy advisor is a licensed CPA, EA, or tax advisor based in the United States, and a licensed advisor reviews everything before it reaches a client. Your clients also get more than they had: year-round savings work, not just a filing.

Do I keep my brand?

Your choice, agreed group by group. Either your clients stay under your name with Doughy working behind it, or they move to Doughy openly.

What if I end up selling the whole firm anyway?

That's fine, and it happens. You sell the clients you still have, and you keep collecting on the ones already exchanged for the full term.

Who sees my information before I decide?

Only our internal senior advisors at Doughy. We never share your information with brokers or outside third parties. Nothing is listed anywhere, and nothing changes unless we both agree.

When is Doughy not my best option?

If you need full payment for your firm upfront and are willing to receive less total value, a whole marketplace will serve you better.

What it looks like a few years later

Two owners who strengthened their firms first, and had choices because of it.

"It has changed my life. I now have the ability to retire and do work that I enjoy."
Chris HensonChris Henson, CPAGentry, Arkansas
"The help and guidance you gave me a few years back played a meaningful role in strengthening the business and, ultimately, in achieving a great exit."
Christine JohnsonChristine Johnson, CPAEagleville, Tennessee

Individual results vary based on each firm's unique situation.

Start the conversation

Tell us about your firm, then book a chat.

Answer below, then we'll walk through your numbers and your options. No listing, no brokerage, no countdown.

Step 1 of 3
Let's start with your firm.

Your answers from the top of the page are already here. Adjust anything that's off.

200 clients
$250,000

Prefer email? hello@getdoughy.com