Where to start
There is a lot here. What is worth reading depends entirely on how close you are to doing anything, so pick the description below that sounds most like you.
You are thinking about it one day
Nothing is imminent. You want a rough idea of the number and what moves it, without committing to anything.
Start with the valuation calculator. Three figures get you started, a few more questions follow, and you see a figure for each way of selling you choose, with what lifted it and what held it back. It takes about three minutes. Read what an advice practice is worth for the shape of the market, then what raises your multiple and what reduces it, which between them cover most of the difference between two firms of the same size.
The single most useful thing you can do years ahead is understand why the age of your client bank matters, because it is the one factor you cannot fix quickly.
You are preparing to sell in the next year or two
You have decided, roughly, and you want the firm to be worth as much as it can be when you do.
Run the sale readiness scorecard first. It asks twenty questions and shows you where a buyer would find a reason to pay less. Then work through getting sale-ready, in particular the 24 month plan and why data quality determines price.
Decide early whether you are heading for an asset sale or a share sale, because it changes the tax, the liability and the timetable: asset sale or share sale and how the two are taxed. Then put a number on what actually reaches you with the net proceeds estimator.
You are already talking to a buyer
There is a conversation under way, or an offer on the table.
Work through the diligence checklist so nothing surfaces late. Read what buyers ask for and why deals collapse, which is the most useful thing on this site at this stage, then the questions to ask about an earn-out and warranties and indemnities.
Two things are routinely left too late: what happens to liability for past advice and run-off cover, and how and when you tell your staff and your clients.
What this site is not
Practice Value is an information resource. Nothing here is advice on your specific circumstances, nothing is for sale, and no buyer pays to appear. The calculator gives a range based on published market data and the figures you enter, and it is not a valuation for legal, tax or regulatory purposes. Where you need a decision made on your own facts, that is a job for your accountant, your solicitor and a corporate finance adviser who has seen your numbers.