Our goal at Lending Valley is to provide all small business owners access to the best loans possible for their business. You can rest assured we will get you the best rates in the market!
Let’s be brutally honest for a minute.
If you are a CPA or tax professional looking to grow in 2026, you know the fastest route isn’t signing one client at a time. It’s acquisition. The “Silver Tsunami” of retiring baby boomer accountants has hit its peak. There are incredible books of business up for sale right now.
The opportunity is massive. But so is the time crunch.
When a seller puts their practice on the market in October or November, they want out before the upcoming tax season grind. They want a check in hand by December 31st.
Enter the most common trap for ambitious accountants: relying solely on SBA Loans For Tax practice acquisitions.
On paper, SBA 7(a) loans look amazing: low interest rates, long repayment terms (10 years), and government backing. But in the high-stakes, fast-paced world of Q4 mergers and acquisitions (M&A), the SBA process is often where deals go to die.
If you are banking on an SBA loan to close a deal before tax season starts, you are likely already too late. Here is a deep dive into why the “gold standard” of small business lending is failing tax professionals in 2025/2026, and what smart money is doing instead.
In the accounting world, timing isn’t just important; it’s everything.
Acquiring a tax practice is unique. You aren’t just buying assets; you are buying a revenue stream that is unbelievably compressed into a four-month window (January through April).
If you buy a firm on December 1st, you capture 100% of that upcoming tax season revenue. If your financing is delayed and you close on March 1st? You’ve missed the bulk of the work, upset clients during the transition, and still have to service the debt all year.
Here is what the 2026 M&A landscape looks like right now:
Based on early Q4 industry data, deal volume for small to mid-sized accounting practices is up roughly 18% compared to last year. Competition is fierce. Sellers have multiple offers, often from “Micro-PE” firms that can close in days.
“In today’s market, a seller with a clean book of business won’t wait 120 days for your bank to figure out its underwriting. If you can’t show proof of fast funds, your letter of intent is going straight to the bottom of the pile.”
— Sarah Jenkins, M&A Broker specializing in Professional Services, Chicago.
While we aren’t suggesting that SBA Loans for tax businesses are inherently bad they are actually excellent for purchasing real estate or making long-term equipment investments outside of the busy season they can be excruciating for time-sensitive acquisitions. Because the SBA 7(a) program is government-guaranteed, you aren’t just navigating the bank’s bureaucracy; you are also contending with the federal government’s red tape, making them the “slow boat” of financing when speed is critical.
A common trap for new buyers is securing just enough capital for the purchase price, while forgetting to reserve working capital for the inevitable Tax Season Gap that hits every firm in April.
An “expedited” SBA loan can take 60 to 90 days. A complex acquisition loan often pushes 120+ days.
Why so slow?
Speak to a Lending Valley Advisor, o discuss your specific acquisition target and build a capital strategy that aligns perfectly with your timeline.
To illustrate the difference speed makes, let’s look at three scenarios playing out in the market right now.
A sharp CPA firm in Columbus found a perfect acquisition target: a retiring sole practitioner with $400k in recurring annual revenue. They applied for SBA Loans For Tax acquisition in late October. The bank promised a late December close.
The underwriting process got bogged down in valuing the “goodwill” of the seller’s business. Christmas came and went. The seller, nervous about the upcoming tax season, accepted a slightly lower, all-cash offer from a larger regional consolidator in mid-January. The original CPA firm lost the deal and wasted three months.
A growing firm seeking a Business loan in Florida identified a lucrative practice for sale in Tampa. They knew SBA Loans For Tax purchases wouldn’t close in time for tax season.
The Strategy: They partnered with Lending Valley for a “bridge loan.” They secured funding in 10 days, closed the deal on December 15th, and immediately integrated the new clients. They captured the full tax season revenue ($350k), which they used to pay down a chunk of the bridge loan, and then began the process of refinancing into a longer-term SBA loan during the slower summer months.
A Brooklyn firm wasn’t buying a practice, but needed major capital to implement new “Agentic AI” tax software before January. They attempted to get traditional Business funding in Newyork through their local bank. The bank required a 6-week review for the tech loan.
The Fix: Realizing they would miss the implementation window, they opted for revenue-based financing. They received the capital in 48 hours, got the software running by Christmas, and increased their processing capacity by 30% for the upcoming season.
If SBA Loans For Tax firms are too slow, what should you look for? You need speed, but you also need fair terms. It’s a balancing act.
| Feature | SBA 7(a) Loan | Alternative/Bridge Financing (Lending Valley) | Merchant Cash Advance (MCA) |
| Speed to Funding | 60–120 Days (Slow) | 3–14 Days (Fast) | 24–48 Hours (Very Fast) |
| Cost of Capital | Low (Prime + small spread) | Moderate (Higher than banks, lower than MCAs) | Very High (Factor rates) |
| Underwriting Focus | Collateral & Personal Credit | Business Revenue & Cash Flow History | Daily Credit Card Sales |
| Best Use Case | Real Estate or off-season purchases. | Time-sensitive acquisitions, Bridge Capital. | Last resort emergency cash. |
Expert Insight: Be very careful with generic “Merchant Cash Advance near me” searches. While fast, traditional MCAs often carry daily repayment structures that can drain cash flow during the lean summer months. You want financing structured as a term loan or revenue-based funding that respects the seasonality of a CPA firm.
The market for accounting practices varies wildly depending on where you are in the country. Your financing strategy needs to match your local reality.
At Lending Valley, we understand the unique rhythm of the accounting industry and know that Q1 is when you make your money, and Q4 is when you set the stage.
We don’t use a one-size-fits-all bank algorithm. What we look at is the strength of the practice you are buying and your own firm’s track record.
How we solve the speed problem associated with SBA Loans For Tax professionals:
Whether you need fast Business funding in Texas for a buyout or bridge capital for an acquisition in Ohio, we connect you with lenders who understand professional services.
a: Yes, this is standard in M&A financing. Lenders will look at the historical cash flow of the “target” firm to ensure it can support the new debt service.
A: It’s rare. Most lenders, even alternative ones, want to see some “skin in the game” usually a 10% to 20% equity injection. However, seller financing (a seller note) can often cover a portion of this gap.
A: Banks prefer collateral they can kick . An accounting firm’s value is almost entirely intangible assets , which are harder for traditional risk models to quantify.
A: A short-term working capital loan or line of credit is perfect for this. You borrow in November/December to ramp up, and pay it off quickly with January/February receivables.
A: We have partners in our network who do. However, if you come to us in November for a year-end acquisition, we will honestly tell you that an SBA loan likely won’t close in time and will present faster options.
A: Lending Valley uses a soft pull to check your eligibility, which does not impact your credit score. A hard pull is generally only done when you move forward with a specific offer.
A: If your books are clean and you have the necessary documents for the acquisition target, we have seen deals fund in under 5 business days.
The market for buying accounting practices is hotter than ever, but the window to act for the upcoming tax season is closing fast. You cannot afford to let a slow bank process or the daunting mountain of SBA paperwork cause you to miss out on an acquisition that could transform your firm. Stop waiting on bureaucracy and get the capital you need to close the deal before tax season starts.
Take action now by choosing to Get Your Acquisition Funding Quote Today
it takes just minutes to see your options and will not impact your credit score.
