Grow Your CPA Firm Through Acquisition: Trends, Opportunities and Pitfalls

The CPA Marketing Genius Podcast

In this episode of the CPA Marketing Genius Podcast, Salim and Rod’s guest, Rick Dennen.

As a CPA, Rick started a company nearly 20 years ago that helps others grow their business through capital as a strategic and financing partner. Rick Dennen is Chief Corporate Banking Officer at First Financial Bank which includes being CEO of Oak Street Funding and First Franchise Capital. He oversees nearly $12B in assets and about 400 employees. He leads the commercial growth strategy including expansion of customized lending offerings and services.

He is a CPA, and a former Senior Manager at Deloitte. Rick is a proud Hoosier and held an adjunct professor position for venture capital and entrepreneurial finance at Indiana University Kelley School of Business. Financial Executive with broad experience in all aspects of business startup including capital raising, accounting, software development, auditing, sales and marketing and financial management. Direct experience with financial consulting and venture capital/private equity, including "lean" assessments, valuation, and various M&A and divestiture transactions.

If you are interested in learning about the Accounting space, then this is the episode for you! Listen through the podcast and keep these marketing secrets alive in your business.

[00:01 - 07:53] Opening Segment

• Rick had a strong CPA and math background
  • The kind of deals they work on at Oak Street Funding
  • The assets and employees Rick oversees
• A blessing to have a passion-driven team

[07:54 - 18:49] How a thriving Accounting firm operates

• Trends developing in the MNS space for accounting firms
  • Generation gaps and recruitments
  • There’s always a place for someone in accounting
• How can an accounting firm prepare to grow through acquisition
  • Be true to your skill sets
  • Who do you want to be in the future?
• Some mistakes Rick has seen in the MNS space done by buyers and sellers
  • Emotions should not rule

[18:50 - 24:39] Golden tips from Rick

• What Rick’s company look for when financing a deal
• Revenue size and Loan amount practices from Rick
• Beliefs that sellers should impose to themselves

[24:40 - 32:02] Closing Segment

• Where is the market heading
• How does technology plays a role in the space
• How to best position the company?
• Final Words

If you’d like to hear more episodes, you can find them at https://cpamarketinggenius.simplecast.com/, or in your favorite podcast directory.

Don’t forget to like, subscribe, and leave us a review!

If you want to learn more about the Salim and CPA Marketing Genius, visit www.cpamarketinggenius.com

Want to connect with Rick?

Follow him on LinkedIn and don’t forget to checkout their websites:

http://www.oakstreetfunding.com

http://www.firstfranchisecapital.com

http://www.bankatfirst.com

Thanks for tuning in; we’ll see you next time!

Tweetable Quotes

"It’s not me. We’ve got 80 people here at Oak Street now and a lot have been with us for the entire 10 years of the business. Having that wonderful team that has the same vision to build the organization and infrastructure really drives value. I’m truly blessed to have the people we have in this organization.” - Rick Dennen

"There’s different age bands within the last 30 years where I think you’ve got a good solid base of people, and I think there’s times where that base has been short. In certain situations, if they haven’t focused on a good pyramid and really training the younger generation, there might be gaps in that hierarchy.” - Rick Dennen

"I think human capital is the most important thing certainly within the CPA profession. Having the right human capital, the right management team, alignment on those strategies is critical to do that.” - Rick Dennen