Start Early: Building the Advisor Team Before You Sell Your Company

By Michael D. Rubin, CEO & Founder · Updated September 2026 · 731 words

An owner preparing to sell should assemble four core advisors well before going to market: an M&A advisor to run the sale, a transaction attorney, a CPA with deal and tax experience, and a wealth manager or financial planner for what comes after. Bringing them in early gives each one time to do the work that protects your price and your proceeds. Hiring them in a hurry, after an offer has arrived, is how owners end up with avoidable tax bills, weak contract terms and missed deadlines.

A company sale touches valuation, marketing, negotiation, law, tax and personal finance at once. No single professional covers all of it, and the owner is still running the business throughout.

Who does what

• M&A advisor: prepares the company for market, sets a realistic value range, finds and screens buyers, creates competition, negotiates price and terms, and manages the process through closing.
• Transaction attorney: reviews the letter of intent, negotiates and drafts the purchase agreement, and protects you on representations, indemnities, escrows and post-closing obligations. A general business attorney is not always the right fit for this role.
• CPA: prepares or supports the financial statements buyers will test, helps defend the earnings adjustments, and models the tax effect of different deal structures.
• Wealth manager or financial planner: helps you decide how much you need from the sale and plans what happens to the money afterward.
• Others as needed: an estate attorney if family transfers or trusts are involved, and your banker if loans must be repaid or released at closing.

Why the timing matters

Some of the most valuable work happens long before a buyer appears. Tax planning is the clearest example: certain choices about how the company is organized, how the sale is structured and how proceeds are handled are only available, or only effective, if made well in advance. Your CPA and attorney decide what applies to you, and they need time to do it properly. Our article on taxes to plan before selling a private company outlines the main questions.

Financial preparation also takes time. Buyers expect three years of statements that reconcile with tax returns, and cleaning up records, documenting adjustments and producing monthly figures can take months. Starting a year or two ahead removes that pressure. The same is true of personal planning: a financial planner can only help you use the proceeds well if the conversation starts before the money arrives.

A practical order of hiring

Most owners already have a CPA, and many have a financial planner. Talk to both first, one to two years before a likely sale, about your goals and whether they have deal experience. If they do not, ask them to recommend colleagues who do.

Bring in an M&A advisor next, ideally with enough lead time to fix what a valuation reveals. The advisor can also help you judge whether your attorney is suited to a transaction or whether you need a specialist.

Engage the transaction attorney before you sign a letter of intent, not after. Many of the terms that decide what you keep are set in that first document, and an attorney who sees it only after signing has less room to help.

Make sure the team works as one

Advisors who do not talk to each other create delays and contradictions. Agree early on who coordinates, usually the M&A advisor, and make sure everyone has the same information: the timeline, your goals, the current offers and the open issues. Ask each advisor how they are paid, so there are no surprises. During due diligence, a quick weekly check-in among advisors can prevent a small question from turning into a missed deadline. When advisors disagree, and they sometimes will, ask each to explain the risk in plain terms so you can make the call yourself. See which advisors belong on your sale team for more detail on each role.

How MDR & Associates fits into your team

We act as the owner's M&A advisor and work alongside your own transaction attorney and CPA, never in place of them. A principal of the firm is in every negotiation, and a VP of Client Engagement is your main contact while the company is being marketed. Our fee is a success fee paid only if the company sells. Meet the people on our team, or contact us to start with a free, confidential discovery meeting.

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Questions owners ask next

Can my regular CPA handle the sale?

Possibly. What matters is whether they have supported buyers' due diligence and advised on the tax side of company sales. If they have not, keep them involved for their knowledge of your books and bring in a colleague with transaction experience for the deal-specific work.

When should I tell my advisors I am thinking of selling?

As early as you seriously consider it, often one to two years ahead. Advisors keep the conversation confidential, and early notice gives your CPA, attorney and planner time to do work that is difficult or impossible once an offer is on the table.