Practice finance by stage
Where is your
practice now?
Starting, buying, growing, managing cash flow, planning an exit or restructuring what you owe. Each stage has its own funding points, and lenders look at each one differently.
Other ways in
Why stage matters
The same practice needs different finance at different times.
A professional practice moves through recognisable stages. Someone becomes an owner. The practice grows, perhaps by acquisition. It manages the annual rhythm of renewals, tax and seasonal peaks. Eventually ownership passes on, and along the way borrowing is restructured to fit.
Each stage brings its own funding points, and they rarely arrive one at a time. Buying a practice means funding goodwill, equipment, fit-out and working capital together. A partner retiring can mean funding the outgoing capital and the incoming partner’s buy-in in the same year.
Each journey below sets out what typically needs funding, in the order it tends to arise, what lenders will want to see, and the questions owners ask most. Every step links to the funding page that covers it in detail.
Six journeys
- 01Starting a PracticeFrom associate or employee to owner. Covers choose your route, fund the ownership, equip and fit out, keep cash for the first year.→
- 02Buying a PracticeEvery cost of the transaction, not just the price. Covers goodwill, premises, deferred consideration, stock and equipment, fit-out, working capital after completion, pii run-off, where relevant.→
- 03Growing a PracticeSites, people, equipment and capacity. Covers buy growth, add capacity, invest in capability, build the team, keep the core practice funded.→
- 04Managing Cash FlowLock-up, renewals and seasonal peaks. Covers work done, not yet billed, billed, not yet paid, annual renewals, tax and vat, seasonal peaks.→
- 05Succession & Partner ExitFunding the people coming in and going out. Covers plan the handover, fund the incoming, fund the outgoing, cover run-off, refinance what remains.→
- 06RefinancingRestructure what you already owe. Covers review what you have, acquisition debt, premises, equipment, short-term pressure.→
Not sure which stage fits?
Start with the problem.
Many situations span more than one stage. A practice buying a competitor is growing and buying at once; a partner retiring may prompt a refinance. If it is not obvious where to start, tell us what you are trying to achieve and we will map out the funding points with you.
We are a whole-of-market broker with access to 300+ lenders. We aren’t tied to any of them, so the aim is the structure that fits your practice, not the product one lender happens to offer. See how the process works.
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Finance for
what's next.
Before you approach a lender, speak to someone who understands the transaction. Confidential, no-obligation initial discussion.