{"type":"succession_guides","title":"Succession and M&A guides","lead":"As of Oct 5, 2026, AdvisorIQ publishes 5 plain-language succession and M&A guides that cite 29 public sources, from SEC and IRS rules to industry deal studies.","as_of":"2026-10-05","facts":{"guides":[{"title":"Asset sale or equity sale: how practice deals are structured","summary":"What a buyer actually buys, why client consent comes up, the registration filings, and how the tax allocation works.","lead":"As of Oct 5, 2026, Succession Resource Group calls the asset sale the most common structure in advisory practice sales, and FP Transitions reports that goodwill averages 92% of the purchase price in the deals it describes.","url":"https://advisoriq.com/succession/guides/asset-sale-vs-equity-sale/"},{"title":"Down payments, seller notes and earnouts: how the price gets paid","summary":"Why the headline price is rarely the cash at closing, and how down payments, seller notes, earnouts and buyer equity work.","lead":"As of Oct 5, 2026, Succession Resource Group reports that buyers paid an average of 68% of the price in cash at closing in the 2025 deals it tracked, up from 63% in 2023.","url":"https://advisoriq.com/succession/guides/how-the-price-gets-paid/"},{"title":"Minority stakes and outside capital","summary":"How a minority investment differs from a sale, how common these deals are, and why control is about more than a percentage.","lead":"As of Oct 5, 2026, minority transactions made up 15% of RIA deal activity in the first quarter of 2026, 14 deals, according to DeVoe & Company data reported by InvestmentNews.","url":"https://advisoriq.com/succession/guides/minority-stakes/"},{"title":"How long a sale or succession takes","summary":"Years to prepare, months to sell, and a year or more of payments and transition after closing.","lead":"As of Oct 5, 2026, Succession Resource Group says a practice sale typically takes 6 to 12 months from first engagement to closing, and it reported an average of 129 days from listing to funding for 2024 deals.","url":"https://advisoriq.com/succession/guides/how-long-a-sale-takes/"},{"title":"What buyers look at","summary":"Revenue quality, growth, clients, team and records: the factors that move a practice up or down a published range.","lead":"As of Oct 5, 2026, Succession Resource Group puts the typical multiple of recurring revenue for RIAs and advisors at 1.6x to 4.4x, and buyers decide where in that range a practice falls from its revenue, growth, clients and team.","url":"https://advisoriq.com/succession/guides/what-buyers-look-at/"}]},"related":[{"title":"Succession and M&A","url":"https://advisoriq.com/succession/"},{"title":"Valuation estimator","url":"https://advisoriq.com/succession/valuation/"},{"title":"RIA deal tracker","url":"https://advisoriq.com/succession/deals/"}],"notes":["Educational, not legal, tax or investment advice.","Practice management content is not eligible for CFP Board CE. CFP Board plans to allow up to five hours of it per cycle once its Q4 2027 changes take effect."],"url":"https://advisoriq.com/succession/guides/","citation":"AdvisorIQ, as of 2026-10-05. https://advisoriq.com/succession/guides/","license":"https://advisoriq.com/license/","publisher":"AdvisorIQ, independent education for financial advisors","disclaimer":"Summaries of rules set by designation bodies and regulators, which have the final word."}