Boldmont Lending, a small-business funding service in Urbana, Illinois, helps Champaign County, IL accounting, consulting, engineering and IT firms request lines of credit for receivables and term loans for practice purchases. This page covers buying an accounting firm, questions to ask a seller, IT and architecture firm loans, and Champaign County, IL counts for each profession.
At a glance
- Accounting and professional employer establishments
235: 41 accounting, 70 consulting, 67 architecture and engineering, 57 IT services, our sum (CBP 2023)
- Accounting firm employees, Champaign County, IL
374 (CBP 2023)
- Architecture and engineering employees
690 (CBP 2023)
What the Census counted for Champaign County, IL professional firms
| Profession (NAICS) | Employer establishments, 2023 (CBP) | Without paid employees, 2024 (NES) |
|---|---|---|
| Accounting, tax and bookkeeping (5412) | 41 | 135 |
| Management and technical consulting (5416) | 70 | 654 |
| Architecture and engineering (5413) | 67 | 113 |
| Computer systems design, IT (5415) | 57 | 182 |
The two columns come from different Census programs and years and are shown side by side, not added. By our sum, the four professions had 235 employer establishments in 2023. 77.2% of the IT services firms and 71.4% of the consulting firms had fewer than five employees (CBP 2023).
Business loans for IT firms in Urbana, IL
An IT services firm's assets are its people, its contracts and its receivables; it has little equipment to pledge. Partners lend against recurring contract revenue and the receivables list. A line of credit sized to receivables carries payroll while clients pay on thirty- or sixty-day terms. The IT company loans article goes deeper on contract revenue and what a partner reads.
IT business loan requirements in Champaign County, IL
- Client contracts, especially recurring managed-service agreements.
- An aging report on unpaid invoices.
- Business bank statements showing client payments.
- The firm's filed returns.
- A concentration note: the share of revenue from the top five clients.
How to buy an accounting firm
An accounting practice is bought for its client list, and the price is tied to how many clients stay. Sellers and buyers can agree on a price linked to retained fees over a period after closing, and a term loan funds the part paid at closing. The partner reads the practice's fee history by client, the seller's transition plan and the buyer's credentials.
Questions to ask when buying an accounting practice around Urbana, IL
- What share of fees comes from the top ten clients?
- How many clients have stayed through the last three years?
- Will the seller stay on through a filing period to introduce clients?
- What software, files and employees come with the practice?
- Is part of the price contingent on client retention?
Buying an accounting business in Urbana, IL
Illustration only, invented figures: a practice with $400,000 of annual fees sells for $360,000, with $90,000 paid at closing from the buyer's cash, $200,000 from a term loan and $70,000 paid over two years based on retention (our sum: 90,000 + 200,000 + 70,000 = 360,000). The loan payment has to fit within the practice's cash flow after the buyer's own salary.
Architecture firm loan terms: what Urbana, IL owners should know
Architecture and engineering firms bill by project phase and can wait months for the final phase payment. Their requests split between a line for the billing gap and term loans for office build-outs, plotters, survey equipment and software. Champaign County, IL architecture and engineering firms employed 690 people in 2023 and paid about $58.1 million in annual payroll (CBP 2023).
Receivables and the billing gap at an Urbana, IL professional firm
A firm that bills monthly and gets paid in thirty to sixty days always has two months of work sitting in receivables. When the firm grows, that sum grows with it, and payroll for the new hires comes due before the new clients pay. A line sized to receivables is built for exactly that gap.
Illustration only, invented figures: a consulting firm billing $60,000 a month with clients paying in 45 days carries about $90,000 in receivables at any time (our arithmetic: 60,000 x 1.5). Adding two consultants at $14,000 a month of combined payroll means paying $21,000 in wages before the first new invoice is collected (our arithmetic: 14,000 x 1.5).
Filing-deadline cash at Champaign County, IL accounting firms
Accounting firms bill a share of their work around filing deadlines and collect afterward, so wages for extra preparers come before the fees. A line drawn ahead of the deadline and paid down as clients pay fits that pattern. A partner reads the prior year's deposits by month to see when cash arrives.
Funding an office move or partner buy-in for an Urbana, IL firm
A firm moving offices pays for a build-out, furniture and technology at once; a term loan spreads that over years. A partner buying into a firm can request a term loan for the buy-in price, with the firm's records behind it. Law firms face similar questions on the law firm page , and insurance agencies on the insurance agency page . County figures are on Boldmont's page of Urbana, IL figures , and all trades are on the industries page .
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