A strategic reflection from the team at Ledger Capital Partners
A long-held private equity idiom says: “You don’t buy businesses. You buy outcomes.”
In the world of accounting firm consolidation, a space where valuations can inflate faster than Excel can refresh, we’ve learned that knowing the real value begins with the difference between the “NAV” and the “NAV Not”.
What’s meant by NAV?
Traditionally, NAV is Net Asset Value. But in our world, it’s more of a mindset:
- A NAV is a firm that understands the journey from practice to platform.
- A NAV Not is a firm stuck in old-school drawings, lifestyle earnings and resistance to scale.
From practice to platform
Ledger is building a national accounting platform that creates equity value, by combining:
- Multi-firm synergy
- Margin uplift through shared infrastructure
- Strategic capital allocation
· Long-term EPS growth as the core performance metric
We’re not simply investing in firms. We’re bringing partners into an ecosystem where the collective value is greater than the sum of the parts.
From partner to shareholder
This journey works best, in our experience, when partners evolve from income-maximisers to equity-creators. As one of our founders put it recently:
“When you think like a shareholder, it’s not just about what you earn today; it’s about what your equity is worth tomorrow.”
This isn’t about reducing income. It’s about growing your share of something bigger. That’s the true NAV.
The EPS anchor
We focus on Earnings Per Share as the core indicator of value. Not just:
- Top-line revenue
- Billable hours
- Margin percentage
But also: “How much more is each partner’s share worth, year after year?”
EPS drives dividends. It drives exit value. And it drives the discipline that keeps a platform from becoming just a patchwork of practices.
The NAV invests. The NAV Not walks away.
So, who joins us?
- The NAVs: entrepreneurial, ambitious and ready to scale
- The NAVs Not: comfortable, coasting and resistant to reinvestment
You know, there’s room for both. Not every firm needs to join a platform. But the ones who do – and those who do it early – will help to define a new generation of firm ownership.
The 3-phase platform journey
When we meet founders, we unpack three simple phases:
- Entry Join at a fair valuation. Receive liquidity. Become a shareholder.
- Integration & Uplift Leverage shared ops, tech and capital to drive margin and capability.
- Revaluation Share in the uplift. Watch your earnings per share grow. Get options, not just payouts.
Where we’re heading
Ledger Capital Partners isn’t here to collect firms. We’re here to build a re-valued, re-energised professional services platform with strategic capital, thoughtful governance and shared ambition at its core.
If you’re an ambitious founder looking to turn drawings into dividends and legacy into liquidity, ask yourself: Are you a NAV? Or a NAV Not?
