What Accounting Practice Owners Should Know About Commercial Property Finance
You run an accounting practice built on relationships, deadlines and trust, and your address anchors your client base. Buying the premises turns rent into repayments on an asset that matches how your firm works. At Ardent Capital Group we speak with practice owners about this kind of purchase, and this guide shows how a lender sees it.
Ardent Capital Group is a specialist in commercial mortgages for accounting practice operators across Australia. Our team can help you move from tenant to owner, and give you clear lending advice on structure and strategy.
- Funding scale: Access finance from $100K to $10M+, matched to your practice size and property plans.
- Track record: Over $500M facilitated in funding over a decade for Australian business owners.
- National coverage: Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart and regional centres.
- Structured to fit: Owner occupier, trust or SMSF arrangements aligned to how you hold and occupy the asset.
The case for owning your accounting practice premises
Ownership suits firms that value location stability, client access and a professional fit-out that lasts. Your reception, client meeting rooms, quiet rooms, boardroom AV, server or network rack, sound insulation, signage and compliant records storage are expensive to install. Owning the title means those works sit inside an appreciating asset rather than a landlord's balance sheet.
Accounting is resilient. Compliance cycles recur, advisory relationships are sticky, and referral networks are local. A CBD fringe suite near legal and business services, or a suburban office with parking near SME clients, becomes part of your brand. Repayments build equity and give control over occupancy, while rent escalations stop dictating your cost base.
Main drivers:
- Control of premises and fit-out: Secure tenure to match long client relationships and amortise specialist fit-out into an owned asset.
- Cost certainty: Replace rent increases with known repayments and targeted interest management.
- Brand and client access: Keep your firm visible and convenient where your client base expects you to be.
- Wealth and succession: Build an asset that can support partner succession and retirement planning.
Buying may suit less well if you expect to relocate within a few years, if the firm is mid-merger, or if capital is better directed to senior hires, practice management software or book acquisitions. The decision sits with you, and we are happy to map it either way.
Our team arranges the accounting office property loan for operators across Australia, and matching the file to the right lender is where the number moves.
Financing an accounting practice: how it works
- Deposit and LVR: Owner-occupied office premises are standard commercial security and typically gear to around 80 per cent, so a deposit near 20 per cent gets most firms into their own suite. Where a borrower offers additional security, such as equity in a home or another property, some lenders will fund up to 100 per cent of the purchase.
- Loan term and structure: Bank terms commonly run 10 to 15 years, while non-bank lenders stretch to 25 or 30. Repayments can be principal and interest for steady equity build, or interest only for a period if cash flow priority is high around tax season peaks.
- Security and serviceability: The property is the primary security. Lenders assess practice financials, fee base stability, recurring compliance revenue, advisory margins, debtor days, WIP management and partner drawings. Normalisations and addbacks can apply to reflect genuine cash earnings.
- Owner occupier treatment: Lenders generally view owner occupiers favourably, given the alignment of interest, lower vacancy risk and evidence of trading strength tied to the address.
How the deal is put together
Many firms hold the premises in a separate entity, such as a company or trust, then lease it to the trading practice at a commercial rent. The lease documents the rent, outgoings, responsibilities and term, and a lender reads that inter-entity rent as the serviceability line. Held this way, the arrangement can support asset protection, clean reporting and clearer partner entry or exit. Unit trust arrangements are common where partners hold units in proportion to ownership and set market rent to the trading entity.
SMSF option in brief: Commercial premises typically qualify as business real property, so an SMSF can own the property and lease it back to the practice at market rate under a limited recourse borrowing arrangement, with the borrowing held through a bare (custodian) trust. The arrangement funds a single asset, so the practice's fit-out, equipment and goodwill sit outside the fund and are financed separately. On standard commercial security such as an office, SMSF lending typically gears to 65 to 80 per cent, below what is available outside super, the fund needs to find its own deposit since it cannot use equity elsewhere as security, and liquidity inside the fund needs to support the arrangement.
We arrange and price the lending across each option, while your practice's own adviser, whether that is a partner, the firm's accountant or an SMSF specialist, signs off on the tax, super and ownership detail before contracts are exchanged.
What credit teams weigh up
- Business financials: Three years where available, with emphasis on stability of revenue, compliance versus advisory mix, EBITDA, partner remuneration and addbacks.
- Serviceability metrics: Interest cover and debt service coverage from normalised earnings, considering seasonality around year end and BAS quarters.
- Property and valuation: Strata office versus freestanding, building quality, lifts and accessibility, parking, signage potential, and proximity to public transport and client hubs.
- Deposit and equity position: Cash at bank, retained profits, and the ability to leverage your equity in residential or other commercial property where appropriate.
- Lease and occupancy: Owner occupier tenancy profile, related party lease terms if held in a separate entity, and any subtenancies.
- Conduct and compliance: ATO portal position, existing facility conduct and professional indemnity cover appropriate for the practice.
A specialist broker for the accounting sector narrows lender selection, aligns the finance to your entity arrangement and presents the right evidence to credit.
A situation we could help with
This is an illustrative scenario that shows the kind of situation we can assist with, and how the thinking might run.
- Situation: Two-partner suburban firm with $2.4M in fees, $650K EBITDA post partner salaries, paying $165K per year rent for a 350 sqm strata office. A comparable suite in the same complex is available at $1.85M.
- Options we would map:
- Buy in a unit trust owned 50:50 by the partners, leased to the practice at market rent with CPI review.
- Buy through each partner's SMSF using a related unit trust arrangement and an LRBA, leased back at market rate.
- Buy in a property company with a shareholder agreement to manage future partner changes.
- Funding contours we would discuss:
- Target LVR around 80 per cent for the owner occupier, with equity in the partners' homes available as additional security to lift the funded amount.
- Deposit sourced from retained profits plus that additional security where it suits the partners.
- Interest only for two years during a staged fit-out, then principal and interest for the remaining term.
- What each path could look like:
- Unit trust route keeps higher LVR potential, a simpler bank process and clean rent deductibility at the practice.
- SMSF route caps the LVR lower, typically 65 to 80 per cent on this kind of standard commercial security, lifts the cash contribution required, and adds stricter liquidity settings, since the fund needs its own deposit and cannot draw on equity outside super.
- Company route supports future partner changes with share transfers and pre-agreed valuation mechanics.
- How we would approach it: we would lay out lender options, structures, serviceability modelling and likely pricing ranges, so the decision stays with the partners. The figures above are illustrative, not confirmed outcomes.
Other finance we arrange for accounting practice operators
- Asset finance for practice equipment: Fund servers, laptops, docking, VOIP systems, multi-function devices and ergonomic workstations without draining working capital, through practice equipment finance.
- Fit-out and refurbishment finance: Finance partitioning, soundproofing, meeting room AV, reception upgrades and compliant records storage as part of a planned refit.
- Working capital loans: Smooth cash flow across BAS quarters and the June peak; working capital for an accounting firm covers temporary contractor costs and software renewals.
- Business overdraft: Manage timing between billings and receipts, and maintain headroom for ATO and superannuation due dates.
- Refinancing and debt consolidation: Reset rate, term and structure, and roll scattered equipment and small facilities into a cleaner package.
- Construction and renovation: Combine adjoining suites, add meeting rooms, expand kitchen and staff amenities, or fit EV chargers for staff parking.
- Business or premises acquisition finance: Buy a neighbouring practice book or secure the suite next door to expand floor space and client access.
Owning the premises can free equity for growth, while a refinance can consolidate facilities and simplify your debt stack.
Why accounting practice owners work with Ardent
Ardent Capital Group is a specialist in commercial mortgages for accounting practices. We arrange and structure finance around how you intend to hold and occupy the property, and we map scenarios so you see the trade-offs clearly. We service Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Perth, Adelaide, Canberra, Hobart and surrounding metro and regional areas. Our team has helped facilitate over $500M in funding over a decade for more than 1,000 borrowers. This is the kind of purchase where the structure and the strategy matter as much as the rate, and we give clear advice on both, so the finance supports the wealth you are building and the years ahead. When you are ready to weigh up a purchase, we would be glad to talk it through.
Accounting Practice Finance FAQs
How much deposit do I need to buy an office for my accounting practice?
Plan for a deposit of around 20 per cent for an owner-occupied office, since standard commercial premises typically gear to around 80 per cent. Stronger assets and additional security can lift the funded amount and reduce the cash you put in.
Can my SMSF buy my practice premises and lease it back to the firm?
Yes, commercial premises generally qualify as business real property, so an SMSF can own the property and lease it to your practice at market rent under an LRBA, noting the lower LVRs, higher cash contribution and fund liquidity requirements.
What do lenders look at for serviceability in an accounting firm?
They review the last two to three years of financials, the share of recurring compliance revenue, advisory margins, debtor days and WIP, partner drawings, and reasonable addbacks to reflect true cash earnings.
Can fit-out costs be included in the commercial mortgage?
Yes in many cases, either capitalised into the purchase where the works are part of the acquisition, or via a dedicated fit-out facility with staged drawdowns against invoices and completion milestones.
Is a strata office or freestanding building better for an accounting practice?
Strata offers a lower entry price and shared amenities with body corporate costs, while freestanding gives signage control, parking and future expansion options, often at a higher price point.
Can I use equity in my home to reduce the cash deposit?
Yes, some lenders allow you to leverage your equity in residential property as additional security, which can reduce the cash deposit or lift the effective LVR, subject to overall risk fit.
What term and repayment profile suits an accounting practice with seasonal peaks?
Bank terms run 10 to 15 years and non-bank terms reach 25 to 30, often with interest only for a period during fit-out or integration, then principal and interest to build equity, set to match your cash cycle around June and BAS quarters.
Written by
Nick Chong
Managing Director, M.AppFin, Dip. Mortgage Mgmt
Nick holds a Bachelor of Agricultural Economics, a Master of Applied Finance and an Advanced Diploma in Financial Planning. He founded Ardent Capital in 2016 after more than a decade in financial planning and mortgage broking. For the past ten years he has led a team of finance specialists, mortgage advisers, brokers and credit analysts, all working to secure optimal outcomes for clients and always acting in their best interests. The team brings both a qualitative and a quantitative approach to every deal.
