Abstract

Background & Problem: Many family firms face a change in ownership in the near future. Acquisitions of family firms can therefore be a solution for the change in ownership. Due to special family firm characteristics, acquisitions of such companies can be complicated. Previous research shows that accountants and CFOs have a positive effect on the firm’s survival and growth. However, the CFOs’ roles in family business acquisitions have not been studied before. 

Purpose: The purpose of this research is to explore what roles accountants and CFOs have in acquisitions of family firms.

Method: The base of this study is an abductive research approach with a qualitative research strategy. The main method was semi-structured interviews that was complemented with a document study of official documents from websites. 

Conclusion: The empirical findings and analysis revealed that the CFOs in family firm acquisitions are important, but the CFOs’ roles in acquirer and acquiree differ. The CFOs in the selling family business is more of a bean counter in the process and provide material. The CFOs in the acquiring group is more of a business partner, conducting analyses and are involved in strategic decisions. The process of acquiring family firms is a special situation for the CFOs in the acquiring group since they need to adapt to the family firms’ informal culture.