01 Goodwill
The value of a medical practice above its tangible assets — the patient list, referral relationships, and billing history built by the outgoing principal.
The Basics
Most of what you're buying isn't on the balance sheet.
A medical practice acquisition is priced across tangible assets (equipment, fit-out, property) and goodwill — the patient list, referral relationships, and billing history the outgoing principal has built over years. In most established practices, goodwill is the larger component of the purchase price.
That split matters because lenders apply different rules to each component. A bank comfortable funding equipment and fit-out may restrict its exposure to goodwill significantly — which is often the difference between an approval that covers the deal and one that doesn't.
Key Concepts
The terms worth understanding first.
A short glossary of the terms that come up in every practice acquisition conversation.
02 Vendor Transition
The period the outgoing principal stays on to introduce patients and referrers to the incoming buyer, typically 6–24 months.
03 Goodwill LVR
The proportion of the goodwill component a lender will fund. Varies significantly by lender and by practice type.
04 Key-Person Risk
The risk a lender assesses around what happens to the practice's revenue if the incoming principal leaves.
Before You Apply
What actually moves a lender's decision.
A well-prepared file, placed with the right lender, moves faster and lands a better result than an incomplete file placed with the wrong one.
01
Your Medicare billing history, by item number, is one of the first things a specialist lender will ask for.
02
A vendor transition agreement of 6–24 months materially improves how a lender reads key-person risk.
03
The lender you approach matters as much as the deal itself — policies on goodwill lending vary widely across the market.
04
Getting finance advice before you sign a Heads of Agreement gives you more structuring options, not fewer.
05
A well-prepared file — 2–3 years of financials, BAS, and billing data — moves faster than an incomplete one.
Why practitioners work with Black Mountain.
01 Adviser, not a placement broker
We're mandated as your adviser and structure the facility around your interest — not a panel blast to whoever pays a placement fee.
02 100+ lenders
Major banks, regional banks, non-bank lenders, and private credit providers — including those with specific appetite for medical practice finance.
03 Senior-led, every file
George Popadalis runs every file personally, from first conversation to settlement. No junior handoff.