Sell My Business in Florida

We help Florida business owners find the right broker to sell their business. You tell us your industry, county, size and timeline. We review the request and introduce a short list of Florida-licensed business brokers or M&A advisors who sell companies like yours. You interview them and decide whether to hire anyone. We are not a broker ourselves, we do not list businesses for sale and we never hold deal money.

No. Getting matched, speaking with us and interviewing the brokers we introduce costs you nothing, and you are under no obligation to sign with anyone. If you later hire a broker, you pay that broker under your own listing agreement. Some firms in our network may pay us for introductions; that never changes the fee a broker quotes you. How this website works.

Not from us. We never publish your request or your business name, and we only share your details with the brokers we introduce. Ask every broker how they keep a sale confidential: blind listings without the business name or town, signed non-disclosure agreements before buyers see financials, and screening buyers before any site visit.

No. This service is only for businesses that operate in Florida, in any of the state’s 67 counties. If your company has locations in Florida and other states, choose the county where most of the business is run and mention the other locations in your notes.

Start with your type of business and your Florida county. After that we ask for an approximate revenue range, an approximate earnings range, your timeline and your main reason for selling. Ranges are enough; you do not need financial statements to get matched.

Get your last three years of financials in order, hire a Florida-licensed business broker or M&A advisor who sells businesses like yours, agree a value range and a listing agreement, and let the broker market the business confidentially to screened buyers. After you accept an offer, the buyer runs due diligence, your Florida attorney and CPA handle the purchase agreement and the Florida tax and license steps, and you close. The six stages above walk through each step.

Yes, in most cases. Under section 475.01, Florida Statutes, anyone who sells a business enterprise or business opportunity for another person for a fee is a broker and needs a Florida real estate license, and brokering without one is a third-degree felony under section 475.42. You can look up any broker or sales associate on the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation license search. Voluntary credentials such as the IBBA Certified Business Intermediary (CBI) show training but are not a license.

Florida has no personal income tax, so an owner who lives in Florida pays no state income tax on the gain from selling a business. Federal capital gains and ordinary income tax still apply, and florida C corporations pay 5.5% corporate income tax on net income above a $50,000 exemption, which can apply when a C corporation sells its assets. Ask your CPA how an asset sale or a stock sale changes the result for you.

Within 15 days after the sale, the seller must file a final Florida tax return and pay what is owed. If not, the buyer can be liable for the seller’s unpaid state taxes up to the purchase price or fair market value, so buyers ask for a Department of Revenue certificate of compliance or hold back part of the price. If you finance part of the price, Florida charges documentary stamp tax of 35 cents per $100 on the promissory note, capped at $2,450 per note, and a recorded mortgage securing it is taxed at the same rate with no cap. Used furniture, fixtures and equipment sold with the business, other than inventory and titled vehicles or boats, are generally treated as an isolated sale and exempt from Florida sales tax when the sale closes within 30 days of the agreement. Exceptions apply, so have your CPA confirm it.

A Florida contractor license is issued to the individual qualifier, not the company. A business that loses its only qualifier has 60 days to employ a new one and cannot take on new contracting work in the meantime. Plan who will qualify the business for the buyer before you go to market.

Florida issues full liquor (quota) licenses at one per 7,500 residents of each county, and an existing quota license can be sold with a business once the Division of Alcoholic Beverages and Tobacco approves the buyer. Brokers who sell Florida restaurants should know the current market for quota licenses in your county.

For a noncompete given as part of selling a business, Florida courts presume a restriction of 3 years or less reasonable and one longer than 7 years unreasonable. Your attorney sets the length and the territory to fit the deal.

In an asset sale, the buyer usually forms or uses its own entity on Sunbiz, the Florida Division of Corporations, and registers your trade name as a fictitious name if it keeps it. A fictitious name must be registered before the business trades under it; registration costs $50 and lasts five years. Licenses, local business tax receipts, permits and the reemployment tax account also need updating. A buyer can apply to take over the seller’s Florida reemployment tax rate and history, reporting the succession within 90 days; the transfer is mandatory when the two businesses share ownership, management or control.

Most business brokers are paid a success fee at closing, calculated as a percentage of the sale price, often with a minimum fee. Some also charge an upfront retainer or marketing fee, which is more common with M&A advisors on larger deals. Read the fee section above for the terms to check, including the tail period and what counts as the sale price.

Brokers surveyed for the IBBA and M&A Source Market Pulse for the second quarter of 2026 put Main Street sales at six to 10 months from engagement to close. Seasonal Florida businesses often time the sale so buyers can see a full high season, and preparing your financials before you hire a broker is the best way to stay at the short end.

Three years of tax returns and profit and loss statements, a current balance sheet, your Florida sales tax and reemployment tax filings, a list of add-backs (personal or one-time expenses run through the business), your lease terms, your licenses and who holds them, key customer and supplier contracts, and a short note on what the business needs from you day to day.