Ownership Transition

Congratulations.  You’ve worked hard to not only build your business, but also to groom your son, daughter, or other successor to take the reigns as you ride off into retirement.  How much is your business worth?  How will the sale to your successor be structured?  Have you considered the tax consequences?  Will your successor have to leverage the company to buy you out?  If so, will that debt hinder their ability to achieve their growth goals and capitalize on new opportunities?  If applicable, have the correct key performance metrics been established so that the new leadership team is properly incentivized to meet sales, profitability and cash flow goals?  InTune’s CPAs bring the experience, innovation, and insight to developing solutions that consider cash flow, taxes, and other critical transaction components.

Valuation

In order to transition your business ownership to the next generation, you and your successor will need to agree on what that business is worth. Led by James A. Loeffler, a CPA, CFE, and MBA with more than 25 years of experience, our CPAs specialize in performing business valuations, which form the foundation for transition structures.

Transition Structure

You have many options when it comes to selling your business to a named successor.  You might agree to be paid up front, but this most likely will require the company to incur debt.  Can the organization’s cash flows handle this burden?  Another option is to be bought out over time.  Although you bear more risk under this scenario, such an arrangement is more tax advantageous for you, and doesn’t require your successor to incur debt.  There are many options in between as well.  We will work with you and your attorneys to model and customize a structure that meets your needs.

Performance Metrics

Certain transition plans that provide for installment payments may also allow the acceleration of the buyout if certain financial goals are exceeded.  We work with you and your successor to develop profitability formulas and targets that properly incentivize the new leadership team to exceed those benchmarks, which allows you to get paid faster.  Our priority is to ensure that such metrics are easily calculated, understood by all parties, relevant (to cash flow), and achievable.

Process Mapping and Documentation

Of all of the business knowledge you have in your head, how much of it is documented in a plain, straightforward way?  As a business owner, no one does things quite like you do, and those on your team – including your successor – probably don’t know how to do what you do.  Preserving organizational memory goes a long way toward a smooth transition.  In addition, has your successor documented how they do what they do for the individual who will step into their role when they take the helm?  Our flowcharts and narratives get straight to the point about who should do what and when, along with how they should do it, so that critical organizational memory is not lost when you retire or a key employee changes roles.